Finally some people to play with

Today’s mission was a great one. I essentially was sent outside the wire to play with Iraqi kids all afternoon. The actual point of the job was to help monitor the work of the Iraqi National Guard (ING). But soon after we arrived kids gathered all around. We handed out candy and snacks and the kids swarmed. They were as cute as any kids you’ve ever seen. Big bright smiles and lots of energy. Some of the girls, probably around the ages of 5 to 9 years old, jumped and sang as they got their picture taken. The children would call “meesta, meesta” to get your attention and then they’d try to get anything from you that they could, candy, water, money, anything. One little girl tried to sell me three marbles for a dollar. A beautiful little girl wearing a red Elmo shirt held out some paper money and kept repeating the word “trade.” When she saw me pull out a few quarters to trade with she’d say the word “gift” over and over hoping I’d just let her have them. Her and I played this game for quite awhile. She’d smile and ask for two dollars in exchange for her bill (which was worth about 12 cents). The children were really cute but also very dirty. I’m not talking about the type of dirty from a long day of playing outside. I’m talking filthy from head to toe. Most of the girls had hair that was ratted almost to the point of having dreadlocks. The kids that had shoes (many were bare foot) had mismatched pairs, and one girl had the entire toe of her right shoe missing. Surprisingly, a few items that were a hit with the children were toothpaste and shampoo. A friend of mine was about to take a picture of one of the girls when she yelled at him to wait, pulled her new tube of toothpaste out, and held it to her chest smiling proudly for the camera.

Most of the kids spoke a few words in English, but it was fun trying out the few Arabic phrases that I’ve learned. I’d ask them their names and they’d tease me when I mispronounced something. It was strange to play with children with a loaded rifle slung around your neck. Thinking about it made you wonder where their parents were and why in the hell they let them play in such a dangerous area. Regardless, they all were having great fun and seemed genuinely happy.

For some reason the ING soldiers were constantly mean to the children. Every time they’d come around they would yell and chase the kids away from us. I’m not sure if they thought they were helping us or if they just didn’t want them around. We wanted to tell them that it was okay, that the kids weren’t bothering us, but some of the soldiers we came with said that if ING don't want them here we must let them do as they wish. I guess it’s part of the process of letting them take control of security for their country. The little ones seems scared of the Iraqi soldiers, and some of the older boys would ride by us on their bikes after being chased away and yell “F*cking ING! Bullsh*t!” After a few minutes the crowd of kids would once again start heading our way. Each time the ING would cut them off, sometimes throwing rocks near them to scare them away. We were all surprised by the treatment. By this time I was about ready to start bouncing rocks off of ING soldiers. We were having fun playing with the kids and didn’t see why they weren’t allowed to hang around us.

The girl in the Elmo shirt was separated from the rest of the children when the ING chased her. She was on one side of the road and her friends were on the other. Each time she tried to move closer the Iraqi soldiers would yell at her to go away. By this time I was more than tired of seeing the kids treated this way. I motioned for the girl to come toward me. When she hesitantly reached me, I asked her if she wanted to join her friends on the other side. When she told me that she did, I explained that I would take her there. She looked really frightened and pointed to the Iraqi soldiers and looked at me as if to say, “what about them?” I told her not to worry and we began walking toward the road. Before we were across an ING soldier began walking toward us yelling. I held up my hand telling him to stop and then gave him a thumbs-up and smiled. He looked confused for a second, but then smiled and waved as he went back to talk with the other soldiers. The girl ran across the street to her friends. Since then, my friends have been teasing me about my “new Iraqi girlfriend.”

While we played with the kids I heard a loud boom and looked to see a large puff of smoke in the distance. Soon after we heard the sounds of gunfire in what must have been an IED attack and the resultant firefight. While we stopped and stared in that direction the kids continued to jump around as if nothing was happening, apparently used to explosions and shooting. Two helicopters quickly flew over to the blast area and began circling. The soldiers we were with didn’t seem very alarmed so we went about our business. The area we were monitoring was filled with other people coming and going also. Adults passed by frequently. Some smiled and waved and others looked right past you as if it’s better not to acknowledge that you’re even there. You want to trust them all, particularly the ones with friendly faces, but it’s difficult to know who really likes you and who is acting. Where we are you can’t afford to make any assumptions other than believing that everyone is out to harm you; so you hold your rifle just a little more tightly as they walk by. In this situation safety has to trump politeness.

After our time was up and the job was over we told the children we were leaving as they pleaded for more stuff. Another little girl whispered to me that she wanted a bottle of water, as if it would be our secret, and I reached into the truck to get her one. Another soldier chided me for being so easy, but what can I say, I guess I’m a sucker for kids no matter what country I’m in. It was just nice to have happy, goofy, energetic kids around, even if some were just hustling me because they know I’m a soft touch. It felt like I was back home, a junior in high school again, helping out in a kindergarten class. It was a good day, and you could see that even the most serious of us felt more lighthearted by the time the job was through. I know that as combat soldiers most of our time will be taken up with less pleasant missions, but it is nice to know that every now and again we might get a chance to play with a bunch of cute kids. I think we probably had at least as much fun as they did.

I know that family and friends have been wondering what myself and other soldiers need so that they can send care packages. I can't think of anything in particular, besides invisible force fields maybe, that we necessarily need. What would be nice, however, is if people sent things we could give out to the local kids. Anything from travel size tubes of toothpaste, shampoo, tooth brushes, candy (that doesn't easily melt), beenie babies, or any other toy that you think they might like. There are a million of fun things that that these children have probably never tasted or played with. I was thinking that they would probably all go crazy over the candy "Pop Rocks." Let me know if you come up with any ideas. For those of you who might want to send something but don't have our address here drop me an email and I'll send it to you.