Failed quest for 'Daughters of Iraq'

For an embed set up to investigate a new breed of Iraqi female guard it was a complete disaster. But fortunately, thanks to an amusing helicopter crew and some friendly soldiers on the ground, the trip was not an utter waste of time.
In fact, things got off to a promising start. 
I mean, it’s not every day you get to ride next to a gunner in a Blackhawk and watch as he test-fires the weapon, while passing over a patch of dusty waste land en route to an area known as the Triangle of Death.
Touching down at a military base on the outskirts of Yusifiyah, a town south of Baghdad, I had been expecting to spend the next two days with some “Daughters of Iraq”, a novel addition to the country’s bulging security forces.
The group is a female version of the better-established “Sons of Iraq” who were formed and funded by the US military after largely Sunni Arab tribes grew disenchanted with al-Qaeda.
It became apparent very quickly, however, that something had gone horribly wrong in the planning of my adventure.
The local batch of Daughters of Iraq only emerge on a Sunday and a Monday, while I, for some inexplicable reason, had been booked to embed on a Tuesday with the US soldiers who run the programme.

The Commanding Officer, Captain Michael Starz, who had nothing to do with organising the visit but was merely hosting it, was as puzzled as me as to why I had been sent on such an odd day to see real live Daughters of Iraq.
Unfortunately our mutual realisation of the error only dawned after the helicopter had upped and vanished, leaving me stranded in this rural spot.
To make matters worse, Tuesday (when all this took place) turned out to be the very day when thousands of Iraqi soldiers poured deeper than ever before into the Baghdad Shia slum of Sadr City.
I had been waiting for the past week for this to happen so it was typical that the action should kick off the moment I decide to take a chance and leave.
Alas none of my mobile phones worked in Yusifiyah and my satellite phone decided to go on strike so I was blissfully unaware of this hugely symbolic event until I finally logged onto the Internet a lot later in the day.
With no chance of seeing any Daughters of Iraq at work, I asked to be put on the next flight back to Baghdad.

A helicopter was due in at 3pm, which meant I had time to go out on a patrol with Captain Starz.

The aim of the mission was to meet with a local journalist who had just been hired by the US military to give poetry classes to children twice a week.
Another goal was to speak to residents about a series of US-Iraqi raids that have been taking place since a female suicide bomber attacked an Iraqi Army post last week, killing a much-liked officer and wounding five other soldiers.
It was the first female suicide bombing in this area, and underlined the need for the Daughters of Iraq programme, which provides the security forces with the ability to frisk females who currently pass through checkpoints untouched.
Setting off on foot from the joint US-Iraqi base, myself, 12 US soldiers and about four Iraqi troops headed into Yusifiyah.
Such a stroll would have been impossible a year ago when this area was controlled by al-Qaeda fighters and also gangs of al-Mehdi Army militants.
Now however the town centre appears calm though very rundown, with reopened market stalls offering an array of goods from fruit and vegetables to blankets and plastic flowers.
Rubbish still litters the streets and a stench of sewage hangs in the air, but the river of filth that once flowed through Yusifiyah has been cleared away.

Weaving through the marketplace, we made our way to the house of Adil Naji Hamid, the one-time journalist who also fancies himself as a bit of a poet.
Mr Hamid had been expecting us along with several local sheikhs who were seated on the floor around the edge of the poet’s front room, where lunch was due to be served.
Joining in the party, Captain Starz and half his team greeted everyone and settled down for the feast, while the other soldiers pulled security outside, a sign that caution is still necessary no matter how friendly the atmosphere.
Lunch consisted of barbequed carp, chunks of fatty lamb, vegetables stuffed with rice, bowls of finely diced salad, strange-looking pickles, plates of rice and enormous disks of flat bread, all washed down with fizzy drinks and tea.
I wondered whether any of the part-time Daughters of Iraq had prepared the banquet. If they had they were not showing their faces. In fact I didn’t see one woman while at the house, which is not that surprising given their subservient status in Iraqi society.
Food finished, Captain Starz chatted with the sheikhs, who were complaining that there had been no electricity in Yusifiyah for the past three days. 
The men also wanted to know why the military had stopped taking compensation claims. The 32-year-old officer explained this was a temporary measure after the suicide bombing as the security situation is reassessed.
After saying our thank yous and goodbyes, we exited the house and set off to check out a sub-power station followed by a school.
US forces took over the latter building a couple of years ago to use as a base for six months, leaving behind tell-tale markings in black pen above white stone doorways such as ‘QRF’ (quick reaction force) and ‘HQ’ (headquarters).
The military has hired an Iraqi contractor to renovate the primary school to enable children to return. However, a man who appeared to be a caretaker (he was camped out on a mattress in the entrance hall) told us that the contractor had stopped work after claiming that he had not been paid.

School visit over and expected-landing-time-of-promised-helicopter drawing near, the patrol made its way back towards the base along a road that ran next to a stretch of river where a group of youngsters were playing.
Dressed in dripping shorts and wide smiles, the 20 or so boys shrieked and laughed as they leapt or dove from the bank into the water.

“It’s hot and there is no power so that is why we play here,” shouted 12-year-old Hashin Mohamed, before plunging headfirst into the river.

Standing there in heavy body armour sweltering under the afternoon sun, I was sorely tempted to follow suit, but figured that this would mean missing my flight home so resisted the urge.
It transpired that I should not have worried. Upon arrival back at the dusty base, which is surrounded by concrete blast walls, I dutifully sat with my gear at the landing zone waiting for the helicopter only to be told an hour later that it had been cancelled. There would be no other flight until the next day.
Well and truly stuck, I ended up writing remotely about Sadr City from the room of a kindly officer on the base, before slumping off to bed.
The next day dawned with the promise of a flight at 10.55am, which arrived on cue manned by the same crew who brought me to Yusifiyah in the first place.
Once up and away I was given a set of headphones to be able to speak with the ‘helicopter people’, aka Captain Joshua Karkalic, CW2 Mark Mahe, Staff Sergeant Pete Lopez and Specialist Max Bregan.
We stopped off at four or five other bases that dot the palm grove terrain stretching up to Baghdad, but never made it as far as the Green Zone, where I needed to travel. Instead the Blackhawk landed at a sprawling camp on the outskirts of the capital to refuel before heading back to Yusifiyah from where I had left an hour and a half earlier.
You really could not make it up.
Fortunately just flying around was quite fun. In addition, I was sucked into a water fight with a second helicopter crew so things could have been worse.
Finally we touched down at the Green Zone, where Staff Sergeant Lopez asked if I would pose with him for a picture. As we stood smiling for the camera, another crewmember crept up from behind with a big bottle of cold water…

[Picture 1: Onboard a Blackhawk helicopter;
Picture 2: Local Iraqi woman, sadly not Daughters of Iraq;
Picture 3: A Blackhawk taking off from a base;
Picture 4: A US officer plays football with an Iraqi boy;
Picture 5: A flower stall at the marketplace;
Picture 6: Lunchtime with the sheikhs;
Picture 7: A soldier tucks into some lamb and bread;
Picture 8: The school that is being renovated;
Pictures 9, 10 and 11: Boys playing in the river;
Picture 12: Hashin Mohamed shows off his diving techniques;
Picture 13: The 'helicopter people';
Picture 14: Getting soaked.]

Comments

[Mikey]

Your stuff's just great. Keep it up.

[Gregory]

Blackwater Helicopter? A private contractor or was that a typo?

[CW2 Mark Mahe]

Nice! Have you gotten the chance to finish the story on the Daughters of Iraq? Just let us know if you need another dousing of cold water, it is getting hot.

[hih]

deborah,
everyone here is proud of you. stay safe, do good work. please do stay safe.

[Lennart Berggren]

nice story!
it goes along well with my own experience as several times beeing embed
things happen here or there but you are always sent somewhere else
but in the end you get good stories out anyhow, and a nice experience for your self

[Kim Coghill]

Hi, Deb. A very nice read! Keep your head down.

Kim in Singapore