Jim Spiri in Iraq

have found my way to FOB Falcon, a small FOB, but
busy, near the southeast part of Baghdad. I will be
busy in the days ahead as the journey winds to
completion. I know nothing of this area, which is
always a good thing, keeps me open to whatever comes
across my path. There is one thing I know already,
that recently there have been some from here who have
paid the ultimate price.

Arriving via helicopter last night from Taji to
Falcon, I was greeted by a soldier who escorted me to
my quarters. Once again, I have been given superb
accommodations compliments of the Army. The room I am
occupying at the moment was the LTC's who most
recently was injured in an IED attack on the roads in
the area. As I walked into the corridor of the
building I would be staying in, there were 12-photos
of soldiers who have lost their lives. Upon reading
the pages of each one, I came to realize that August
4, 2007, just barely a month ago, was a devastating
day for this unit, (1/40 Cav from Ft. Richardson, AK).
Many were lost that day and as I read each account
listed by each photo of soldiers lost, I solemnly
walked to my quarters.

I am at one of many heartbeats of the "surge".

So many stateside hear only the word surge. Here,
they live it, day in and day out. I am constantly
reminded that it is not just words and phrases but an
event that is actually happening. It hits home upon
seeing the photos of those lost. The pace is fast
here, as well as most everywhere I've been recently.
It is not a game. It is war.

Flying out of Taji I was able to view from the air
just how expansive the Baghdad area is. There is a
lot of population in the Baghdad vicinity and one can
only imagine the enormous task of trying to contain
the fight. One cannot help but imagine all the
obstacles just looking down from above. As I've
traveled from place to place and experienced from my
varied vantage points how it all works, I am again in
awe of how a coordinated effort such as this, even
takes place. But that is what is happening. It is
nearly impossible to explain it all in words, but
after a sustained length of time going from place to
place, one begins to see that the effort is a plan,
and the carrying out of the plan is what lays before
my eyes. Of course, what everyone stateside wants to
know is the measure of success and everyone wants that
answer yesterday.

I have come to realize that this is no different than
any other endeavor, it just happens to be war. All of
us make plans, set our sites, attempt to reach our
goals, and embark upon the carrying out of them. This
is what I've seen from a sampling of sorts by my
travels throughout the war zone in the past five
months.

Little by little and place by place and
soldier by soldier, one begins to see that everyone is
more or less reading off the same page. In my time
here in country, I have picked up the practice of
reading books more than I ever have in years past. It
appears to me that on a larger level, so to speak,
that is what all of us are doing. We are reading a
long book. No one knows the ending for in reality we
are in the middle of the book. This seems to be where
all the "dialog" transpires in what we have all termed
the "debate on the war in Iraq".

I do not know how the end of this book turns out. As
I said earlier, we're all just in the middle of it for
the time being. Each place I go is another chapter
and somewhere between all the pages is the "plot".
For some reason, I've been given the opportunity to
read/experience page by page, this living book. It is
not a novel, that's for sure. It is non fiction. But
there are times it feels surreal. What lays ahead in
the upcoming days, no one really knows until they get
to that part.

That is what I'm doing in the last lap of this
journey. Just turning the pages, going from here to
there. I will do my best to keep you all posted and
throw in a few photos for visual effect. I always
liked books that had many photos in them.

Jim Spiri
FOB Falcon, Iraq
jimspiri@yahoo.com