We had a wind storm or "shamal" blow through last Friday. Large, gray clouds of sand and dust covered our sunny day within minutes. It became so dark it tripped some of the light switches on the TIF. Here's the view at noon...
Shamals tend to blow from the northwest of Iraq, picking up sand from the deserts of Jordan and Syria. The shamal can continue southward into the Persian Gulf states, primarily Saudi Arabia and Kuwait but can reach as far as Oman. The winds and sand can slow regional air travel, strip paint from cars, and overwhelm hospitals with thousand of patients suffering from respiratory distress.
Here is a couple of cool pictures taken recently of a large sand storm overtaking Al Faw Palace in Baghdad. Looks like something from the Wizard of Oz...
Then it rained off and on Friday night, all day Saturday and Sunday morning. We're dry now but for a couple of days all that dust turned into mud... a sea of chocolate pudding everywhere...
A group of folks from the CSH ran the "Baghdad Chief Petty Officer 117th B-Day" 5k at Victory this weekend. A 3.1 mile loop around Al Faw Palace and here is the aftermath...
We were so messy that the Ugandan guards at the Oasis DFAC in Victory would not let us in... and that was after washing everyone down with bottled water twice! Coming back to Cropper, I entered my flat to find this message on the hall door--which means clean your boots elsewhere, I'm guessing...
Such tidy soldiers so far, far from home... moms, wives, and girlfriends would be very proud!
You know you're in OIF when the graffiti in the Port-a-Johns:
1) Deal with military service issues
2) Display redeployment tags
3) Gripe about rank/file or LNs (local nationals)
4) Catch glimpses of prophetic military wisdom
5) Extol the virues of Mr. Chuck Norris
6) Attempt to share political satire & personal op-eds
The Port-a-John is a ubiquitous part of military theater life--hate living with 'em but can't live without 'em. Slowly, a cultural affinity and attachment grows...
WARNING: These are line soldiers... so watch for the f-bomb at the end of this video!
As the final Iraqi election results trickle in, the top spot has been decided. Only two seats separate the incumbent Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki and his rival and former PM, Iyad Allawi. Both account for some 180 of the 325 seats in the Iraqi Parliament.
Allawi, a Shi'a Muslim like his opponent, rallied disenfranchised Arab Sunnis to his cause in a contest that saw many post-Saddam Sunnis banned from the election and leary of the Tehran-influenced, Shi'a majority government.
In the distance we hear the celebratory gunfire from election-happy folks in a West Baghdad neighborhood. Nice Iraqi people with good intentions... let the world know that free falling bullets come down from the sky at a rate of 150 feet a second...
On the other side of town, we see and read of somber-looking, election-weary folks. Good Iraqis taking time to "spontaneously" express their views by demanding an ballot recount... in the tranquil streets of Sadr City.
Meanwhile, homemade bombs are bursting... killing 43 and maiming many more in a popular restaurant in Khalis, just north of Baghdad. The al-Qaeda of Mesopotamia want to let their collective voices be heard as well while the national election results are being tallied...
The last 24 hours have been "lock-down status" on the Camp Cropper TIF due to detainee unrest. As a result, our work load was light on Friday--we did not see any detainee patients in clinic. The upcoming US-Iraqi transition, national election results, and the recent death of a Compound 3 inmate seem to be the trigger for this disturbance.
Last night, rioting broke out in Compound 3. Prison mattresses were set on fire and the EPWs threw rocks and pieces of concrete at Coalition guards. Guards quelled the uprising by firing non-lethal, rubber bullets and using sonic weapons (LRAD). There were 4 injuries--3 Iraqi prisoners received wounds from rubber rounds, including a lost eye, and one US soldier was hurt by a rock.
Today, Compound 2 responded with their own uprising by refusing morning accountability, outdoor prayer call and meals. There was more rock throwing, including cups of body fluids getting tossed on guards.
Late yesterday afternoon, a Compound 3 detainee, and known Takfiri extremist, died from complications due to neck and throat cancer. He was visited the day before by his wife and family. Though he refused medical intervention, he was admitted to the DMC just before his passing where lifesaving procedures failed help him.
It is rumored on the TIF that this patient requested a "GOI" or transfer to Iraqi care. However, the medical team I talked to denies this request was ever made. I'm told Iraqis prefer American custody to that of the Iraqi government where the standard of care is very poor and the incidence of prison abuse is high. (Apparently Abu Ghraib is a distant memory!)
For now, all detainee services on all Compounds--family visits, medical and dental (minus emergency care), work detail, classes, sports and recreation, religious devotion, regular meal services--have been temporarily suspended until compliance from EPWs has been gained.
Soldiers can watch the latest US movies in Iraq often before the American release date. Nope, they're not found at the local MWR or from a special Hollywood-Military connection... it's the black market.
Classic bootleg DVDs come in two varieties here in Iraq: CAM and TS.
A CAM is a copy of a movie captured with a hand-held camera from a seat in the auditorium and uses the camera’s own built-in microphone to pick up the sound. More often than not, the quality is poor.
A TS or "telesync" is considered a higher quality because it's shot with a professional camera on a tripod in the projection booth, with a direct connection to the sound source.
Whether it's a CAM or TS bootleg--you get what you pay for. Consider these "winning" cinematic qualities:
1) The audience laughs but the bad audio keeps you guessing why.
2) People walk in front of the screen during the good parts.
3) The camera guy munches on popcorn throughout the movie.
4) Camera angle is off--missing the frame and half the film too.
5) Audio defaults to German with subtitles in Italian, permanently.
- But -
6) $10 spent at the hajji shop helps a local national and his family...
The number of dead and wounded US military personnel continues to rise in Iraq... despite the recent national elections and upcoming drawdown. Sadly, some of losses strike close to home...
SPC Robert M. Rieckhoff of the 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum, died 6 days ago. His unit, assigned locally to BIAP/Baghdad security detail, was attacked last week and SPC Rieckhoff sustained wounds from RPG fire on his tower. A member of the Wisconsin National Guard in high school, this was his third tour to SW Asia. Rieckhoff, who was 26, leaves two young children behind.
The East Region's #11 seed continues to amaze with consecutive upsets... over #6 Marquette and #3 New Mexico. Down 15 in the 2nd half, UW surged past the Dwayne Wade's Golden Eagles and took the lead and the game at the buzzer.
Against the Mountain West regular season champs, the Huskies simply went lights out and the game was over by half time. UW's uptempo play ended the run for the national #8 Lobos.
According to AP Sports, New Mexico's junior guard, Darington Hobson left the court seething after predicting a long tournament run for his team. Referring to the University of Washington, he said, "They played the best game of their life tonight. They're not even that good. They just played a good game tonight. We weren't ready, and they beat us."
