Lost and Left

Just taking a brief left turn from current topics on my mind to expose a more human side of my recent experiences. I have gone through a lot of angst this year in how I view my participation in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Depending on the scope, I have differing attitudes towards Iraq, its people, the 'enemy', and our mission.

Today, we did another CLP mission. Expected it to be business as usual but the initial briefing took a different tone. SSG Cunningham briefed that the locals had become increasingly aggressive due to two factors; the massacre of innocents last week by those goddamn idiots in the 3ID, and the ego-driven aggression of the 101st's Band of Brothers wannabes. First, those dumbasses in the 3ID deserve to get their heads handed to them for being so stupid and scared behind the trigger. No excuse for that, none. They pulled hat little stunt in the same area we do our CLPs so now the locals who were calm and passive really have something to hate us for. Second, the Rambos that came down here posing as a well trained high-speed unit have stirred up more hostility from the locals. I posted before that a few had gotten killed within the first 2 weeks of their arrival here at Caldwell. Understandably so, unfortunately, when you start off with guns-a-blazing. Let me explain. No one cares that they are the 101st. Haji doesn't watch Band of Brothers. So when the 278th left, who were relatively respected amongst the locals, the 101st came in with a sneer and an attitude that they'd show those Nation Guards wimps how to do it. Sure did. Here's a story relayed to me from a soldier that knows the SF commander:

"We have been doing sweeps and patrols for some time before the 101st came here and thought they would take over fully. Instead they asked us (Special Forces) to assist them on some sweeps. We agreed and began a night patrol of a local town. Both teams formed the perimeter around the group of houses where we were to search. The 101st guys had us go in instead of them. So the SF team did a sweep of a few houses and found nothing but cooperative people. On the way back to the trucks, someone on the .50 cal started lighting up the home on the end and screaming at the top of his lungs. The SF ran over to stop him and then got out of there. No one saw a threat, the gunner just got spooked."

How professional. Some may have thought that I am overboard wanting to face the fight, but remember that everyone is better off with someone that respects the combat. Fear has no place down here. Besides, how can you lose your balls behind an M2? Disgusting.

Why does this happen? Two main reason; fear and facelessness. Fear is obvious, some kid gets behind a .50 cal and loses all perspective that an unarmored minivan full of people is NOT a VBIED and no match for an up-armored HMMWV. Similarly, firing on a mud home in the middle of the night because you may have seen a goat move is simple cowardice. At best, these residence have AK-47s. If there would have been insurgents found with RPGs then the SF would have been dragging them out.

Facelessness is what vexes me. Over the course of the year, we've engaged in discussions about who the enemy really is and how to size him up. I recently stated the enemy is a ghost. That is not to say the enemy does not exist or is just an illusion, although I do think that the threat has been sadly overstated. The enemy, and dealing with it, is akin to the boogeyman. As a child, you hear stories of this dangerous creature called the boogeyman that somehow pops up in your room when you least expect it to do you indescribable harm. No one has ever seen him and lived, no one can accurately describe him or prevent him. But he is rumored to be there at any time, any place. Same with insurgents. For most of us, we never get to see the enemy face-to-face. Doing so would allow us to measure him up, identify him, make him real....mortal. Some get to engage the enemy directly and root him out. I admire those soldiers that can root out the real enemy instead of making an enemy like the 101st has seemingly done.

So this all effects my CLP team and I because the usually docile locals now are acting more aggressive and 'stupid' when they see us coming. Vehicles blocked our way in traffic, stares from pedestrians were notably hostile. The lead truck TC emptied a magazine and then some in warning shots just on the trip home. "They can't tell us apart from the 3ID or the 101st, and I can't really blame them." said SSG Cunningham in the briefing. I agree. If those pesky Canadians opened fire on my townspeople, I'd be one of the first out there leading the resistance. Enough said.

Today, I was faced with a fleeting quandary. As we were leaving Cobra Gladiator 9 came across the radio with a warning, "Watch out for the child in the road!" I spotted a small boy no more than 4 years old running across in front of our speeding HMMWVs. He stopped on the opposite side of the road and stood there as we went by. I initially thought that he was just another convoy fan, like so many other Iraqi children. But as my truck, the last truck, passed, I noticed that the little boy was crying at the top of his lungs. That's when I noticed that there were no Iraqi adults around....anywhere. Outside Cobra is nothing but flat field for as far as the eye can see; a few mud huts a significant distance up the road. I wanted to stop, in my mind the risk was minimal, but I couldn't stop the convoy. Where would I have taken the boy anyway? I can only say "stop" and "hello" in Arabic anyway. So we drove on past.

Coming next, the conclusion to Children of the Grave.