Everything OK

Just a quick post to say that we are both doing ok. Thanks Pebblepie for the Christmas wishes.

This site has been inactive for a long time, but it's not completely dead; we hope there will be future posts as possible.

TJ

In response to MKL and BC's comments...

Ok, ok, I'll post something. But I want the end of that ghost story. I already know the plot, but that won't spoil a thing!

Well, it's been over 5 months since I've been in Iraq, so I don't really feel qualified to post anything substantial... I could recoup old memories unposted, but they're all stale... or unpostable!

For old time's sake, though, I guess I can make a short comment.

Since I left Iraq I've spent 4 months traveling the world, and have been back in the US for one month (anyone have any jobs going, by the way?). It's great to be back home. But it's odd to see the coverage and reaction to the war, and it's really irritating to see people like Cindy Sheehan.

I know Cindy has been swept under the rug by the horror of Katrina, but there's still a visible undertone of a chorus demanding a quick exit from Iraq. I want to tell you a reason why that chorus is not only wrong, but is immoral. I could provide several logical or political arguments, but I want to provide a personal argument.

Only two or three weeks ago BC called me, and said -

"TJ, the reason I'm calling is that I just left Hayder's house."

'Hayder' is an Iraqi friend of ours, a senior official, with whom I spent at least one day a week, be it in interminable meetings, or in ridiculously low-flying helicopters, or ducking around corners in an insurgent stronghold, or sharing his wife's cooking. Suffice to say he is quite a good friend. BC continued:

"His brother and his two nephews - his brothers' sons - were kidnapped two days ago. Today their dead bodies were found dumped by the side of a road. Hayder is having a memorial for them right now at his house, I think you should call."

I was heartbroken. I pictured Hayder, the tough guy who can make everyone from tribal leaders to US Generals blanche, but whose armor melts as soon as his grandkids come home, and I knew it had to be a hard, hard blow.

I called Hayder at once, prepared for a very depressing conversation. When he picked up, I said, from my heart, "I heard what happened to your brother, and I am so, so sorry."

His reply blew my mind:

"Allahu Akbar" - God is Great - "We all die. I am so happy that my brother and my nephews died in the name of freedom. There is no greater honor."




What do you say to a man like that? What does Cindy say to a man like that? Yes, there are myriads of problems with our efforts in Iraq. But we now have partners - friends - out there who are losing their families to terrorism, and whose reaction is only to thank God that they died for freedom and not for tyranny. To abandon these people would be unthinkable.

I know that for every Hayder there are thousands of Iraqis who curse both houses, or who curse America. But I cannot abandon the Hayders of Iraq. It's a patronizing comparison, but I think of Iraq like a child rescued by social services from an abusive home, but then dumped in the South Bronx and left to fend for himself. Job done? Work complete?

Not while I still have a conscience.

TJ

I know it's not really fair that I haven't posted anything in so long without saying something, so I'm sorry about that. My sister actually emailed me and told me about the comments here, and I have been so wrapped up in work that i literally havent't been to our own blog in months.

So to all of you who are wondering, I am still here in Iraq. I am still safe. To all of you our there who have taken the time and shown an interest, thank you. I can't say how refreshing it is to have total strangers show such an interest in life out here.

To the reporters looking for some new insight for your stories, thank you too for your interest. You will understand that our anonymity prevents us from entertaining such requests. Take what you will from the stories here. They are true.

Seems like just yesterday I was saying, "well, elections coming up." Looks like we're back there again. 43 days the the referendum. We have roughly triple the amount of Iraqi Security Forces as we did on January 30, so securing the elections shouldn't be as challenging in that regard. There are some new challenges though -- both politically and on the security landscape. Maybe I will take some time and talk about those in the near future. Then again, maybe I won't. We'll see.

And right, of course, don't worry. The ghost story is coming soon. And I swear, there really was a ghost involved.

Stand By

Priorities have shifted, and I will unfortunately not be able to blog for at least a few more days. I'm sorry about this, but it's one of things I can't really control. Don't think we are gone for good. Sometimes you just have to take things one at a time. Right now, I have to focus on work. I hope you all understand.

-BC

I forgot my favorite from that day. I'll let you steal this one. Click to enlarge.

After the ceremony, the new officers relax.

I told you they were excited... They certainly have cause to celebrate.

Bearing the flag...

Iraqi Police Officers forming up for their graduation in Baghdad. These guys were pretty excited.

I've been out for a bit. Promise to finish the Ghost Story soon but in the meantime here are a few pictures. This first one is a soldier checking out the Iranian border. No, don't worry, he's not actually shooting at anyone. Those mountains in the distance are Iran.

Ghost Story (part 1)

Well it looks like I let my emotions get the best of me in the past few days. It has been another one of those rollercoaster weeks, as you can see by my post below. TJ called me a "cheeseball" for it, but I also know that he understands (you know you do, pal). Anyway, to lighten the mood for this week, I'm going to tell a story that we've been meaning to tell for months. It was one of those that we definitely couldn't tell right away, and it is one of those that still needs a good bit of censoring. But it is a good story still, even with some of the details left out. It took place in Baghdad, on a dark, icy, winter night. This, my friends, is a ghost story…

Sometime around 2200 hrs, after our usual day of work, TJ and I sat staring at our computers. This is typically our first real quiet time of the day, and it is not uncommon to stick around until after midnight. I'm pretty sure that around this time TJ got a frantic call on his cell phone from someone requesting a meeting, without much of an explanation. To make a long story short, he found himself 20 minutes later outside a small roadside market meeting with a senior Iraqi official (call him Khalid). I got the call from TJ a few short minutes after his meeting:

"Be ready to leave in the parking lot in 5 minutes. I'm on my way with Khalid and his deputy. It's going to be a long night."

While this sort of thing isn't entirely abnormal in our job, it's also not a regular occurrence. If anything, it is an example of the fact that you can never know what to expect at any given time in our jobs. Along with one other colleague who was also working late, I got some gear together and scrambled for the door. We packed some extra equipment for TJ, who had left in a rush, and for Khalid's deputy, who was to be working with us that evening.

So off we went to the parking lot, jumping into TJ's barely stopped car, only to be sped off to another location in the vicinity. There, a small group of vehicles were waiting to pick us up. Off we went on a midnight excursion into the middle of Baghdad, with only a slight understanding of the mission ahead. What I can say is this: there was apparently someone hiding in a building that the Iraqi and Coalition Forces would have loved to apprehend. The Iraqi deputy we had with us was there to represent Iraqi Security Forces in the apprehension.

After arriving on site, we received a quick brief from the officer in charge. Plan was for TJ and I to walk up to the building with our Iraqi colleague and request that the suspect surrender himself (there was actually quite a bit more detail to it, but you get the idea). The building had been monitored for the previous 6 hours, and we were told that no one had escaped the security cordon. So off we went, leading the way to the building.

"Ring the doorbell and see if the terrorists will come out willingly," the Commander reminded us. "If they start shooting, just hit the deck and wait for us to extract…"
And with these final words of reassurance, we set off on our mission, traversing a barren field with Humvees and QRFs moving in to support. After setting up our final support positions, TJ and I were finally ready to make our big entry. Tensions were running high, but we bit the bullet and took those final steps up to the gate...

[Stay tuned for the continuation this story. It has been a very busy few days so I can't finish it now, but I figured i would publish what I have for now. And trust me, the ghosts do come in the second half.]