Friday, June 10, 2005

A Day in the life, Part 2.

This was a long day a while back…

It started with simple highway clearance. I also had to go to a town and pass out leaflets describing a guy’s terrorist’s death and why he was blown into little bitty pieces for shooting at me killed.

So we're passing out these flyers and realize that there's a LOT of people hanging around. (Which is a good thing, because empty streets=bad shit about to go down) Then I see a flock of Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.uspenguins, and it dawns on me... It's his funeral. And we're passing out flyers explaining why his killing was justified. Jeebus. Why me?

I end up talking to the local sheik and the brother of Deadguy. Deadguy 's Brother actually has the balls to hit me up for compensation! I told him to get bent. I don't pay the families of people who try to kill me. And then we left.

On the way back to the FOB, we had to drag another(!) dead bull off the road shoulder. There's like 3 or 4 rotting carcasses out there. It's like some great cow dying ground.

Then I had lunch. All this nonsense happened between 0815 and noon.

That afternoon, I had to arrest one of my police chiefs for financing the attack on my IA headquarters. Turns out this guy is not just former Fedeyeen Saddam but he was a LTC and an MI officer to boot! How do these people get vetted to take these jobs? (I have a sneaky suspicion INS set up the vetting process) So his arrest (ever try to take a police chief out of his station with all his cops around?) was fun, to say the least. Then I raided his house. Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usAnd then his brother's house. And then his uncles house.

After we were done raiding, I was hanging out with the commander of my IA company (who is doing much better, by the way, after getting blown up) and we get a call on his radio that one of his LT's, LT Ali (The big one, not the little one--It's how I differentiate between the two Ali's) has a tip on the location of the #4 target in our AO. Off we go to raid another house. Well, of course the shithead isn't there. But his brother is two doors down, and we tag and bag him.

The IA invite us back to their HQ for chow (Roast Goat, Veggies, flatbread and an Eggs and tomato dip that is surprisingly yummy) and of course, Chai Tea.
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usHave I told you about chai? Make a strong cup of tea but use about 3 oz of water instead of a whole cup. Add a tablespoon of sugar. Drink while boiling hot, in a tiny cup. Believe it or not, it's addictive. I haven’t slept in three days, and my teeth are brown, but it’s yummy.

After chow, it's statement gathering time from the IA. Then back to the FOB to back brief the Boss, debrief the Deuce, inventory the stuff we seized in the raids, and process the detainee.

So now it's 2 AM, and I've been going since 0600. I swear, when I get home, I'm not going to sleep for 3 days in a row, just because I won't be burning a lot of energy... well, maybe the first few nights I will…

Chuck

No comments: