This is from my private journal for 15 Oct. Thought you guys might be interested. I've edited it a bit for opsec.... if there are any remaining concerns about that please PM me.
-Cheers!
Edit: (thanks
)
I'll be the first to admit that after weeks of reading
nothing but intelligence reports on insurgents that
had vowed to turn the referendum into a bloodbath, we
rolled out the gate this morning expecting world war
III. We don't usually "patrol." When we drive out in
our guntrucks, its usually with a specific and limited
objective in mind, and almost exclusively at night.
We usually leave patrols to the infantry. But today we'd
offered to pitch in and help expand the "presence" on
the streets, in order to deter would-be trouble
makers. The whole team was pretty wound up, expecting
to be blown up at any minute. Mouths were dry, and
knuckles were white around weapon grips.
And then a funny thing happened.
The moment we came near the first polling station, our
"combat patrol" turned into a parade.
The city has been completely closed off to
non-official vehicle traffic for the past few days,
and most businesses were closed for today at least.
The weather was beautiful: clear and relatively cool.
The streets filled with families in their finest
clothes, and children playing soccer in the streets.
The moment the children caught sight of us,
pandemonium broke loose as they chased after us
yelling "hey mister!" and "America good!" One clever
little fellow, all of 8 years old, even hollered
"Whassup my nigga!" Some people walked the streets
caped in Iraqi or Kurdish flags, while children waved
miniature versions of the flags along with printed
copies of the constitution that were as big as their
young bodies, and that they almost certainly couldn''t
read yet.
While the adults were less demonstrative than the
children, every few feet another man or woman fresh
from voting would hold up an ink stained index finger,
and then transition to a "thumbs up," with a smile and
obvious pride.
This was the pattern that was to be repeated
throughout the city this morning. We drove through
the streets feeling like visiting royalty, even in
some neighborhoods in which friendliness toward
Americans is far from customary. Another positive
sign: everywhere today we saw Iraqi police and
soldiers walking bare faced among the people.
Usually, they fear the insurgency so much that most
wear ski masks to protect their identities. Today,
they walked openly among the people, and generally
basked in the well wishes and pride of the public at
large.
We stopped to let our Iraqi interpreters cast their
ballots, but we could not get closer than a block from
the actual polling site due to the immense crowds of
happy voters. ***** and I hopped down to escort the
'terps to the school, with its makeshift voting
booths. We walked through the crowds followed by no
less than 50 children, who took turns mustering the
courage to run up and shake our hands or flash a
"thumbs up." At the polling site, a portly election
official patted down male voters for weapons.
Apologetically, he informed us that we could not bring
our rifles, pistols, grenades, and other assorted
explosives inside the polling station. "Iraqi law,"
he said. We found this both amusing and immensely
heartening. We told him that we would wait outside
while our 'terps voted. "But you're not going to
vote?" he asked disappointedly. "No," we replied,
"that's just for Iraqis." The official, who obviously had
a looser grasp on eligability requirements than weapons
policy, responded "but we are brothers!"
Obviously, there are many parts of this country in
which public sentiment is very different. Even here,
many days we all despair that our work and sacrifices
mean anything. And of course, the people in our
intelligence reports ARE out there in the city, even
if they often fail to bring about the carnage and
destruction that is their aim.
But on this "distinguished" day, as one of our 'terps
called it, my team saw a whole lot of people who
seemed genuinely proud to be Iraqi, and excited to
have a chance to be heard.
I can think of a few people who were pretty proud to
be Americans, too.
I'm lookin for the worse shit out there to happen.
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