Letter from Baghdad - Dispatch # 2
We continue from Nov. 25 with our weekly series from Lt. Josh Arthur, CC ’04, who is currently stationed in Baghdad:
It’s probably fair to say that Iraqis are targeting each other more than they are targeting Americans these days. Although groups more committed to violence against the other religious sect generally aren’t exactly averse to taking out an American and killing two birds with one stone. Improvised explosive devices are the most common and generally the most feared threat from the insurgents and Anti-Iraqi Forces.
They’re adaptable, they’re smart, and though they may not have the most sophisticated technology, they exploit what they have to its deadliest potential. They watch American patrols and learn about our techniques and about our vehicles; they study their effective attacks from the past; they analyze their tactics and are constantly shifting them to try to stay one step ahead of us. Interestingly, it’s generally rare these days to find tactics that are completely new as many groups have simply begun to revert to prior tricks from their grab bag to see if they’ll work now that we expect something else—more often than not, they don’t. We, of course, have systems and techniques to defeat or avoid many IED attacks, and we’re finally getting ahead of them in some respects, but this is their home and they’ll probably always have an advantage.
IEDs are probably the most widely feared threat because of their unpredictability. The only mitigating factor is knowing that an IED sizable enough to destroy an up-armored Humvee, let alone anything bigger, must be very large indeed.
The scarier if more localized fear is the emerging frequency of sniper attacks. They’re able to hide, they’re able to select their shot, and—most dangerously—they can shoot!
There’s actually strong suspicion that a Chechen mercenary is carrying out some of the attacks; whether that’s founded is beyond me. But it’s always a scary thought to think that someone, somewhere, is waiting for you outside of your vehicle. It’s particularly difficult with infantrymen who by their training feel more comfortable on the ground. It’s what they see their role as, and it’s how leaders have been taught to employ them. Infantrymen have no particular desire to stay cooped up in a vehicle for hours at a time, though they do it without complaint since they know it makes them safer.
The sniper threat is not the primary one; there are only so many snipers, and there are only so many opportunities that lend themselves to a sniper attack; avoiding those in the first place is the best way to beat them. Still, it’s on most guys’ minds, and that’s probably the hoped-for effect overall by those coordinating the attacks.
General gunfire—as opposed to precision sniper fire—is seen by soldiers not so much as a threat but as an opportunity, interestingly enough. If they’re going to be dumb enough to shoot at us, well heck, at least we have the chance to shoot back!
—Lieutenant Josh Arthur