Hanta Yo
Well-known member
We have a friend in Iraq (not in the services but is in law enforcement) who is female and trains the Iraqi police. She writes periodically to tell us what is going on over there. She wrote this November 9:
As for me, I have been sort of busy here in Camp Rustamiyah, Iraq. I go outside the wire about 3 times a week. I am currently assigned to the 1132nd Military Police Company. They are a National Guard unit from North Carolina. There are quite a few of them that are law enforcement officers in the real world. As they are National guard, they are older than most of the active duty soldiers, mid 20s to early 50s. most of them were here in 2004 so they have some experience but Iraq is a very non-static place. The rules of engagement change often and the mission goals are revamped every three or four months. Overall, they are a neat bunch of guys to work with. However, they, along with the other soldiers I have worked with here, have completely convinced me that I am too old and intelligent to join the armed forces. The commanders here issue orders that make no sense and do more to wreck morale and endanger soldiers than anything else. They are not allowed to taped pictures or anything to the walls of their rooms but they can put them up with nails. Also, 90% of the guys I have worked with have not had a day off since they got here. They go on missions at least 3 days a week, man the guard towers a day or two, run an ECP (it is an entry gate into a controlled area), are the QRF unit (they come to help if another squad gets into a fire fight or hit with any type of attack), do Hodgie duty (watch the local nationals that work on the base), and work on the humvees most of the time themselves. A couple of top NCOs give me cruddy looks as I wear two pair of earrings, 2 bracelets, a necklace (a pig of course, my son gave it to me for Mother's Day a few years ago), wear my hair in a pony tail down my back, and, heaven save us all, wear boots with side zippers in them. We have had at least 3 EFPs (the bombs that form a fist of molten metal that melts through armored humvees and bodies) planted outside of gate 5 here at the FOB. We have been getting mortared in the mornings between 6 and 630 for about 2 weeks. It was for like 4 days straight at first. It has dropped to every other day or so. We call the bandit, on hit Willie, as he fires one mortar at us and then runs. No luck catching him yet and luckily, the mortars have not hit anyone or done any real damage. It is funny. The first couple made me jump. Now, I roll over and go back to sleep, confident that as I heard it, I am safe. About 6 months ago, before the cease-fire, Camp Rustamiyah got hit between 2 to 10 times a day. Everyone had to wear their vests and helmets everywhere. This may sound weird, but mortars are not that much of a threat. They are like throwing a dart at the side of a barn from 40 feet away and the barn has 30 thumb tacks placed on it. Little chance of hitting much but they do give you a start. We also have at least one controlled detonation a day of confiscated artillary and bombs and recovered ordinance. so that makes it even harder to know when to duck and when to just finish your meal.
Okay, enough of the weirdness in which I live. The Iraqi people are good-hearted. I watch the world going back through the transparent armor window of a humvee. (I have to wiped the window down every few minutes. It is very dusty here. All the tanks and humvees and traffic have turned the dirt to powder and it sticks to everything. I have taken some interesting photos and some weird ones. I have been assigned to my own station now and will start there permanetly on Sunday. It is called Al Karradah Patrol. It is a 350 man station that only does patrol checkpoints until recently when, due to several vehicle-suicide bomber attacks, the Colonel started mounted patrols. It is a very good station and I was lucky to get it. I will also have two traffic checkpoint stations but the colonels have told Coalition Forces that they do not want training, assistance, or money and then told them not to come back. So, while they are my responsibility, there will not be much work. The actual station though will be a challenge. After four years of police missions here, the goal must change from giving the Iraqis basic skills to be able to function as police to raising the bar to get them to become an effective deterrent of crime and be able to catch and convict criminals. The biggest problem I have observed is that the Iraqis have a long history of opression and dependence. While Iraq is the cradle of civilization, much of its heritage and history is filled with senseless violence. It has a long history of overthrowing leaders and leaders ruling by fear and genicide. Saddam was far from the first to kill and torture the Iraqi people until they resisted no more. The regular citizen has been systematically trained to obey and follow orders or instructions without argument. They were told exactly what they could and could not do. They are like a teenager whose parents are gone for the weekend in some ways. With the restrictions gone and fear slowly easing, the Iraqi people are trying to find themselves, so to speak. They question things and do not want anyone telling them what to do. However, they still need to learn more before they go it on their own. The Iraqi Police lack equipment and effective leadership...both of which I have experienced and overcome. They make about $400 a month. Most buy trheir own gun, vest, and uniform. Many are corrupt and members of a militia organization. Some are young man who want to be cops. I see the same look in their eyes that I still have...pride and a sense of duty to their community. A few of the police are experienced veterans of Iraqi law enforcement. However, prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom, the police did not do much except drive around and run the jails. The people in the jails were detained by the Army or National Police. In fact, to this day, less than 50% of the police carry handcuffs. Additonally, it is acceptable here to be bring people to jail with their hands zip-tied behind their back and a hood on their head. No wonder why many fear they are going to be executed. The experienced police are slow to change from the old ways. Police involved shootings were common and not reported let alone investigated. Punishment was fast and decisive but rarely was it actual justice. Now, we tell them to investigate crimes and treat their citizens with respect and courtesy. The process here will be a slow and difficult one. It will be filled with many backward leaps and move forward in inches. The quick fix that many politicians want will never happen and would only lead to Iraq falling into war both from within and from its neighbors who seek to dominate the Middle East.
Wow, a bit intense. Okay. I have also learned that this was the Land of Cement and C-Wire long before the invasion. There are 14 foot tall four foot wide cement pillars everywhere. There are shorter barriers where the taller "T" walls end. There is C-wire everywhere. The garbage blows across the land until it runs into C-wire and then it becomes a sort of flag flapping in the breeze. Even the fence posts are made of cement with steel inside of it. The houses are made of stone or cement or homemade bricks. There is very little wood and lots of sand here so the building material choices are limited. There are hundreds of checkpoints where some government entity searches vehicles and people to prevent suicide bombers and vehicle bombs. The Iraqi people are allowed one AK-47 per house and one 30 round magazine. Most have well over their allotment. Recently, the cement walls and barriers are being painted into Iraqi flags or some very beautiful murals. The cement barriers will never leave. They will be a fixture of Iraq forever. Most of the homes are behind stone or cement walls and have locked steel gates to limit access. Often on top of the walls surrounding house , the Iraqis place broken bottles and light bulbs into the cement to deter anyone from even thinking about climbing the wall to gain access to the residence. The Iraq people live almost on top of each other in the city. The apartment buildings are packed and often inhabitable based upon world standards.
As for me, I have been sort of busy here in Camp Rustamiyah, Iraq. I go outside the wire about 3 times a week. I am currently assigned to the 1132nd Military Police Company. They are a National Guard unit from North Carolina. There are quite a few of them that are law enforcement officers in the real world. As they are National guard, they are older than most of the active duty soldiers, mid 20s to early 50s. most of them were here in 2004 so they have some experience but Iraq is a very non-static place. The rules of engagement change often and the mission goals are revamped every three or four months. Overall, they are a neat bunch of guys to work with. However, they, along with the other soldiers I have worked with here, have completely convinced me that I am too old and intelligent to join the armed forces. The commanders here issue orders that make no sense and do more to wreck morale and endanger soldiers than anything else. They are not allowed to taped pictures or anything to the walls of their rooms but they can put them up with nails. Also, 90% of the guys I have worked with have not had a day off since they got here. They go on missions at least 3 days a week, man the guard towers a day or two, run an ECP (it is an entry gate into a controlled area), are the QRF unit (they come to help if another squad gets into a fire fight or hit with any type of attack), do Hodgie duty (watch the local nationals that work on the base), and work on the humvees most of the time themselves. A couple of top NCOs give me cruddy looks as I wear two pair of earrings, 2 bracelets, a necklace (a pig of course, my son gave it to me for Mother's Day a few years ago), wear my hair in a pony tail down my back, and, heaven save us all, wear boots with side zippers in them. We have had at least 3 EFPs (the bombs that form a fist of molten metal that melts through armored humvees and bodies) planted outside of gate 5 here at the FOB. We have been getting mortared in the mornings between 6 and 630 for about 2 weeks. It was for like 4 days straight at first. It has dropped to every other day or so. We call the bandit, on hit Willie, as he fires one mortar at us and then runs. No luck catching him yet and luckily, the mortars have not hit anyone or done any real damage. It is funny. The first couple made me jump. Now, I roll over and go back to sleep, confident that as I heard it, I am safe. About 6 months ago, before the cease-fire, Camp Rustamiyah got hit between 2 to 10 times a day. Everyone had to wear their vests and helmets everywhere. This may sound weird, but mortars are not that much of a threat. They are like throwing a dart at the side of a barn from 40 feet away and the barn has 30 thumb tacks placed on it. Little chance of hitting much but they do give you a start. We also have at least one controlled detonation a day of confiscated artillary and bombs and recovered ordinance. so that makes it even harder to know when to duck and when to just finish your meal.
Okay, enough of the weirdness in which I live. The Iraqi people are good-hearted. I watch the world going back through the transparent armor window of a humvee. (I have to wiped the window down every few minutes. It is very dusty here. All the tanks and humvees and traffic have turned the dirt to powder and it sticks to everything. I have taken some interesting photos and some weird ones. I have been assigned to my own station now and will start there permanetly on Sunday. It is called Al Karradah Patrol. It is a 350 man station that only does patrol checkpoints until recently when, due to several vehicle-suicide bomber attacks, the Colonel started mounted patrols. It is a very good station and I was lucky to get it. I will also have two traffic checkpoint stations but the colonels have told Coalition Forces that they do not want training, assistance, or money and then told them not to come back. So, while they are my responsibility, there will not be much work. The actual station though will be a challenge. After four years of police missions here, the goal must change from giving the Iraqis basic skills to be able to function as police to raising the bar to get them to become an effective deterrent of crime and be able to catch and convict criminals. The biggest problem I have observed is that the Iraqis have a long history of opression and dependence. While Iraq is the cradle of civilization, much of its heritage and history is filled with senseless violence. It has a long history of overthrowing leaders and leaders ruling by fear and genicide. Saddam was far from the first to kill and torture the Iraqi people until they resisted no more. The regular citizen has been systematically trained to obey and follow orders or instructions without argument. They were told exactly what they could and could not do. They are like a teenager whose parents are gone for the weekend in some ways. With the restrictions gone and fear slowly easing, the Iraqi people are trying to find themselves, so to speak. They question things and do not want anyone telling them what to do. However, they still need to learn more before they go it on their own. The Iraqi Police lack equipment and effective leadership...both of which I have experienced and overcome. They make about $400 a month. Most buy trheir own gun, vest, and uniform. Many are corrupt and members of a militia organization. Some are young man who want to be cops. I see the same look in their eyes that I still have...pride and a sense of duty to their community. A few of the police are experienced veterans of Iraqi law enforcement. However, prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom, the police did not do much except drive around and run the jails. The people in the jails were detained by the Army or National Police. In fact, to this day, less than 50% of the police carry handcuffs. Additonally, it is acceptable here to be bring people to jail with their hands zip-tied behind their back and a hood on their head. No wonder why many fear they are going to be executed. The experienced police are slow to change from the old ways. Police involved shootings were common and not reported let alone investigated. Punishment was fast and decisive but rarely was it actual justice. Now, we tell them to investigate crimes and treat their citizens with respect and courtesy. The process here will be a slow and difficult one. It will be filled with many backward leaps and move forward in inches. The quick fix that many politicians want will never happen and would only lead to Iraq falling into war both from within and from its neighbors who seek to dominate the Middle East.
Wow, a bit intense. Okay. I have also learned that this was the Land of Cement and C-Wire long before the invasion. There are 14 foot tall four foot wide cement pillars everywhere. There are shorter barriers where the taller "T" walls end. There is C-wire everywhere. The garbage blows across the land until it runs into C-wire and then it becomes a sort of flag flapping in the breeze. Even the fence posts are made of cement with steel inside of it. The houses are made of stone or cement or homemade bricks. There is very little wood and lots of sand here so the building material choices are limited. There are hundreds of checkpoints where some government entity searches vehicles and people to prevent suicide bombers and vehicle bombs. The Iraqi people are allowed one AK-47 per house and one 30 round magazine. Most have well over their allotment. Recently, the cement walls and barriers are being painted into Iraqi flags or some very beautiful murals. The cement barriers will never leave. They will be a fixture of Iraq forever. Most of the homes are behind stone or cement walls and have locked steel gates to limit access. Often on top of the walls surrounding house , the Iraqis place broken bottles and light bulbs into the cement to deter anyone from even thinking about climbing the wall to gain access to the residence. The Iraq people live almost on top of each other in the city. The apartment buildings are packed and often inhabitable based upon world standards.