Letter from Iraq

This is from a friend of mine who is working for the CPA in Iraq.

 Since my last update in January, I've been shot at twice, had three convoys I was in hit with road-side bombs (IEDs -- improvised explosive devices), been targeted for an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) attack near the Syrian border, received death threats, been accused by the former Governor of Ninewa of firing him because I'm Jewish, and live on a military camp where we get mortared, RPG'd and rocketed with regularity. Other than that things are fine. 

 Probably the single most trying day I have had in Iraq was Thursday, April 8, a day that will be forever etched in my memory. I was in the front passenger seat of a two-car convoy when we were strafed by machine gun fire on a narrow bridge across from the Grand Mosque of Mosul -- a classic choke point where many have been hit. My immediate reaction was that we'd been hit in a drive-by, but it was too loud for AK-47 rounds, we learned later it was a heavy machine gun stationed in a near-by building. We strongly believe we were set-up -- a long story I won't get into here -- but everyone in our car was okay -- we were in an a Level-4 armored Suburban, and took two rounds, one of which would have ripped through the engine and destroyed the electronics except for a quarter-inch steel plate. The other just missed the tire. There was no time to be scared, it just happened too fast. But what was frightening was the message that came in over the radio from the other car, a "soft" Suburban carrying 5 PSD (personal-security detail -- bodyguards -- our car had one shooter) that was accompanying me to my meeting. They'd been hit. The six minutes it took for us to get to the Combat Surgical Hospital (CSH, pronounced "cash") at Mosul airport were excruciating -- but I can say we all stayed calm and did our jobs. Donnie drove like the former Blackhawk pilot he was, I handled the comms and radioed in our positions, and the PSD took care of their car.

The scene when we got to the CSH was harrowing -- Charlie C., sitting behind the driver, was thrashing about, clearly in shock and in no control over his body. One guy was holding his head and another trying to strap a tourniquet around his leg. A bullet had ripped through Charlie's femoral artery, severing it in two, and then hit the PSD next to him in the knee. The second PSD would get his wound cleaned and bandaged, and walk out of the CSH. When Charlie hit the emergency room table at the CSH he had no pulse and was not breathing -- he had literally bled to death in the car. The doctors pumped him with 4 liters of blood, and gave him CPR for 8 minutes before they brought him back to life. He amazingly regained consciousness the next day, and was flown out to Germany and then back to the U.S.  The doctors told us afterwards that if we had gotten there even a few minutes later, Charlie wouldn't have made it. 

The next day, an RPG went through the roof of our gym -- a huge bubble erected by KBR at the cost of $3 million -- and shrapnel went through the thigh of our Econ/IT officer. Lucky for him, it didn't hit bone or arteries and he was out of the CSH in a week, and back to the office. I walked out of the gym minutes before the RPG hit. 

I know of at least five other people who are alive today because of their body armor -- kevlar vests that stopped bullets, helmets that stopped shrapnel. I look at all those around me, all those stories we hear on a daily basis, and I am amazed at the perseverance and resilience I see. However, we were so poorly prepared and supported that though we go out nearly every day on various missions and have done so since I got here in November, it was only in mid-March, after months of begging, that we finally got hard cars and PSD support. Before that, we did it all ourselves -- including getting our own comms. We have never gotten steel-plated vests from CPA, but snared them by other means. We look back and laugh at the things we used to do before mid-March -- how woefully unprepared we were for the situations we were (are) in. But the reality is we did every security thing wrong, every way imaginable. And the fact we survived without injury or death is attributable to one factor alone: luck. 

To continue with the negative theme some more -- this e-mail will get positive at some point (really!) -- there are few, if any, who are hopeful about the future of Iraq. Simply we won the battle (the initial month) but lost the war (everything that followed). Our reconstruction plans, as far as I can tell, amounted to defeating Saddam, putting Ahmed Chalabi in power and getting the hell out of dodge. There was no Plan B. This has been exhaustively documented by The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, Washington Post, and it seems every other publication in America. 

When Plan A fell apart -- surprise! -- we have scrambled around trying to find solutions, but there never has been a comprehensive plan -- I assume because the powers that be never imagined that we would be in the situation we are in now. As I write this, little more than 60 days till the transition to sovereignty, as the XXXXX on the XXX team based in Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq, I do not know what the interim government will look like, nor how it will function.

The single greatest failure was not putting enough troops on the ground immediately after the war for peacekeeping and reconstruction. General Eric Shinseki told the truth and was canned for it.  And American soldiers have died because of it. The second was a lack of Plan B. The third was a lack of political will -- because I still believe that once the bombs dropped, we had a moral responsibility to the Iraqis to see this done right. This moral responsibility is directly correlated to American national interest -- we do have to stay the course and show resolve. But I'm not sure what that means now. What we should have done was flood the country with soldiers/peacekeepers and provided the Iraqis with security and necessities (food, shelter, electricity, etc.). Then we should have focused on civic society and government. But that would have required an immediate long-term commitment, asking for the appropriate resources before the war started, and again, extensive planning. Now we have to ensure that there is no civil war and a functioning society.

So here's the really crazy part: I actually decided to extend for a couple of months till the transition to sovereignty (June 30) -- partly to see this mission through, but mostly out of loyalty to my colleagues, Americans and Iraqis alike. We're thinly staffed here, and since I was scheduled to leave in May, there likely would not have been a replacement for me. Things here have calmed down for our team since the crazy early days in that we're not as run-down and stressed as we used to be -- or simply we have adapted to a "new normal." 

And I have to emphasize the difference from the macro perspective -- the reconstruction of Iraq -- and my own personal experience. I am not confident about the future of this country, but I have had a singular personal experience. I doubt that any future assignment will ever compare professionally or personally. No American or westerner in his right mind would walk around the streets of any Iraqi city south of the Green Line a year after liberation. Yet daily we go out, work on reconstruction projects, hold meetings, do civic education, and try to help the Iraqi people rebuild their country. It's actually pretty hard to describe what we do -- mainly because it's such a formless environment where we have to do it all (as does the military). We're nation building, and that means the day to day involves doing everything. And there is something quite rewarding about that -- a disconnect I will concede because of my concerns about the big picture. But there is an intellectual and professional engagement in the work -- and also a great deal of responsibility and power -- that I can't deny.

As for the shootings, bombings, etc. -- it's the white noise of life here and though we're clearly aware of what's out there and what's going on, it recedes into the background of daily events. The Blackhawks of the 101st Airborne Division have been replaced by a Stryker Brigade and the soldiers of Task Force Olympia, so the adventure of flying by helo to all locales has given way to the more mundane craziness of driving everywhere. So there is still that element of adventure here... But I fear again that much of this writing about "adventure" and "excitement" sounds testosterone driven, or even romanticized even though I'm living it. It's neither though -- the adrenaline rush is a part of our lives, maybe not so much as it was back from November-February, but still a part of our work. I can't really deny it. 

But enough is also enough -- I am burnt out, or close to it. I'd like to have a life again.

Comments

[Kirk Broaddus]

Angrydesi,

While researching working in Iraq, I ran across you post here and thought you may be able to assist.

KBR has offered me a job, starting end of June in Iraq, and I am very interested in talking with anyone you may know while is working there, for KBR or not. Two issues are of interest, one I'm not sure the compensation offered is in line, and two, I would like some advice on what to bring.

I'm not sure yet I will accept but am collecting information for an informed decision. My job would be a white-collor one, (called a document controll specialist), but it seems to me for the hours worked, the pay seems low, not to mention the security situation.

Any help or names you can provide would be appreciated.

regards,

Kirk Broaddus
In Houston

I've been offered a job

[Gerald Baker]

Greetings to all. I am in search of information or a direct contact in Iraq who can give me the straight how-to on landing a specific job.
I am a trained Security Driver/EP Specialist and I would like to work in the Middle East with PSD professionals, not the "cowboys" I keep hearing about.
If it has wheels and needs to be driven at speed in adverse conditions, I have a talent for doing exactly that (many, many years in a third world environment and motorsport). My/our services are available immediately. Thank you in advance for your time and kind consideration.

G. Baker
[email protected]
(786)295-5007
Miami, Florida USA

[Lance Warren]

I am a former Territorial Force soldier with eight years infantry experience in the New Zealand Army. I have been a civilian for six years now. It has been reconmended to me that I attend a bodyguard course in Soth Africa to upskill. The course is with Ronin at ronin.co.za, course cost is $US5700 for five weeks. Has anyone been on this course and can reconmend it or suggest an alternative maybe in the US? Can anyone reconmend a decent company to work for that provides good support and pays on time what they promised? Also comment on the bad ones. Even though my experience is limited I understand that maturity, a calm head, ability to deal with stressful situations, as well as good trigger skills is what is needed. Thanks, Lance.

[AB]

You might want to try: www.psd-training.com - we have PSD specific courses running every month in UK.