Letters from Baghdad

[yesman065]

Sent: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 6:12 am
Subject: The wild wild West of Baghdad is getting stranger as the week goes on!


Well summer is in full swing here in the Wild Wild West of Baghdad. We
are having temperatures getting above 120 degrees each day. It will be
like that for the next 6 weeks HOT! We made the news again yesterday
and it was not a good thing. Well first off I was coming back from
dinner last night @ 6 pm Baghdad time, I was back in the palace and
than POW! ...Off went a huge VBIED, (Vehicle Bourne Independent
Explosive Device, a truck loaded with TNT/C4 suicide attack), it was
outside the wall of the complex. It was very powerful for you could feel
it inside the building and it blew out a window. I was almost knocked to
the ground by this woman running out of her office and diving down in
the hallway. It looks like the "neighbors" are getting bolder or more
desperate for they are now getting closer to the "International Zone,
IZ" here. We just got rid of the "Baghdad Rocket Man" and now it seems
the suicide bombers are now moving/focusing in on this area. The VBIED
ended up killing 50 people and wounding 49 all local Iraqi's. This type
of attack was also done a day earlier when the Iraqi soccer team won its
game and the fans came out into the street and one of those VBIED also
showed up and did the same type of damage to the fans

Earlier in the day a group in the Iraqi parliament announced that they
were leaving and not going to participate for a while. Well there are
all of these "benchmarks" that are to be meet by September, per
president Bush, and we are here to help them meet the benchmarks and
now they leave. It is a different world the way the process flows here
in Baghdad.

Later on this week the Iraqi soccer team plays Saudi Arabia in the final
of the Asia soccer cup final. We got to be ready again for all of the
celebratory fire and of course got to keep watching for these VBIED's.
Well there is only so much I can do, so I think I will do something
practical and that I have full control over. I am heading back to my
hooch this afternoon and do my laundry! I know it is Friday back in
America so after work everybody should just relax stop off and have a
cold one and don't let the traffic get to you, you'll make it home OK.!

CDR "Downtown Baghdad"

[yesman065]

Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:01:19 +0400
Subject: A view of the home stead in down town Baghdad

I was able to get a picture of the palace that I work in during the day
and into the night, (work hours here are 07;00 AM till 09:00PM
Monday-Monday, 7 days a week), this was taken before the invasions. We
have walls up along the river, but as you can see, across the river is
where the "neighbors" live. The neighbors are not all that friendly and
I don't think you want to have them swim over and stop by for a cook
out. The "Baghdad Rocket Man" and his crew are some where in there and
he lets us know it...well, I mean he did...the U.S. Army found
him.....he has a different home now.

[yesman065]

I finally got a chance to reduce and post this pic

[xoxoxoBruce]

The question that comes to mind is, how does the "rocket man" fire a bunch of rockets, on multiple occasions, from a location in an obviously crowded neighborhood, without 500 people knowing who he is and what he's doing?

The obvious answer is they knew, and at least, didn't care, if they weren't cheering him on.

[DanaC]

The obvious answer is they knew, and at least, didn't care, if they weren't cheering him on.

Or, are reluctant to involve themselves in something that may or may not get them and their families killed.

[Undertoad]

From a Yon entry, the US Mil can tell pretty much exactly where a rocket has been fired from, once it's been fired.

[yesman065]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

From a Yon entry, the US Mil can tell pretty much exactly where a rocket has been fired from, once it's been fired.

He moves, well he used to move.
There were more than one - he had a "crew"

Originally Posted by CDR "Downtown Baghdad"

The "Baghdad Rocket Man" and his crew are some where in there and
he lets us know it...well, I mean he did...the U.S. Army found him.....
he has a different home now. .

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by yesman065

Now I know the Philadelphia Philles have lost 10,000 games, but I have not heard of those fans doing anything like this.

Maybe if more of the fans were armed, they'd have more of an incentive to win.

I'm always amazed when people fire guns straight up into the air with no thought as to what happens when those bullets come down again.

I think the reason they wore those 'civil defense' helmets was more to protect themselves from the flak coming back to earth than the bomb damage.

[Usup]

November 11, 2005, 8:22 a.m.
I Never Knew His Name
The true face of Muslim martyrdom.

By Chaplain Carlos C. Huerta
MOSUL, IRAQ — It is October 11 as I write this, the day before Yom Kippur. The Day of Atonement is supposed to be a day of fast, reflection, and prayer for the Jews: a time when I reflect on my own actions and intentions from the previous year. But the images I carry into my fast are sad ones, of someone else’s child, a Muslim child. There is blood spattered on my uniform despite the fact that I haven’t been hit or wounded. And yet it is B-positive blood, my own blood, mixed with the blood of a nine-year old Iraqi boy who was observing his fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Today there was a terrorist attack at a place most people have never heard of. Unless you’re a soldier stationed here, the name Tal Afar would probably be insignificant to you. But Tal Afar means a lot to me.

Today some terrorists decided to kill some Iraqi citizens — good Muslims — in order to discourage them from voting on Saturday on the new constitution. These terrorists called themselves Muslims and claimed that what they did was for Allah. But their connection to Islam is about as true and strong as Timothy McVeigh’s connection to Christianity. What they did is so contrary to the holy teachings of the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) that to say their name in the same breath as Islam is considered sacrilege.
I was at the Combat Support Hospital — known as CASH — when the call came: Terrorists had hit, no American casualties, but 22 Iraqis wounded, five of whom were children under the age of twelve. I stood on the tarmac watching as the MEDEVAC choppers came in one at a time to deliver the wounded. Many of the wounded had no legs, or deep chest, head, and abdominal wounds. I noticed the children, two in particular who had severe head trauma. I followed them into the ER and then watched our physicians struggle in the OR to stabilize them. After the physicians did what they could, the children were taken to the ICU. I helped carry their stretchers into the ICU and stood by to see if I could help. I had a serious conversation with G-d and pleaded with him to take care of these kids — kids who should be playing soccer, or doing their homework for school the next day, or helping their parents get ready for supper. Both of these children had skulls so badly shattered that their heads needed to be bandaged to keep their brains in. I watched as the nurses and medics gave them pint after pint of blood and as their head bandages turned from white to red. I held the youngest one’s hands, reassuring him to the extent I could.

As they were giving the youngest his third pint of blood, I heard the nurse say that they were running low on O Positive, the universal donor, and that due to the tremendous internal bleeding, this child would need more. I asked what blood type he was, and it turned out both children were B Positive, my own blood type. I went to the head nurse and asked if I could donate blood for the youngest child and they quickly hooked me up and took a pint. After giving it, I went back to see him; he already my blood hooked up to him and surging in his veins.
I held his tiny hand and watched as the monitors told the story: His heart was in trouble owing to the brain trauma. I watched as he fought for his life, fighting to breathe. But I knew he was dying and there was nothing I could do. This innocent Muslim child, who had been observing Ramadan the way a child does, was now dying despite the fact that my blood was moving though his veins, despite the fact that I pleaded with G-d to do what I thought was right, to keep him alive. But G-d had other plans.
I didn’t want this boy to die hearing the strange sounds of a hospital and a foreign language. I wanted him to be comforted by the last sounds he heard, by words that were close to his heart, words that spoke of home and faith. I started to recite the Holy Koran to him.
My close friend, a fellow clergyman, Imam Burgos, the imam for the United States Military Academy, had helped me learn Surahs of the Holy Koran, and I chanted these out to the boy in Arabic. As I chanted, I heard the monitor go flat-line. I held his little hand, as my blood moved through his tiny pure heart that could no longer bear the evil of this world.

I held his hand and cried — cried for a boy whose name I didn’t know, for an innocent Muslim child who gave his life for his G-d, Allah, for his country. He was the true face of Muslim martyrdom. With tears streaming down my face, I looked down and noticed blood on my uniform. His blood, my blood, our blood had dripped from his open head wound onto my uniform.
An hour or so later I walked away into the waiting area as they prepared his body for transport. There I met Chaplain Mark Greschel, a Catholic priest. He looked at me and knew that I was in trouble. He sat with me, somehow knowing that the pain we felt was best not mixed with words. He quietly put his arms around me, and we both sat there in silence. I thought to myself, isn’t this the kind of world we are fighting for — a world where an Imam teaches a Rabbi words from the Holy Koran to comfort a young Muslim boy, and that rabbi himself is comforted by a Christian, a Catholic priest.
On this day before Yom Kippur, the Jewish Fast Day, the Day of Atonement, I ask myself: What is Ramadan all about? Is it about killing, or is it about seeking out G-d through fasting and prayer? For those of us who choose not to carry hatred and prejudice in our hearts, the answer is simple. For the holy Islamic community, Ramadan is a time of introspection, of hope, of belief that if we all work together, we can truly build a better world for all our children, even those whose names we don’t know. There is so much that we can learn about faith and G-d through other religions; there is so much that our Muslim brothers and sisters can teach us about our Creator, about personal sacrifice and selfless service. But if we consider their faith only with mistrust, hatred, and indifference, then this nine-year-old angel with his faith in G-d means nothing. Then we have diminished our own faith in G-d. If we objectify the Muslim people as well as those who don’t share our exact views on the nature of G-d, if we see them as less than our brothers and sisters, then we as a human race are lost.

There are many Americans who ask why we’re here. Why are we sacrificing so many American lives and placing so many in harm’s way? What is the purpose of it all? Well, I don’t really know the big picture. But from my small sector of the battlefield, the reason I am here is to give “the least of these,” my children over here, a shot at “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” — just like my other children living in America.
I didn’t give birth to him, but on this fast day in Ramadan, on this day before Yom Kippur, I lost a son, someone who had my blood coursing through his body. And for him, I choose not to hate, I choose to follow the path that the great Sheik Ibn Arabi followed when he said, “Love is my Faith and my religion and wherever its caravans take me, that is where I shall follow, for love is my religion and faith.” Let us join hands with our Muslim brothers and sisters and let this be the message of Ramadan that we carry in our hearts and take with us. G-d has a new Muslim angel in Paradise. I hope to tell you his name one day when I meet him again.

[xoxoxoBruce]

And how about the hundreds of people that knew who "rocket man' was and what he was doing.... can they "say their name in the same breath as Islam"?

[yesman065]

I have no idea - I don't get any answers - All I get are his emails - I don't think he gets mine or at best they are censored - now that I think about it - I don't think he has directly answered of the questions I ask.

[xoxoxoBruce]

That's OK, man. We know you're just sharing news from the front and it's much appreciated. Thank you.

[yesman065]

Your welcome, But you really got me thinking now - In fact, I'm rereading the emails I sent him and his responses to see if he directly answered any of my questions. Now I'm also pondering #40 for an answer. . .

well at least I'm multitasking :shrug

[xoxoxoBruce]

Ah, but #40 was directed at Usup.

Originally Posted by Usup

snip~These terrorists called themselves Muslims and claimed that what they did was for Allah. But their connection to Islam is about as true and strong as Timothy McVeigh’s connection to Christianity. What they did is so contrary to the holy teachings of the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) that to say their name in the same breath as Islam is considered sacrilege.~snip

Originally Posted by Bruce

And how about the hundreds of people that knew who "rocket man' was and what he was doing.... can they "say their name in the same breath as Islam"?

[Usup]

Everyone has free will.... That doesn't make it right.