Archive for September 26th, 2007

We went out on patrol the other night down in the South of our AO.  We went out on a more or less “feel good” mission.  The kind of mission where you interact a lot with the people, get to hand out toys to kids, eat Iraqi Chow (which I am eating more of than Army chow these days) and try to show everyone what great fellows the Coalition forces are.  The officers spend most of their time shaking hands, kissing cheeks (and other body parts), drinking chai and politicking.  Its not a bad thing to do as it tends to bring in leads and helps the people realize we are there to help them.  The bad guys spend an awful lot of time in this area terrorizing families, intimidating Sheiks, and putting out anti-coalition propaganda.

In general, I don’t mind this type of mission.  I get to practice my Arabic, eat hot food, and debate different things with locals.  It amazes me the ideas some Iraqis have about Americans and Western culture.  It really shouldn’t given how they are brought up, but some of the wild tales I hear make my jaw drop.  Needless to say, it wasn’t a bad time or too miserable for a change.