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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Children NOT Killed by Car Bomb |
| 2005-08-09 |
| The attack came almost as soon as our two Humvees pulled off the road and rolled to a stop. We found ourselves assailed not by bullets or rocket-propelled grenades, nor improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and mortar rounds, but by a swirling, squealing, smiling mass of petitioners, all under 4-feet tall. Three or four children had stood on the road just 10 seconds earlier, yet by the time I climbed from my seat in the lead vehicle at least 40 of them swarmed between my vehicle and the next. Six of us dismounted, the drivers and gunners staying in the vehicles. I walked to the rear of gun-truck No.2 where another man opened the hatch. The mass and press against my legs and back as I reached in for the box of food made me feel like I was at a Rolling Stones concert, Warning! Beverage alert! albeit one given exclusively for very, very short people. Snicker! I could barely move as I turned to try and carry the food over to a parent, hanging back at the edge of the village. Pressed in on every side, I called upon my remaining secret weapon. The gunners in their turrets tried to focus on any potential distant threat, but when I gave the pre-arranged signal the gunner of truck #2 shifted. We had planned for this contingency. We plan for almost every contingency, even the happy ones. Back at our base, we had separated the hard candy from the more substantial food and toiletries. We placed this 'ammo' in a separate box. That box was with the gunner, "Wingnut." On my order he let fly handful after handful of hard candy, throwing it well away and to the side of my location, a sugary "covering fire" which shifted progressively further from my position. My howling "opposition" melted away, streaming in a shrilly joyous mass off and to the side, diving for luxuries strewn in the dirt. I accomplished my mission, handing to two now-smiling women great boxes of food and toiletries. Thirty seconds later, we were remounted and on the road again, just in case, because we were a long way from friendly forces and our convoy of two was very small. Not long ago, just a few kilometers from where I sit now inside Baghdad's Green Zone, another group of American soldiers was doing much the same. They were passing out candy to children, as American soldiers have been doing for decades. The children were playing near the parked Humvees, and if my experiences are any guide, the kids were probably yelling and begging for yet more sweets, surrounding the Americans, when a suicide bomber drove straight into the pack of children and detonated his lethal cargo among them. This cannot stand. I agree, but am not sure what the writer is advocating.... (Robert Bateman is an author and historian. He is a regular D.C. Examiner columnist. For the next year, his byline will appear from Baghdad, Iraq, and various other points throughout the Middle East.) |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #1 If this guy wants any future in journalism, he needs to quickly retitle this piece "American Troops Torment Iraqi Children, Cause Cavities". Enjoyable post, Bobby. |
| Posted by: Matt 2005-08-09 12:18 |