Night Ops

Recently I found myself on the roof of a 10 story building in downtown Baghdad. I was there to coordinate some line-of-sight/dead-reckoning from this high point to other fixed locations throughout the city. This was in preparation of setting up a microwave encrypted communications system. We were using a high powered IR spotlight to "paint" (illuminate) pre-designated spots. The IR system allowed us to do this in the dark so that we weren't a target for snipers.

Fun stuff...

Reality Hurts!

I am always scanning the news, alternative press and other blog sites for more information about Iraq. Here's an article about media coverage that I think is right on the mark:

http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060410/NEWS07/604100342


Then something much harder to look at but very important to understand:

http://www.obleek.com/iraq/index.html

Goodbye Sadeem

In the last eight months I have had the opportunity to work with some good people in Iraq. One of them in particular comes to mind because of his recent departure. When I first met Sadeem (not his real name) I mistook him for an American. His sandy blond hair and perfect English disguised his heritage. His background wasn’t revealed until a lengthy conversation one day when he took the time to tell me about his family and his love for his country. Sadeem worked under the Coalition Forces for about a year and a half. It's a job that would surely get him killed if the wrong people knew about it. When he'd leave for work every morning he would take a series of cabs all over the city, getting out to walk part of the way, all in an attempt to throw off anyone who might be watching him. His neighborhood is only two miles away yet it would take him an hour to arrive. He did this everyday leaving his wife, son and daughter to come here and work to make Iraq a better place.

Like any thinking person he saw both good and bad in the American occupation of Iraq. He believed in improving his country and he is a genuine fan of Americans. Mostly however he wanted to provide for his family. About four months ago in the middle of the day he received a frantic phone call from his wife telling him that his fourteen year old son had been kidnapped. Someone had discovered Sadeem worked for Americans and grabbed the boy. I think most of us saw the inevitable, including Sadeem, but he kept a brave face and even continued to work day after day. As it turns out he was lucky (relatively speaking), the kidnappers were just criminals interested in extorting money for his son’s life instead of Insurgents looking to make a statement. The kidnappers knew that Sadeem had a very good source of income making him a target in another way. Sadeem paid the ransom and got his son back (we helped him with the money). The kidnappers were never caught.

The last straw occurred a couple of weeks ago when in the space of five days forty people in his neighborhood were murdered. Sadeem decided that he could no longer put his family at risk, especially with the likelihood of a bad outcome increasing dramatically. The day he walked out you could see the heartbreak in his eyes. His sense of failure and resignation as well as a general feeling that Iraq is not getting better where obvious in his face which he did his best to hide as he became emotional.

Since he left I have tried to reconcile his reality against my own as I do with every similar situation. I have this need to find balance in everything. This is challenging as my life is one of great fortune compared with Sadeem’s. In the end I am left with this; it is what it is. Because of an infinite set of complex circumstances starting long ago our realities are vastly different yet intertwined. It occurred to me recently that how we choose to act and the choices we make during these events are probably more important then dissecting the past.

In any event I’m thinking about it and that’s a good thing.

Meanwhile in San Diego...

This isn't Denver. It's San Diego, March 2006. Crazy huh.

Work continues on the Condo. It's really starting to take shape now. I can't wait to get back to SD and move in.

http://www.studionorthpark.com/index.php

This is an exterior shot looking up at the Condo. (5th floor)

18 foot ceilings. This view is looking up at part of the loft from the Kitchen.

Looking down into the Living Room.

Living Room View.

Computer rendering of finished building.

More Random Pics...

I have a few pictures that I never got around to posting so I thought I'd put them up now. They are between 2 weeks to 6 months old.












This was one crazy night. For two hours the night sky was filled with gunfire. Millions of rounds were fired all around my compound with tracer rounds coming from every direction.















One can eat outdoors in this fine establishment without fear of being sniped or having those pesky rockets drop from above.















There are bad guys on the other side of that wall.
















I ride in these sometimes when the helicopters stop flying. They are seriously armored and have taken direct VBIED hits leaving only cuts and bruises on those inside and 10 ft craters outside.
















Here we are about to make a trip through the red zone to catch a C-130 flight down to Kuwait. As you can see we all take our weapons with us whether we're civilian or military.