Laughing Wolf

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Home

I am back safely from Iraq, but things will continue to be a bit slow for a while.  I do now have power for the laptop, and a gig or so of photos to go through, lots of audio to sort and edit, and more.  Regretfully, I also came home to a death in the family, unexpected yard work, and car repairs, all of which are claiming time.  Please stand by…

LW

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Some Notes On Iraqi Homes and Architecture

A story on a night raid I went on will be posted later today (today?  Does anyone really know what time it is?), at Blackfive and I thought it would help to describe some of the details of Iraqi homes here. 

What is standard in North America is not standard for a good bit of the world.  In Iraq, the homes follow a pattern I’ve seen across Europe and even into Asia a bit, particularly in warmer climates.  That is, the home and yard are surrounded by a wall that is at least six feet high, if not higher, and entry is usually through a single gate.  A basic home is actually built right up against the neighboring home, and may even share a wall, with the couryards also sharing a common wall.  The courtyard is small in a city or basic home but can include some grass, garden or other.  The bathroom for the home is most often outside, against the outer wall.  The home itself usually has a large common room, where the family will sleep and eat, and then several smaller rooms inside and away. 

This mirrors the sheik houses, which often feature a large “sheik” room (as one Iraqi called them) where the people under the sheik can come for meetings and such.  The sheik room can be a separate building in some cases, or, when part of the home, has no doorways into the home from it.  For while hospitality here has very open rules (someone can drop in and visit, and one may not ask them why for three days, at least in some Sunni homes, for example), the home is sacred and only family may enter for the most part.  It can be very rare for women and children to come out if there are visitors (again, at least in Sunni areas). 

More soon.

LW

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Iraqi’s/U.S. Army 3, Terrorists 0

Some days, life is good.  When you have a majority of days when life is good, you know that you have it good and that things may even be getting even better. 

Where I am currently, life is good and there are many signs that it is getting better for everyone here.  The larger reasons are for later, but for now I wanted to share one reason life is good for Echo Comapny ("Team Easy).  It’s good because life is getting better for the local Iraqi’s. 

“You don’t have the people, you don’t have it,” states Timothy Wilcoxen, Easy’s First Sergeant.  Here, they are indeed starting to have it.  Iraqi Police Volunteers are staffing checkpoints to protect their homes and communities.  The citizens of the area are stepping forward in other ways as well, by turning in terrorists and report suspicious activities.

My first night here, one such tip came in.  Information was gathered, stories checked, and plans quickly and efficiently made.  Last night, a raid was conducted of the site given, resulting in two terrorists captured, along with a cache IEDs and supplies for making more.  That cache, along with the abandonded building being used as a headquarters and IED factory, were destroyed.  It’s not just Easy’s area that safer, it’s Baghdad as well since the materials may well have been headed there. 

Anbar has awakened; but, West Rashid is tipping and the ripples from that are already having an impact—on several levels—in Baghdad.

The implications are profound, for the U.S. and the future of Iraq.  Yet, on a more fundamental level, the affairs of princes mean little here considered against the basic and most important thing:  we are all safer today because the citizens in this region are stepping forward. 

West Rashid is tipping, and if it lands on its feet, the ripples should become waves of change. 

More to come,

LW

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Embed II:  An Unexpected Honor And Opportunity

Crossposted from Blackfive

I doubt there is a regular reader here who is not familiar with the outstanding group that is Soldier’s Angels.  For those new to the site, milblogs, or otherwise unfamiliar with them, there is almost nothing that Soldier’s Angels does not do for our troops.

They meet the wounded as they arrive in Europe and America on their way home, seeing to their needs and comfort.  The story of Project Valour-IT is one you truly should know.  They meet the non-wounded and offer welcome and thanks.  Soldier’s Angels provides blankets, yes; and, they also provide kevlar blankets to units that need them, cooling scarves to those in the heat, and a host of other items and services to those that serve and to their families.  There is literally not enough good that can be said about this organization and the awe-inspiring people that are a part of it. 

It therefore gives me great pleasure to announce that the Blackfive embeds will be representing Soldier’s Angels in our travels.  The least that will be done is that we will be serving as eyes-on-the-ground for them, finding out from individuals and from command what additional things are needed to help our troops as they are deployed.  As for what else we will be doing, well, you will just have to wait and see.  There is more to come. 

Please support our embed program by making donations to PMI.  You can support my embed by marking your donation For LW Embed and you can support our first embed effort by noting that it is for JSOTF-P.  Anything raised above and beyond the needs of these two efforts will go to supporting PMI and future embeds.  Please give today, as we have a ways to go on each.  Please see this previous post for more details.

Also, don’t forget to make Soldier’s Angels a regular stop for donations either.  The money given to them brings so much to our troops and their families. 

LW

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Thank You

To all who have donated here, offered support and encouragement, and even a small thanks to those who have asked “Are you out of your mind?!?” Thanks to the generosity and support offered, my boots are ordered and on the way, along with some other items.  I hope to order pack and sack next week, both after some things clear and after I get some feedback on selections from some who would know.  Meantime, I’m pulling together the gear I already have that will work, starting to locate and purchase clothing, and otherwise get ready.  Thank you all for helping make this possible.

LW

Content copyright C. Blake Powers and the individual authors. Comments become the property of C. Blake Powers and may be altered, edited, deleted, and used by C. Blake Powers or the individual authors without restriction or recompense.