An email from Iraq

I got another email from a friend of mine serving his second tour in Iraq. His emails always provide me with an additional perspective of things on the ground there. The mainstream media, when presented with views from soldiers, often say that it is like looking at Iraq through a straw, insinuating that the soldier’s view of Iraq is so limited as to be almost negligible.

However, some else made the comment that when you put a lot of those straws together you get a bigger picture. So I wanted to share this latest “straw view of Iraq”. I don’t really want to offer any commentary, but just present it as I received it (except for removing names).

Yesterday 2 very good soldiers from the Scout platoon were blown up on the side of a road. One of the most respected and known Sergeants in our Battalion, SSG _____, and a new soldier named SGT _____ were obliterated while inspecting what they correctly thought to be a bomb.
Almost all 750 people in the Battalion knew SSG _____ and I have been very good friends with him since we deployed together last Iraq rotation. SSG _____ was the Scout platoon SGT and was renowned throughout the BDE for being a reliable and straightforward soldier. The memorial for him will be tomorrow where his name will be struck from the roster. I am personally saddened by his passing and I know our Battalion will not be as good without him.
SGT ______'s girlfriend/ fiancée had the dubious privilege of being in the patrol element that responded to help when the Scout platoon was hit. There was very little left of him as he was only 2 or 3 feet away from the device. She rode with him in a bag all the way to the hospital where his remains were delivered; she has subsequently been referred to DIV-level counseling. This is a perfect illustration of why the army goes to great lengths to discourage fraternizing and limit coed contact.

Those sad words said, there are worse things afoot for me to be mad about. Both soldiers were killed within a minute of each other and they died better deaths than most people will die. They lived by the sword, and not surprisingly, they died by it. What every good American can be pissed about is that a mosque, sitting 300m away in over watch of the ambush area began singing praises to Allah immediately after the blast occurred and casualties were evident. The interpreter recorded the song "It is a good day today; it is a day blessed by Allah --blah blah blah."
Everyone knows that the mosques are safe havens for bomb makers and gunrunners. Everyone from E-1 Privates to O-9 Generals. This fact has been proven a thousand times over in the last 4 years. For a mosque to be ready on the bullhorn at 2130 to laugh at us for getting killed is nothing less than an admission that they were waiting for the bomb to explode. Which is nothing less than an admission of involvement.
I am certain that the US will do nothing to neutralize this known-safe haven for our enemies. We've been allowing religious-fanatics to operate from known locations for years. The last time I was here I said we need to "Go Hard or Go Home." I had kind of forgotten that until now. Fiddle-fucking around in the middle is infuriating.

In this traumatic incident I find myself in the "Knew him well" category. But like I said before, "payback" never really comes. We're going to keep getting killed and we are going to keep being laughed at. Because our "kid-gloves" policy is a fucking joke to Sunni / Wahabiists who've long ago pulled out all the stops.
I hope things start looking up soon. At our present rate we'll be short 2 platoons before we get back to Germany.

I'll write again on a brighter day.