September 3, 2007
In Iraq, as well as the rest of the Muslim world, the month of Ramadan is coming up. It will commence around mid September and continue through until mid October. Historically it has always been a time of increased terrorist activity here in Iraq. I have spent two seasons of Ramadan in Iraq and one in Kuwait. This would be my fourth. Basically, one does not eat or drink during daylight hours. Then, the devout gouge themselves silly at sundown. It would be a nightmare for those with hypoglycemia. In Kuwait, it is easy to get thrown into jail for eating or drinking during daylight hours in the month of Ramadan, whether you are Muslim or not. It is a sure form of aestheticism, and one I'm not excited about.
In any event, such is life in the Muslim world. It is just another element in the Muslim culture that most Westerners do not comprehend. Kind of like how most Westerners cannot grasp the concept of suicide bombers either. Or the matter of four wives for one man, all under one roof sometimes.
On Saturday in the morning, a very large SVBED, (suicide vehicle borne explosive device) was detonated on a busy intersection in a business part of town.
Eleven Iraqi Army/Police were injured. Many shops were pretty much obliterated. I do not think any pieces of the suicide bomber were found intact. It is mind boggling to try and figure out the purpose of such acts. Here, I do not see it as a sectarian event, rather, just a plain and simple act of terrorism mixed with a large portion of stupidity.
The only good that seems to come from it is that there is now one less terrorist to deal with in Mosul.
Sunday morning I would go with Apache Company into town and patrol the streets where the SVBED had detonated. What I would see there is a big mess.
Shops had been destroyed, livelihoods were in shambles and people were trying to make sense of it all and went about cleaning up what looks like an endless task. But once again, this is Iraq. This is what goes on. I would walk the streets here with 1st Sgt Volk and Sgt Bell as well as others from Apache Co.
The Iraqi Army was there as well and many of course were on alert mode in the event of another such incident was attempted. We walked in and out of shops quizzing the people for information. Not much information was gathered, seems like no one knows much of anything once again. One this is for sure however, it is becoming clear that the terrorist have nothing but death and destruction to offer the people of Iraq.
I looked at the faces of all those present that were locals as we made our way up and down the streets and side streets, constantly looking overhead and around corners and keeping an eye on any traffic that would try to wander inside the zone. Again, the faces tell it all. If you are a local here in Mosul, or for most anywhere these days in Iraq, you just don't know what the day will bring. It is a very frustrating sense.
There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it. Wake up, have your chai, go to the shop, wait to get blown up.
If you don't get blown up, go home at the end of the day, make sure your women have their faces covered up, wade through heaps of garbage on the way home and bear the sweltering heat, have some bread that was cooked on the floor, a final cup of chai, and wait to see what night time brings.. Of course, this is a bit of an exaggeration, but I don't think it's that far off.
After a couple of hours of being in this area, we headed back to the FOB. This mission would be over.
Later that evening, I would go with Bravo Company and patrol a neighborhood with them as well as some Iraqi Army soldiers learning to get a feel for the type of house searches we are doing. It would be fair to say that this particular mission was a kind of training session teaching the Iraqi Army some tactics for searching neighborhoods. On the way that evening to coordinate with the IA, we stopped at their location to pick them up and have them drive with us. While there waiting for them, I noticed some more humvees coming into the compound at a rapid pace. It was the guys from Apache Company that I had hooked up with in the morning. They drove in and exited their vehicles.
They had just captured around nine terrorists and some weapons including grenades. The members of Apache company noticed me right away and mentioned they had tried to contact me. A mission had come down rather rapidly and I was not present to tag along.
All the guys looked like they had just been through it, and were commenting on how I missed the event.
They were all soaked with sweat but were rapidly processing their catch. By now, many IA had come out to assist in the processing. The day before, a huge SVBED was detonated, now, a bunch of bad guys had been caught red handed and tried escaping. One was not successful. No Americans were hurt. I snapped a couple of photos of the processing and talked briefly with the guys from Apache. I was glad to see them and learn that no one was injured. All of them had hoped I would come along, but the mission happened rather fast and I was not able to be found.
As I looked at the captured terrorists, I began scanning their appearances. Once again, I tried to see inside the mind of the terrorists that were right in front of me. Outwardly, they do not look like anything other than street thugs that could very well be found in any city in the USA. How is it that these folks, most of whom look in their early twenties, be so swayed to perform such ridiculous acts of violence?
They do not look like the professional soldiers I travel with. It is a mystery as to where they are actually from. What purpose were they really serving?
I watched as the Iraqi Army personnel began their paperwork and photos were taken. I presume they will deal with them. Perhaps some intel will be gathered from them. Maybe they will even give up some information that will lead to even more arrests and findings of additional caches. Only time will tell.
This is Iraq.
It was getting close to sunset now, and myself and Bravo Company were mounting up to head into the neighborhood we and the Iraqi Army folks would be patrolling. There was some coordination of sorts with them, using interpreters to assist. We arrived at our location and began the searching of the homes.
Helicopters were heard in the night sky overhead. One by one we searched the houses. It was here I just observed as the IA tagged along and were given some responsibilities to lead the way. It was a tedious en devour and I watched all the while thinking how far they have to go to step up to the plate. In recent reports I've seen on news wires, there is much to do about how the Iraqis are picking up the slack.
One big report over the weekend stated that 1800 Iraqis were lost compared to under 100-Americans. I thought about this figure over the weekend wondering who put that out and what was the reason behind it? Did that entity want us to feel good about the loss of more Iraqi compared to Americans? Or did they want us to feel good about only losing under 100 Americans? I found that report rather disgusting. I have never liked numbers games in war.
In any event, the night mission with Bravo Company proceeded for a few hours and eventually it was time to return to the FOB. No real solid information was gained, but some training had been accomplished.
Perhaps I should spend a day traveling with the Iraqi Army without US accompaniment. Then I would have a real first hand view of progress, or lack thereof. I will think about that one. After all, that is what the politicians are saying needs to be done and I doubt they are willing to put their money where their mouth is.
It will be an interesting week ahead. Seems as though I will be busy here and there. I'm not looking forward to Ramadan, I get hungry just thinking about it. Maybe the next war I go visit will be in Venezuela. I hear they have lots of oil and good food and no Ramadan.
jimspiri@yahoo.com
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