CAMP DELTA, al-Karma, Iraq -- Must make this one short and sweet, as I'm running of of battery on my laptop, but since Thursday evening, I've been embedded with the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines of the II Marine Expeditionary Force surrounding the garrisoned town of Fallujah. I've not yet had a chance to get into the city proper yet, as the 2-2 doesn't operate there (that's the 2-6 and 2-7's area of operations) but al-Karmah is an interesting little town.
It's just to the north of Fallujah and Camp Delta, home of Fox Company, is nestled in between Fallujah and al-Karmah next to the old Oil-for-Food warehouse. (It's now an alleged staging area for the insurgents in the area who regularly poke their heads up and take potshots at the Fox Company.)
I just want to share some notes and observations I've made over the last two days.
Friday, October 28, 2005
For the short drive to Camp Delta just across a half-hearted stream from the town of al-Karma, the Marines of Fox Company ride only at night. They do this to minimize the IED threat, says Capt. Mike Estes, the company commander, which is still ever-present almost a year after U.S. troops attacked the rebel stronghold of Fallujah and its surrounding towns, such as al-Karmah. Dust and grit pepper the googles of Fox Company, because they ride in high-backed, up-armored lorries instead of humvees.
Earlier, Capt. Chad Walton, a spokesman for the 2nd Marines at Camp Fallujah to the south, said that Fallujah was closed to the outside world, with only residents allowed in after showing ID cards that proved their address. The Marines man five entry checkpoints to the city, turning away anyone who can't provide the proper credentials or whoever they deem suspicious.
"Obviously, it's not foolproof," says Walton. "But it's way better than it was."
The Marines of Fox Company agree; they talk of driving through the old city without having a shot fired at them. But Fallujah is thoroughly occupied. Iraqi police and Army take second stage to the Americans, who aren't shy about showing their presence, in contrast to Baghdad where U.S. patrols are almost scarce these days until you get near major installations such as the airport or the Green Zone. The Iraqis aren't prepared to take over security operations yet, and it will likely be years before they can. Is a thorough occupation what it's going to take to pacify the restive cities of the Sunni heartland?
Saturday, October 29, 2005
It's still dark when the Marines of 3rd platoon, Fox Company starts out. The idea is to get a jump on their quarry, the leader of a mortar team that has been peppering Fox Company's base, Camp Delta just south of al-Karmah. The air is cool on the skin and the sun brightens the sky from the direction of Baghdad. Ahead, date palms are black against the indigo sky, and lush greenery of reeds, cottontails, rice, dates and olive trees line the dirt roads.
3rd Platoon takes it easy. The commander, Lt. Anthony Carter of Endicolt, N.Y., doesn't believe in the brute force method of cordon-and-knock. It's easier -- and more -- effective to take a more discreet and polite approach, he says. Whereas the U.S. Army excels are roaring up in humvees, soldiers piling out and putting on a show of force, Carter's Marines instead walk up to the house where they believe Ali Muhammad Saed, the mortar team leader, is living.
They're in luck. He's out front fiddling with his orange-and-white taxi. He doesn't seem surprised to see him and sits quietly while Carter orders all other military-age men in the immediate neighborhood to be rounded up and brought to Saed's house. Soon enough, three men and two boys are brought over and they all squat on the porch of the house. It's possibly the most peaceful and respectful raid in Iraq's history.
"The days of just running in the house are over," Carter says. "If you flash-bang every house, you're not making many friends."
Saed's capture is a lucky break, and maybe it will help. Because these days, Fox Company has been catching hell from insurgents who have been pushed out of the city of Fallujah and into the surrounding countryside since U.S. forces wrested the city from insurgent control last November. While direct engagements are rare -- the Marines always win and the insurgents know it -- IEDs and suicide car bombs are taking a toll on Fox Company. Since their deployment in July, the 2-2 has had 12 Marines killed. Fox company has nine guys out wounded and Carter's 3rd Platoon has had 6 purple hearts awarded -- out of a force of 37 guys. Only one of 3rd Platoon's awards came from being shot. The rest have come from IEDs and car bombs. So numerous are incoming mortar attacks on Camp Delta that body armor and helmets are required anytime a Marine goes outside a building.
"It's not more violent," says Lance Cpl. Thomas Cummings, 21, of Horicon, Wisc. "But what is violent is more intense."
This wasn't supposed to happen. As the political process moved forward, embassy officials said all year, the violence should decrease. There would be a coupling in increased Sunni participation and a decrease in violence. But most of the injuries that have befallen 3rd Platoon, says Lt. Carter, have occurred since the Oct. 15 referendum.
Just two hours later, the nearby boom of an IED followed by the rattling of gunfire were a late coda his remarks. An ambush, somewhere. Someone else was catching it today.
Here’s to your battery lasting. Good reporting, and I get more out of your little reports than tons of regular newscasts. Your insightful stories are always a breath of fresh air…
Here’s to your battery lasting. Good reporting, and I get more out of your little reports than tons of regular newscasts. Your insightful stories are always a breath of fresh air…
Here’s to your battery lasting. Good reporting, and I get more out of your little reports than tons of regular newscasts. Your insightful stories are always a breath of fresh air…
Looking back, I’m glad we readers ‘hired’ you but I’m more glad you have stayed. You provide a constantancy by which we can gage the situation.
From that I conclude it is worse than we hoped but not without hope.
Anyway, the trees are turning bright colors here in Ohio… many shades of red — just like the Republicans, both local and national.
It’s not without hope :-)
It’s important to hear what’s going on on the ground and I am grateful for your reporting and your tenacity. My son is nearby, with the 2-6 Marines, and I have felt so deprived of real news. Our mainstream media have the same aversion to covering this war as the children of Congressmen have in signing up to go fight in it.
It’s important to hear what’s going on on the ground and I am grateful for your reporting and your tenacity. My son is nearby, with the 2-6 Marines, and I have felt so deprived of real news. Our mainstream media have the same aversion to covering this war as the children of Congressmen have in signing up to go fight in it.
Mimi— i’m due to hook up with the 2-6 later today. If you send me his name via email, I’ll see if I can find him for you.
best, chris
Chris,
No wonder the Iraqi patriots of the insurgency target American journalists. Allbritton has gone from vapid & credulous political reporting to active collaboration with the criminal occupation, most likely because, as he admitted on his blog, not embedding with the army is too dangerous and he’s afraid. Coward! What a pussy.
Kill him, my insurgent brothers. Chop his stupid, provinical head off and post vid on the Internet! :)
Chris,
Anbar Province isn’t exactly the destination I meant with my two word post; “ROAD TRIP”
Your comment of low batteries is one of the Murphy Laws.on going to war, isn’t it?
So they cleared you blog entry or is this information post off record. Reading between the lines I see lots of info in you blog.
Maybe “TMI” , IMO . ..unless…….
Don’t forget to w ear a big hat dude. ; ) Its the gfashion rage in that province you know.
che you are an idiot, but chris has by embedding (in bed with ) with the occupation lost the ability to TRULY say he is an independent observer, a journalist.
but this all goes back to “hotel journalism’ which journalist Robert Fisk coined.
sorry for the typos in my previous post. BTW Chris the loonies may come out to troll with Halloween being celebrated. this Oct 31st: lol I see “Che_Guerilla” chimed in with a “trick or treat” comment from his left field pov.
I just don’t see anything brilliant about embedding with the MNF troops, whatever place in Iraq! But I see that you had a visitors from the gang, guess you did make them angry.
Well, nicely put, embedded = in bed with. To bad that an independend journalist gets embedded with this bunch of war criminals. Only the US are still calling them MNF, others just call it occupation forces. Do these occupation forces really think by threathing the locals like humans makes them friends. Ha ha… The locals just do what everybody would do with occupation forces. The war was a lie, the occupation is a lie. It will take the US lots more time and body bags to get out there. And still the didn’t get the Oil, but millions more enemies. Doesn’t matter if the raid flash bang or not. I was reading the crap about the redeployment of 4 ID. They still talk about the global fight against terrorism. Still to stupid to get it that there was no terrorism before the US went there. The first terrorists that arrived in Iraq where US soldiers, and after that Al Kaida did follow.
Very interesting post!.It’s really important to know what’s going on on around us. I pay respect to you and your report!
When a Frenchman is abroad, he is miserable. When an American is abroad, everyone is miserable.
Chris, you’ve got the weirdest comment spam ever.
Do drop a note if I can help out with the military public affairs guys in the States—I’ve no particular “in” but am in the same time zone…
another whore propagandist looking to be pimped….
Chap— It’s because I’ve embedded and it drives some people crazy. There’s a certain element here that thinks that ANY contact with the military compromises a reporter, but they fail to realize that the U.S. military experience is as valid an aspect of the story as that of ordinary Iraqis’ or of insurgents’, for that matter. I don’t believe in cutting anyone out of the coverage if I can help it. Alas, getting to the Iraqi people has been the most challenging this past year and they’ve gotten short shrift.
” U.S. military experience is as valid an aspect of the story as that of ordinary Iraqis’ or of insurgents’, for that matter.”
as if the american military is not able to get their side of the “story” out…just watch Fox news for damn sakes,
pretty much it seems that the situation is this:
if you don’t embed (get in bed) with U.S. military you get no security outside the green zone,
if you write a story that is not favorable to the above, you may find yourself targeted by them, ( i.e. reuters camerman shot by U.S. troops…)
Embedded with the troops and you get a troops level of comprehension of the situation, take a walk, have some tea with the locals speak to the folks that are having to put up with the occupation, or if you are not able to do that, then keep on repeating the phrase “it is getting better, they tell me so” Hell for this quality of crap I can get it from the army propaganda branch, sure is nice there, with the IEDs and the snipers. but the brave occupiers can only go out in force, and only at night, but the politely arrest suspected insurgents? Is that anyone that is vertical and above the age of twelve? Sure and just who decided these were suspected insurgents. Hell lock up all the males in the country and you would still have IEDs and mortar attacks. Brave, try telling the real story for a change instead of flogging for the illegal war perpetrated on the world by the bush crime family. Not impressed, and could probably do a better job over there if you weren’t embedded. Or are you afraid the “contractors” might rendition you to a vacation prison in Uzbekystan?
the iraqi story is a non-story, americans generally do not have the compassion or interest for it, the media is now circling the wagons and doing all it can to sure up support for the troops, looks like Chris got the memo from TIME-AOL via the WH
Make sure you don’t interview the “wrong” person then go into Spain or you might finish up like Al Jazeera journalist Tayssir Alluni with a seven year stretch for doing a face to face with Bin Laden.
Of course maybe the insurgents have their own ideas regarding rendition and would consider your neutrality and objectivity compromised by imbedding with the military.
Chris,
I agree with you on both counts. In re reporting the military, there are very few folks doing that kind of work that aren’t parachuting in. You know of course about Michael Yon, but the Omaha World-Herald has been doing good work embedded with their National Guardsmen.
But there is nobody else doing work with the Iraqi Army, IP, or the guys defending the pipelines—and it’s an important story. Well stated.
Embedded though were some interesting challenges to the overall operation. Why was the field grade officer in charge of intelligence and his unit transfered back from Iraq to Florida? Would it have been better to accept on offer accepting suzerainty from a group of Sunni tribes partially in exchange for financial assistance? Of course, the ‘answer’ depends first of all on the truth of the statement in the question, i.e. did these things really occur?
I enjoy the blog…AS AN AMERICAN SOLDIER (and proud of it), I really can’t wait to see whats in store for me this time around. Yes I lived through 2003 but barely (www.gunnerpalace.com). I hope to keep you all informed myself from a Soldiers perspective and the the perspective of non spelling, ignorant, simple minded people like SKYPE and Butch…..
From Baghdad to Fallujah and Buenos Aires, it’s just the same sad story: the President and his Neocon friends have no one to reason them…
In the early 1960’s a young Columbian journalist named G. Garcia Marquez wrote “The Colonel Has No One to Write Him” the poetic tale of a failed leader who goes each Friday to the same post office to see if a long-awaited letter bringing some good news has finally arrived.
This novel was to become a great classic amongst Latin America’s famed “poetic magic” literary school…and a highly prescient metaphor for Dubya’s pathetic presidency!
The man they call “El Jorge” south of the Rio Grande (who once said “Mi Casa Blanca es tu Casa Blanca” in an outlandish bid to gratify Hispanic voters) was in Mar del Plata, Argentina, on Friday to attend the opening session of the “hemispheric” Summit of the Americas: he was greeted by tens of thousands of angry Argentines who chanted “Get out, Bush!” and “You are the terrorist!” among other niceties…
By evening, massive riots were reported in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, where students and workers set fire to several McDonald’s restaurants.
“It is not easy to host all these countries at the same time” said Bush as he appeared before reporters after their morning meeting. “It’s particularly not easy to host, perhaps, me.” [sic/sick]
Eternally Yours in Liberty,
Dr Victorino de la Vega Chair of the Thomas More Center for Middle East Studies http://www.mideastmemo.blogspot.com/
http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/iraq/082701iraqplane/im:/051103/481/bag12411031442;ylt=Agw2imlKoda2Np.3VPnGWmsHcggF;ylu=X3oDMTA3dmhrOGVvBHNlYwNzc20-
The body of a child is buried after being found dead in the rubble of collapsed homes, in Ramadi, Iraq, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2005. According to local residents the homes collapsed on Wednesday after a U.S. fighter jet dropped two 500-pound bombs on what the U.S. military described as an ‘insurgent command center’ about 400 yards from where a U.S. helicopter went down, near Ramadi.(AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Terrorist Killer——How many kids have you killed?
Thank you for this web page. I now know more of what my son is doing please keep up the good job and if you see Michael brown tell him hi from me
@TerroristKiller
So true, being part of this Army in an invaded country truely makes you a terrorist. And I’m sure you are a killer too, trained to kill in foreign countries, wow. You must be soo damn proud of this. I’m impressed and hope you end up one day in front of an international tribunal, if you are not catched before by Iraqis who defend their occupied country and don’t forget about Abu Ghraib. Until then use your wide mind to think about the relations between 9/11 and Iraq. And in your spare time, go and find these tons of WMD. When even Colin Powell does tell the world that he was a damn liar, what are you proud of ? By international standards you are a war criminal as is Mr. Bush and his government if you participate in this occupation.
i bet terroist killer is really a 14 year old in some suburb who is watching too much of the Military Channel, just the idea that there is a “Military Channel” tells you something about America..
It has become a culture of death,
OK Chris guess your batteries have you off the net.
I was wondering how the Iraqi units are doing in the current Anbar skirmish. Seems the French riots are going to tke headline news this comming week and the Syrian border won’t get much coverage….with your battery situation and all….
If you are REALLY want to get to the” Iraqi people” in the North, Middle and South(not only your Iraqi staff), you WILL manage to do so.We are everywhere, everyday, in spite of the booby-trap cars, IEDs and the American cowboys, going to work and partying the Eid.