IRAQ WAR DIARY - THE RED ZONE

I catch an early helicopter flight from the Green Zone into my home for the next few weeks, Sadr City, Baghdad.  The flight was uneventful although the Blackhawk helicopter did shoot out a series of heat flares, which are designed to repel rocket attacks by distracting the missiles from the aircraft by giving it another source of heat to follow.  I never saw a rocket come near us, but that makes little difference. It still feels like a close call.

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I arrive at Combat Outpost Old Mod and watch the helicopters fly away.  Old Mod is a compound of Iraqi buildings which used to be the Ministry of Defense Complex.  Now, the buildings have been fortified and house primarily Iraqi Army troops and a U.S. Army MITT (Military In Transition Team) who are tasked with monitoring and training their Iraqi Army counterparts.

I am told that the day before my arrival a dump truck full of rockets exploded nearby and took out several city blocks of homes and killed dozens.  They suggest that this could mean a possible up turn in violence in the area, but that the cease-fire brokered between the U.S. and Muktada al-Sadr could provide the opposite effect.  Only time will tell.

Life around the camp is typical.  There are frequent and sustained power outages and people learn how to live in the dark.  Meals are eaten by flashlight and the gym is illuminated by LED torches.  The hallways are dark, with spikes of light near the few open doors.

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The guards pass time resting on sandbags and it feels like boredom must be one of the hardest aspects of life here.  I have to remind myself that choices were made by these individuals and not by the Iraqi people.  What I have seen outside the bases far surpassed the minimal discomforts experienced here.

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As the sun goes down and the temperature cools to about 100F (37.7C), soldiers wander outside and start up games of basketball, play cards or just walk around to escape their drab living quarters.

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I am so exhausted I can literally barely walk, so anywhere I can sleep is fine with me.  I have to charge my batteries, attach a few extra Kevlar panels to my vest and prepare the rest of my gear…I have to be ready to go into madness at any moment and being ill prepared is not an option.

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