How To Piss Off The Locals 101...

Because the security situation is so dire, we always have to block the roads and keep all the locals away whenever we check things out. This creates huge traffic snarls. We can't let anyone near us and every Iraqi knows we will shoot first and ask questions later.

The settlement payout for any given Iraqi killed by coalition forces is $1000 to $2500 if the family can show that it was the fault of US forces. This isn't much compensation for your Mom or Dad who caught some lead while being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Often soldiers will spray the area after a sudden explosion or other attack on their unit takes place. This is called "recon by fire".

In the above photo, (CLICK ON IT TO ENLARGE), we stopped rush hour traffic for 20 minutes to check out a strange bag of trash in 110 degree heat. This is a four lane interstate road called Route Pluto running near Sahdr City in Eastern Baghdad. The cars lined up behind us were full of hot and pissed off people but not one would dare approach us. It would be suicidal.

So You Think You May See Something On The Road...

So what do you do when car in front of your patrol tosses out a bag of trash in front of you?

You stop and check it out.

Its standard to check out anything unusual even an errant bag of trash. This exposes you to possible fire from the neighborhoods on either side of the road. Its a very tense moment to approach these things and keep an eye out in all the vectors around you. Fortunately, in this case nothing happened and the bag of rubbish was just rubbish.
(CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE.)

Where the Ramadan Bunny Hides His Eggs...

Many people don't understand why it's so hard to see IEDs. One must understand how trashed up the streets are. As you can see here, there are several piles of dirt and other crap along the road. There is no garbage service in most places and people just dump their stuff and burn it in place. As your patrol moves over a given route, one must notice anything out of the ordinary. Investigation of a new bag of rubish is a normal thing. The continued deaths from IEDs show how difficult it is to find them. (CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE)