Moqtada, Moqtada, Moqtada!

I love what this video symbolizes. It shows the problems of the old times and the new in Iraq all in one culmination of homicide recorded on a cell phone. The Iraqis got to kill Saddam and couldn't even do it with any sense of dignity. Man, this place is headed for more rough times. I am no fan of Saddam but he looks like the only guy in the place with any balls. I had to laugh a bit when I heard the translation of all the background talk. One of the officials actually says, "Hey! Hey! Be quiet! We're trying to do an execution here!" Too surreal.

I GUESS WE WON...

Saddam's dead now. Rumsfeld's dead politically. Both arguably responsible for thousands of unnecessary deaths for their own ambitions. It just depends on the perspective one has. Nothing more or less. Both are considered great, visionary, hard-line heroes in certain circles as well.

Both figures have been discarded after their usefulness was no longer appropriate or necessary. Unfortunately, Saddam won't be on the lecture circuit after his stint of public service.

HOW LITTLE WE UNDERSTAND ABOUT TRIBAL VALUES IN IRAQ

There is nothing more fun sometimes than sitting around with a bunch of other guys BSing about sex stories and other "locker room" fare. Iraqi men are no different than us when it comes to talking about generally base conversation not fit for mixed company. One time in the MCU in Adahmiya we were having sweet tea for a break and a low brow conversation with Kareem, a policeman. A translator was managing to swap our conversation back and forth as we giggled and laughed at each others stories. Kareem was recently married and was seemingly constantly on his cell with his new wife of about 4 weeks. I started giving him a hard time and was asking him questions about Iraqi marriage traditions and how he met his wife. We laughed about things like our "first times" and I asked him about how long his engagement was before he got married. He answered, "About 2 months." I thought that was a rather short time and asked him why he was in such a hurry to get married. "How could you know this woman so well and be so sure in just less than 2 months?" He answered so relaxed, "Oh no problem with that. She is a relative and I have known her for a long time already."

Needlesstosay the conversation took a great pause as all the Americans in the room digested this answer. Nobody laughed outloud but we all looked at each other other with a look of "Did he really just say what I thought he said?" Well that was as good an end to our break as we could expect and we got back to work and Kareem got back to his.

I came to learn alot from this interaction later after a bit of investigation. The values of tribe and family are supreme in Iraqi culture. Iraqis will intermarry with nonblood related cousins, if possible, to maintain tribal and family bonds. These are arranged by the parents of the bride and groom. This situation with Kareem and his wife is very common. Many Iraqis meet and marry through dating just like most Americans too. Nonetheless I came to learn just how different I was in my thinking about such a basic part of Iraqi society. Something we would consider backward, like marrying a cousin, was a normal thing intended to protect the integrity of a given tribe and family. It pointed out how little I understood about Iraqis than I ever thought possible.

How to Piss Off the Locals 102...

I happened across this old photo and remembered what was actually written on this sign. (CLICK ON EITHER TO ENLARGE) The sign says something a little different than the English portion. Roughly, "Stay back 50 meters! We will shoot you!" Most units don't use this sign anymore. It was deemed too offensive and threatening.



Unfortunately, the seed was already planted and 2 strips of duct tape can't undo these types of fears. Iraqis will continue to think we are indescriminate killers no matter what we do. No matter what bad happens, we are blamed as well. No matter how we try we are swimming against a torrent of bad will. I have been stared at so many times with naked hate as we moved through Baghdad. An NCO once told me, "I feel like I am in the Reggae band that showed up at a KKK rally."

YOU CAN'T WIN FOR LOSING...

The above photo was after a group of men tried to grenade us as we moved through this underpass. Everyone in the group, including myself, wanted BLOOD. It is hard to express the thrill, then rush of anger that comes when someone tries to kill you and you realize that you are still alive and have the chance to "pay back". Fortunately, none of the gunners on the vehicles opened up on the rush hour traffic full of innocent civilians. It would have made Haditha look like a walk in the park.

The guys that dropped the grenades had planned this well and waited in the clump of bushes to the right above the road. They were there the entire time under the noses of the police. After they tried to throw the grenades through the hatches of the first couple of Humvees, they ran along the traffic and escaped. Risking the locals was possibly part of the plan of the attack. (CLICK ON PHOTO TO EXPAND)

I have witnessed or talked to dozens of American soldiers who are supremely careful with the power they have with their weapons and held back when the risk to innocents was too great. We were constantly reminded not to shoot wildly. It's sad that the news carries these recent stories of the Marines and Soldiers who have murdered civilians yet haven't examined what attitudes were in place. There are recent stories talking about "being sensitive to locals" training but this was done in all deployed units years ago. These are not new programs, nor have American soldiers been encouraged to take the law in their own hands even when this would seem expedient and justified in the heat of the moment. The "recon by fire" that occurs after an explosion is rare but is understandable, even if not right, once one has had a close encounter with a sniper or IED.

The recent stories about Marines and Soldiers killing indiscriminately sounds like the military hasn't cared until it made CNN but it's just not true. The fact that illegal shootings occur is a fact of every war and the Iraq War is not been without this occurring. The Army has investigated and prosecuted without predjudice many soldiers in and out of theater. Understandably, it's not exactly something the Pentagon's Public Affairs Office has bragged about. Nonetheless, it has happened and is dealt with as it is brought to light.

Immigration Issues...

This is a photo of a man I have been privileged enough to have met and served with in my life. He is SPC Amare and he is a soldier in the US Army. He is also an Iraqi that has lived in the US Since 1993. The above photo (CLICK ON TO ENLARGE) shows him taking the time to give a local girl a stuffed animal while we stopped on the road in Eastern Baghdad after some a**holes tried to grenade us from an overpass. He is brave to a fault. I have personally seen him save and protect many people in Iraq.

His problem you ask? He hasn't gotten his citizenship as an American. Neither the Army nor his own US Senator has a reason for his final swearing in being delayed. He just volunteered and returned to Iraq for the second time. He didn't need to but interpreters are hard to find that speak the Iraqi dialect of Arabic. He went back without hesitation.

Whenever I want to feel like "the system" has shorted me for something, I just need to think about this man who continues to try to effect change at the risk of losing his life over and over with no regret. He called me before he left 3 days ago and I had to wipe away a few tears as I thought on him going back because I knew he would be on lots of missions and was the kind of guy who would run toward an explosion, not away. He is truly a defender of America without the benefit of it's citizenship.

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)

Suicide Car Bombers

If you watch my videos and got here from Google Video, you may have seen my music video where I speed up some convoy footage to music. Even though it's sped up, you'll notice that we move around, through, or stop all traffic around us. Our M1114 Armored Humvees move through traffic unhindered because we will shoot anyone that's deemed a threat. That aggressive posture is because of the above threat, the Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device or VBIED. (Pronounced "Vee-Bid" or "Vee-Bed" among soldiers.) This may also be coupled with other tactical threats like machine gun or rocket fire in an ambush.

In the above photo (CLICK ON IT TO SEE FULL SIZE), some MPs were on a convoy and the attacker simply crossed the median and drove straight at them at high speed. Fortunately, he prematurely detonated at about 20 feet away. The gunner was burned very slightly in a few small areas. The vehicle tolerated the blast and drove back to Rustamiya on it's "run-flat" rim. This was a very disconcerting situation, to say the least, to the crew and the gunner didn't have any real warning. They were all very lucky.

Often, VBIEDs have fail safe methods. More than one person may be in the same car, each with the ability to detonate the charge. New as well as old cars are used. It makes spotting them very difficult. There may be markings on the vehicle for someone making a video of the attack that may give them away but many cars are held together with tape and have 4 colors of paint and primer. There are so many cars around you at any given time, especially in a large city like Baghdad, any vehicle is a potential threat. Hence, the reason we own the road when we move. No local cars are let into convoys...EVER.

And The Embassies Burned...

This is a prototypical antisemitic cartoon (Al-Hayat al-Jadida, 22 March 2000) from the Arab world. It states, "Peace on Earth!" by the Pope and the obviously dirty satanic Jew answering, "Colonies on Earth!" (Arabic is read right to left). I think this one could piss off Jews and Catholics alike. These are commonplace in Arab news papers. A Google search will quickly show several cartoons that show the Star of David and the swastika linked together or even placed on the same Jewish caricature. I am dumbfounded by the duplicity of the outrage that has been expressed by Muslims in the news over the cartoons that show the prophet Mohammed. The expression of violence more so. I don't think these folks understand how much they are damaging the Western view of Islam. The bearded men with turbans dancing near the flames of the different embassies are now burned into so many impressionable minds.

Of course my exposure to Islam is limited. Many of the Muslims I saw in Iraq were intimidated by or outright hated me for my American uniform. That was different. I actually understood the concept of not liking my presence in Iraq by Iraqis as a considered foreign invader. It had nothing to do with religion in my mind. We were stuck with each other as well.

I think that Muslims have been marginalized in the West more by these violent acts. I would consider myself more than just a little culturally sensitive but I just don't get it. Burning flags and protesting doesn't hurt anyone but the invasion and destruction of embassies is an act of war unto itself.

"Killed by Small-Arms Fire"

This is another threat that isn't talked about too much but is very effective in killing soldiers and marines. You'll hear about it in the news most often following a death notice with the above quote used to describe their cause of death. It's the sniper threat. Snipers have adapted very simple and patient methods to killing. They hide near roads and other areas that Americans frequent. Sometimes they will use a distracting technique to set up a patrol to stop in an area. A burning vehicle or an obvious IED have been used to get patrols to dismount and check things out on a given route. This soldier was stopped in such an area and was shot while doing perimeter security. The snipers usually aim for the weak areas like the the sides, neck, and face for kill shots. They are usually patient and only fire one single time, so as to not give away their position.

This soldier (ABOVE) was relatively lucky and the bullet passed through his arm. The next group of soldiers that stopped in this area that day was not so lucky and their E-6 was killed by the same employed shot tactic. Most likely by the same sniper. The body armor called "DAPS" was cut through easily on the sides and he died at Rustamiya. (CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE.)

Getting Nailed...

This is how the dual array of the explosive formed projectile (EFP) and it's sister mine filled with ball bearings treats an M1114 fully-armored Humvee. This Humvee was cut through like a hot knife hit butter. The penetrating cap of the shaped charge cut through the 3 inches of armor and ballistic glass and then had enough energy to kill the driver and maim the gunner. This is a low-tech but high-yield weapon. The armor helps with bullets and the concussions of explosions but it's obviously not much good against this weapon system.

This is the typical cause of death to our troops when "road-side bomb" is used to describe how the given person died in recent news releases. (CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE.)

What Kills Your Sons and Daughters...

I wanted to share this photo that I will publish in a series of photos of how the insurgents kill soldiers and marines in Iraq. This photo is of the infamous platter charges or explosive formed projectile devices that are referred to as "EFPs". It got dog-eared from carrying to preconvoy briefings. The photo inset states the set-up time is minutes but is actually closer to 20 seconds. This means insurgents can camp along a road and set the devices up at their stand-off distances very quickly as a convoy approaches. These charges are set-up with the EFP to penetrate the vehicle and kill the occupants with a soft metal cap fired from an explosive-packed cylinder. A second round is aimed higher to take out the gunner on the Humvee with a similar explosive cylinder packed with ball bearings. These directed charges are extremely powerful and compact. Note their sizes next to the M16 magazines and the M-9 pistol.

The EFP punches through the armor of the M1114 Humvee, like butter, killing occupants and spraying molten shrapnel throughout the inside of the vehicle. The ball bearings shred the gunner. The ball bearings are moving so fast they will not only easily pierce the body armor of an exposed gunner but will destroy the mounted weapons systems and armor often as well.

The secret spice in the sauce of these devices that makes them so powerful compared to the old ways of using artillery projectiles is their use of focused energy in a single vector versus the burst of an artillery shell in all directions. These are very small compared to artillery shells and are designed to penetrate the armor of its target. Artillery shells are actually meant to kill and maim from their detonation's concussion. It is truly a "nail-in-my head" moment to witness what this does to your friends and comrades-in-arms. (CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE.)

A Dead Friend...

I knew this great NCO and his name was MSG Tulsa Tuliau. The first time I met him in Iraq, I knew he was special. He was a man who's presence in any room was hard not to notice. We weren't best buddies but we talked and chatted often as we crossed paths on Rustamiyah at chow or at the showers getting our morning hygiene.

He was big... really big.
He was tough looking ... really tough looking.
He was proud to be Samoan... really proud.
And he was proud to be an artilleryman in the US Army... really proud.

He was so perfect physically, I thought he could survive anything... really anything.

A roadside bomb killed him and 2 other tough soldiers, SFC Casey Howe and LTC Leon James their commander on the 26th of September, 2005 as they went to train Iraqi Public Order Brigades. I've known since the 29th but I had to see his picture in a death notice to believe it.

I can only lament for him, his widow, and their 2 daughters.

The last time I saw him I told him to be careful and it was great to have known him. I never thought it would be permanent. I joked with him about "kicking ass" at the Public Order Brigades, to get them into shape. He smiled and wished me well.

He died like most in Iraq from an unseen enemy. It is crushing to me to see the loss of such a vital man. He like all, we have lost there, are more than another number in the news as we march toward 2000 dead and beyond.

Another Nail...

So another tidbit hits the news in the last 24 hours telling of Pfc. Lynndie England getting 3 years for humiliating prisoners. There is more here than meets the eyes and ears in the news. Just take a whiff.

Take a look at this Iraqi guy's back. These concentric rings about the diameter of a cigarette are ... you guessed it, cigarette burns. The Iraqi powers that be are very motivated to get a confession because of the bias their "legal" system has toward it's value, so they get them ANY way they can. This includes long and repeated brutal torture as seen here. In this guys case, he was arrested by not the police but the Mahdi Organization.

Now Here Is The Part That Is Complicated...

The Mahdi Organization was considered a terrorist organization started in Sahdr City by Shiites just after the fall of Saddam. It's original name was the Mahdi Army. It is somewhat like Hezzbollah, having both military, political, and charity wings. These guys were swapping bullets with us until the Iraqi government made peace and let them patrol Sadr City in Baghdad openly with weapons just like official policemen earlier this year. This equals one day being able to shoot on sight an "enemy inusurgent" and the next day, literally, a the same guys can walk around and must be left alone unless they post a direct threat to coalition forces. The Mahdi Organization even has it's own courts seperate from the official Iraqi legal system but run under a religious system. They can torture with the best of them from the "Saddam" days. Unfortunately for anyone accused of a crime in Baghdad, this is what may await you, especially if you have some money they might extract as well. That's a story for another time.

Yes, my RebulicanDemocraticNonvotingInvolvedRadicalDudeChicks, between these guys, the Iraqi Police, the Iraqi Army, and the Iraqi Public Order Brigades torture has made a big come back. Rape is a popular tool for both men and women arrested. Swapping stories with other soldiers reveal this to be broad problem.

The torture that the Iraqis have especially excelled at is by beating the hands and feet until the nails fall off or are helped off with a set of pliars. They simply take a rolling pin sized wooden rod and fasten a loose strap over it at each end of the rod. They place your hands or feet between the strap and rod, then tighten the strap with the rod by rolling it. It holds the hands or feet easily. Thats when they "get medieval on your ass" and whip you with 1 inch PVC pipe on your hands or feet. Now whether you are guilty or not, you are very motivated to get this to stop, and will usually admit to anything to stop it.

Eventually all these guys talk to their families and friends and tell these stories and show their marks. Hence, this is one of the many reasons that so many Iraqis have little trust in the new system. (CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE.)

First thought...

So you think that we are winning in Iraq and your tax dollars are hard at work? We may be fighting insurgents financed, in part, by US taxpayers. You are thinking, "How the f$#% can I, a RebulicanDemocraticNonvotingInvolvedRadicalDudeChick, be funding the people who are killing my countrymen in any way?"

Here's How It Works.

The US Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and other US entities pay for everything off base in CASH in Iraq. The banking system is pretty much still totalled and very corrupt. If, for example, you need to make a project happen in your sector, you submit a proposal and its eaisly approved by your commander because they have a monsterous budget for improvements in their battle space and are very encouraged to "make things happen". Lets say, for this example, you want to build a sewer system in a given area and a road to better the lives of its residents. We are usually fixing what Saddam didn't or we accidentally happened to obliterate during "Shock and Awe". These projects are not be being built by Brown and Root, et al. These are built by Iraqi contractors. Almost all off-base improvements that you, I, and our grandchildren's grandchildren are paying for are in cash to LOCAL IRAQI CONTRACTORS.

Now after your discussion with the contractor, he gives you a bid for 2 million dollars for these things to happen. You go up the chain of command, get it approved in a couple days, go to the "Green Zone" and pick up 2 million dollars and pay the contractor. He will have to sign for it but that is pretty much it.

Where the 2 million goes from there is anyone's guess. One must understand that the insurgents KNOW who is doing business with coalition forces. They watch our bases intently and have spies in and around ALL of them.

It is no great stretch to imagine the contractor approached by a man from Al Queda Iraq and paying him "insurance". Better yet the contractor may be just helping out his local insurgent cell because he just f@#$ing hates us being in his country. (CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE.)