How to Win a War
THE CUTLINE (A story in photos.)
Breakfast
A Forward Operating Base on the western border near Tal Afar, Iraq. November 2003. Temporary home of an American airborne battalion.
When I arrive, nobody’s in a good mood.
A patrol was ambushed the night before.
A popular staff sergeant lost his leg to an RPG and is now struggling for his life.
The battalion commander is a tall, powerfully built man who at one time had been a state champion wrestler with Olympic dreams. A bad knee ended that.
The next night he leads his men on a raid against a suspected insurgent leader. His soldiers swarm a multi-house compound in the dark, chill of 4 AM.
Doors are kicked in. The family roused.
In one of the bedrooms a specialist peels back a blanket.
Two young boys are revealed.
So small and the way they’re curled around each other, they look to me . . . like puppies.
The head of the house is taken to the main room.
He’s forced to his stomach on the cold concrete.
One soldier puts a boot between his shoulder blades.
Another threads his hands through plastic loops.
The cuffs click tight, joining his wrists behind his back.
He’s stood up and held in a corner of his own house.
A light machine gun is pointed at his chest.
His wife and children huddle under thick blankets while the house is searched.
Bad intel. Nothing is found. A knife slices through the cuffs.
The man is released just as the sun begins to rise.
It is the Muslim Holy month of Ramadan.
But now that the dawn has past, neither he, nor his family will eat or drink anything until sundown.
There are apologies and the soldiers load up their Humvees to head back to their forward operating base.
I see the man, who only moments before had been held at gunpoint, pressed to the floor with a boot, now approach the commander.
He places his right hand on his heart, looks the officer square in his eyes.
Softly asks him to bring the men back inside his home.
His family will prepare them breakfast before they go.
The gesture politely refused. The commander and his troops retreat.
-END-
(Text and photos by Kevin Sites)
Kevin Sites reported the war in Iraq from 2003 – 2015, beginning with the U.S.-led invasion and ending with the rise of the Islamic State.
His award-winning book, The Things They Cannot Say, details more stories like this one. You can find it at the link below.
love it. thanks for sharing.