Journal: ‘ThunderCat6’ gets to know Baghdad

-------------------------------------------

DATE: June 29, 2006
TO: Friends, family and colleagues

SUBJECT: 302 Days Left — Happy Fourth of July 2006

All,

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all who have sent supplies. I did my first two successful humanitarian aid drops using the goods I have been sent, and even better I have found a true philanthropist who can help me find the most needy. She is a wealthy Kurdish woman from an influential family in West Baghdad and she works with a dozen orphanages and tons of various charities. Six months ago she almost single-handedly stopped a corrupt sheikh who was using orphan boys for child labor and the girls for prostitution. Pretty good credentials.

Women in combat
I think this war has put the nail in the coffin on that hotly debated topic. I serve next to women every day and they perform admirably and just as well as the men. In terms of living arrangements, showers and sleeping quarters — we worked it out. In the case of my company, we even have them in the (Humvee) gunner position, the most dangerous and critical in the convoy. Here is an excerpt from my journal from my first few days in theater when the team we were replacing took us outside the wire for the very first time and we rode in their vehicles:

So much for women in combat, because my first gunner was introduced to me simply as “Dee.” … She looked mean, real mean. Junkyard dog mean. She had the look of a killer, a confident, cocky killer. She was pulling all her gear on and not doing much talking. I really didn’t know how I was going to react to women in combat. But, when it came, it was a non-event. I didn’t see Dee as a woman, I saw her as a soldier and something in the way she walked, she talked and clearly something in her eyes told me she was a warrior — not a girl, not a woman, a warrior. 

The gunner is the person who sits up in the turret and mans the mounted machine gun for the convoy. It is the most dangerous and most important position when and if we get into a fight. I dropped my weapon into the front right seat — the spot for the TC or truck commander, also called the vehicle commander (VC), not venture capitalist. Dee politely but firmly turned to me and told me to turn the weapon down, into the floor. “I don’t want you to shoot me during the trip, Sir. Muzzle down, please.” She quickly, expertly and almost nonchalantly grabbed it and spun it upside down. Damn!! I looked like an idiot. My first trip, trying to look competent and solid, and the gunner sees me make a rookie mistake. …

The war
The real threats are not necessarily the Iraqi nationalist insurgents. The true current threats are the jihadists using Iraq as a frontline for their pan-Islamic war against the U.S. and the West in general and the growing (but increasingly fragmented) sectarian insurgent groups and militias seeking instability and working 24/7 to leave the new Iraqi government off balance, vulnerable and eventually unsuccessful. Once again, our job is not to control this new country; our job is to give them the capability and capacity to operate on their own, without US, so we can go home.  Plus there are a lot of Iranian and Syrian tourists visiting Sadr City these days ... Oops, did I say tourists? I meant terrorists.

A Civil Affairs team leader was going to attend a meeting at a government center 100 miles south of here and was shot in square in the chest by a sniper just as he stepped out of his vehicle. Armor plate stopped the round — no injury, not even a bruised chest — thank God for the body armor!! But as with many events that take place all around us each day, it serves as a warning that people are watching our every move and waiting for an opportunity to kill us.

A gunfight broke out the other day just outside our FOB, less than a quarter-mile away. No one even blinked, including me. Two days ago, I was sitting in an Iraqi government building downtown and a fire fight broke out across the street. (I was on the sixth floor.) No one even got up from their chair, except me. Strange, very strange.

Progress
I see progress every day — EVERY day. It is happening in little increments, but slowly and surely things are improving. The issue with the expectations of the U.S. is that we are applying our timelines and our expectations. In the Arab world, things move more slowly, and there are cultural, religious and social issues in play that the vast majority of people don’t understand.

One small example: It is dishonorable to say “I don’t know,” so it is difficult to know if someone truly understands a project or issues you need them to deal with. Also, time is a fluid thing here (which you all know drives me nuts!). There is an omnipresent saying, “enshala,” meaning “God willing”; it is really just a fatalistic built-in excuse not to get things done in time or to miss a meeting you promised to attend, or not do a task at all. It didn’t get done — oh well, God must not have wanted it done.

Another example: Most manual labor/work is VERY dishonorable — money does not have nearly the value that honor and respect do. Therefore, someone would rather have an office job that pays them $10 a day than pick up trash for $10 an hour, or $100 an hour for that matter.

If you spend 80 to 90 percent of your energy on planning and operations just staying alive, that only leaves you 10 to 20 percent to focus on actual work, improvements and projects. Oh, by the way, if there are outward signs of progress, the insurgents target and attack those installations and key locations. Or, they kill the key Iraqi people working there, or their families.

There are no good guys and bad guys. There are truly great Shi’as and also truly great Sunnis; there are evil Shi’a and evil Sunni. It is not black and white. Just the other day, after attending a meeting with an officer in my company, a leading community sheikh, Sunni imam and government leader, was shot three times on his way home. Why? He was effective. He was making a difference and helping with progress. He was a good man and will be missed by the people in his neighborhood. His crimes? Being effective, making a difference, refusing to cower to threats and intimidation tactics. There are still powerful and well-organized groups trying to prevent short- and long-term success.

Don’t get me wrong, I rarely disagree with the key facts in the articles I read, I simply disagree with the tone, analysis, opinions and conclusions. Keep in mind these are not Americans working on the sewer or electrical projects for profit, it is Iraqis. There are tribal issues, religious issues, corruption issues, outright theft issues …

Next time you hear someone at the café or dinner party say they want our troops home, you ask them what they really know about what is going on over here and what the consequences of leaving now would do for the long-term reputation and security of the United States. We as Americans need to think about the future and what message we are sending if we leave this half done.

It is too easy mentally to say you are against the war. Who isn’t against killing and Americans dying? I am — and there is one particular tall, thin, ugly American I know I don’t want to die. I simply ask people to expand their views and truly understand the issues, and engage in a true debate. That is what makes America great.

I am not trying to change anyone’s mind on the war — I am truly not, especially since I don’t have a fixed opinion and I am here. I am simply asking each person to truly understand the real issues, all the facts, and think through anticipated consequences and implications of premature withdrawal. (Although I must admit I say a little prayer each night that if they do draw down, my unit is earmarked for early departure.) ;-)

The new government has only been in place less than a month and already people are writing the obituary. Relax, be patient.

“I was taught that the way of progress is neither swift nor easy.”
— Marie Curie (1867-1934), Polish-born French chemist, Nobel Prize laureate

Life
I spent two hours by myself earlier this week cleaning both my 9mm Beretta and my M-4 rifle. It was surprisingly calming and quietly enjoyable. I found myself reflecting on how many different times and places I have found myself cleaning weapons over the years.  I certainly thought that part of my life was done — but for some strange reason I enjoyed it that day and took pride in taking the time to make each of them meticulously clean. I got them even cleaner than when I was originally issued them. 

I still find myself asking the question each day, “How did I end up back in the Army?” It is still a bit surreal for me from time to time. I still haven’t quite committed to being back in, even in a war zone, strange but true. I feel like this is some giant pause button and I can’t wait to hit play again in my real life.

In my free time at night, I am not pouring over SOPs (standard operating procedures) and Army manuals; instead, I am reading industry newsletters and attempting to stay connected back home. I have also watched the first three seasons of Seinfeld and almost every movie Clint Eastwood has ever made. You can get DVDs here for $2 or a collection of 20 movies for $20.

The heat isn’t so bad. I do really want to claim that I am dying out here in the 118-degree sun, but the reality is you simply have to drink a BOAT-load of water. When we leave on missions everyone brings with them two 2-liters bottles of water — frozen solid. They melt soon enough, believe me. By the end of a typical three- to four-hour mission, they are boiling hot. We have all heard the expression “We ran out of hot water”; well, now I know what it is like to run out of cold water. The water tanks cook in the midday sun and by 10 a.m. there is only very warm and hot water in the barracks, no cold. Also, when the wind blows, it feels exactly like when you open an oven to check your food and the air pushes into your face.

Feeling old
I just realized the other day that the class of 2006 that just graduated West Point last month wasn’t even born when I first entered in 1985. Ouch.

Projects
Young girl — We are working very hard to get a 4-year-old girl with a heart condition out west for surgery. I have my fingers crossed.

Baghdad water — This $21 million project is the first of many joint ventures that will be co-managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Amanat (municipal workers), in this case the Baghdad Water Authority division of the Amanat. For this project, we are hiring 10 contractors to work simultaneously in various sectors to put water networks in place, including main road lines up to and including piping/network connections into approximately 50,000 buildings. I was supposed to be simply observing at the most recent kick-off meeting, but I had to intervene because the two groups were arguing about $25,000 worth of material testing. It was ludicrous. I simply made everyone in the room realize how ridiculous it was to hold up and delay an important $21M infrastructure project over 25 grand.

When completed, it will provide water for 1 million people. …

Two items to add to the request list for this month — Old musical instruments and paint sets (coloring books are great). The woman I mentioned above goes to the orphanages and finds talented youngsters and she is trying to start a special art and music school just for them.

Clothes, school supplies and vitamins (generic are fine) are a big hit — keep them coming.

MORE FROM CHARITY BEGINS AT WAR

Charity Begins at War Section Front

Part 1: From executive suite to Baghdad Journal: Called back to active duty — ‘No joke’ Day 2: Minimal training for a huge task Journal: Readying for ‘very dangerous job’ Part 3: Venturing ‘outside the wire’ Journal: ‘ThunderCat6’ arrives in Baghdad Part 4: It all comes back to garbage Journal: Goodbye Baghdad; hello bed rest Part 5: Charitable spirit survives Journal: A new foundation Charity Begins at War Section Front   Add Charity Begins at War headlines to your news reader: