Iraq Update - August 2017
Fellow Outdoor Dawgs -
We are getting close. Very close. In 25 days I will hand over duties as the FEST Commander in Iraq over to the new Team Leader, and we will begin our travels toward home. We have been gone from home for 251 days, and just completed our 224th day in Iraq. As happy as we are that the end is near, the wear and tear of the long hours is starting to take a toll. We are tired, nerves are touchy, but cannot let our guard down just yet.
I spent my second or third birthday in this part of the world last week. I know we landed in Kuwait on my birthday in 2006 (#32), and would have left about that same time in 2007. This year, #43 was spent in the center of Mosul, Iraq. Yep, the Mosul that has been in the news a fair amount over the last few months. I led a contingent of my team into the center of Western Mosul to assess the condition of some critical infrastructure.
I worried over this mission for weeks, and thought it may pass as our time was short. Yet it did fall to us. This would be a difficult mission under normal circumstances, but Mosul still has some bad guys, and the fight for control continues. It was difficult conducting this trip in the last few days of our tour, and it would have been easy to find an excuse or ask someone else. But commanders are bound by the duties of their office, and when the mission comes we lead from the front of the line. There were a thousand other places I would have rather been last week than standing on a bridge in Mosul with an ISIS flag still flying over it, but after several very long days we completed our mission without incident.
http://i.imgur.com/Qovr1N2.jpg?1
The only way I can describe the city is complete destruction. Every building is covered with bullet holes. Every block is destroyed. There are no services. The roads are impassable, full of rubble, unexploded ordnance, shell casings and other unmentionable things. In short, it is the result of the most intense urban battle the world has ever seen.
http://i.imgur.com/gAvz94n.jpg?1
One of the things that struck me, however, was the lack of "stuff". Amidst all the rubble there were no dishes, furniture, clothes, rugs or the like. I have to believe most of the residents of the Old City saw this fight coming and left. There were very few people about, but some evidence of folks attempting to clean up and find a new normal.
I have attached some pictures of the destruction, but these do not do justice to the entirety of the scope or scale of the damage. Note that many of the buildings in these photos were constructed in the 1100's. At one point I was right at the base of the minaret tower on the Great Mosque of al-Nuri that ISIS destroyed during the last few days of the battle. My guess is that it will take 10+ years and billions of dollars to begin to get that city back to approaching functional again.
I thought we may be able to coast our last few weeks out, but it looks to be pretty busy until we leave. I have begun to pack a few bags, as I begin getting ready to move from my temporary home for good.
My next message will be from the Green Beans Coffee shop in Kuwait. When you see that one, we will be very close to home.
Hope all is well, and GO DAWGS!
http://i.imgur.com/jKr8A81.jpg?1
