An AP writer who has covered conflicts in Congo and Rwanda called this a “starter war” on the first morning of our embedding nearly two weeks ago, because the U.S. military provides most of our needs…food, water, some degree of shelter and security, and some degree of access to power … all of which can be daily struggles in more remote, less industrialized theaters of war.
But despite the awesome power of the U.S.military and all that makes possible, filing at all was impossible for more than 36 hours as we rolled blitzkrieg style through the desert on the southern flank of the Euphrates valley. My world consisted entirely of a roughly six-foot-by-six-foot armored space in the back of a Bradley, with only two narrow periscope ports to view the world, packed with gear and shared with a gangly six-foot-six soldier, all elbows, knees and size-14 boots. We slept, ate cold MREs and pissed in bottles and handed them up the turret for the gunner to toss out. Everything rattled and vibrated constantly. But sooner or later you get used to anything, and it all began to seem normal. I composed snatches of stories in my head, dozed off to disturbing dreams in which I was detached from the column, in old familiar places with old friends and acquaintances, but worried about finding my way back to the column. The column was leaving, and I had to get on.
My satphone wouldn’t work through the thick steel armor, and out brief refueling and maintenance stops were occupied entirely with eating, defecating by the road and stretching. In any case, we were barred from reporting this movement until it was done, the Army’s idea being to shock the Iraqis with the sudden appearance of a tank brigade on their flanks.
Jules Crittenden has covered crime, politics, science, maritime matters and foreign affairs for the Boston Herald for 10 years, including ethnic conflicts and other issues in Kashmir, Kosovo, Israel, Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh. He has been in Kuwait covering the buildup to war since Feb. 2 and is now embedded with the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division. Crittenden was raised in Indonesia, Australia, East Pakistan and Thailand, and lives south of Boston with his wife and three children.
Embedded Journal: Overnight Bradley toward Baghdad
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