Us and Them...

November 13, 2006
All right…it feels so good being able to log into this blog site and update it on a regular basis for all of you.

The first pic is of yours truly standing in front of one of the security barriers, Hescos that we are installing all around the base. The second pic is of our flag, actually, my flag. Monica shipped it to me from home. Normally, it hangs in our sunroom back home but I wanted to have it flown out here. I got the thumbs up from the base CO so here it is. Talk about one hell of a sense of pride flowing through me....

We are still working on clearing an area for the SWA huts that we are building. We took a break and I went over to the ridge line that separates our camp from the Iraqi Army camp. Yes, we are that close. I pulled out my camera to take some photos of their side of the fence, err, concertina wire. I heard a voice and I saw movement just to the left of me. The left being THAT side. I reached for my weapon, why? I am not sure but the thing is that since this a secure base and once we are on the job site we do not need to carry our weapons with us. So there I stood with no weapon and I looked over to where the voice came from. I did not see anyone so I started to walk back to my rig. As soon as I turned my back on the ridge line I heard the voice again, only closer. I turned and just 10 meters away from me was an Iraqi soldier waving me over, smiling. He was not armed but I kept my distance. He could not have been more than eighteen years old. He mumbled something to me and I assumed that it was a good morning. So I replied with a good morning of my own. He offered me some tea and I declined. I told him that I had to get back to work. I jumped back in my rig and I looked to the fence and he was still there, smiling and saying something more to me. I turned off the engine and asked him to repeat what he had just said. Through broken English, I made out that he was injured; he was shot in the shoulder while on patrol in a nearby city. He was ordered to get some rest. Our conversation did not last too long. I excused myself and he gave me a thumbs up. As I drove away I recalled a quote that I read, “The world’s leaders should let mothers resolve our political issues. There would be no more wars.” I wondered, “What happened to us? Why can’t we focus on resolving our issues, our differences, peacefully?”

Take care...