Each Picture in Iraq Is a Piece of the Landscape of War

Mar. 22, 2007 — -- Each time I come to Iraq it's different. This time I spent several weeks with soldiers at Camp Victory near Baghdad. The first time was with the newly minted Stryker Brigade, back in 2003. The battalion I was with then was new, nervous and uncertain. They are back. I bunked next to them at Victory. They are part of the "senior" brigade in Iraq, one of the most respected units here and at the pointy end of the spear in the fight for Baghdad.

The last time I was in Baghdad I was in the middle of an almost unimaginable orgy of violence.

Every experience is a mere snapshot in time -- a single picture in the life of a war. No one is an expert on Iraq. Everyone looks at a broad landscape through a keyhole. Each look gives us a piece of a complicated mosaic. No one can see the whole picture, and many of the pieces are missing.

The pieces of the picture come to life when you meet those who live it. Consider combat medic Jeremy Middelsteadt, who had to pick up pieces of his friends after several roadside bombs went off next to their patrol. It was in a Sunni area near Baghdad. It's near the same area where, once a week, he escorts Sunni women through a dangerous area controlled by rival Shias so they can buy food for their families.

Some of the pictures seem surreal, like a group of Stryker soldiers talking about a fire fight while sipping lattes and devouring Cinnabons. "This just ain't right," observed one.

Some pictures are heart-wrenching. Think about a story told by the soldiers of the Kentucky National Guard. They belong to a unit heavy on citizen soldiers who teach school in real life. They made a habit out of passing out school supplies to children. When a sniper attacked one day he didn't target the soldiers. He shot the children.

David Pate is a young blond-haired Army captain from West Virginia. He didn't know much about al Qaeda or the war when he got his assignment to take care of prisoners a year ago. He is now a dedicated warrior. He talked to al Qaeda fighters every day. "They are a breed apart." He can cut through the theology and politics, "this is it for them." They are the last warriors in the long fight to bring God's kingdom on earth. All they have to do is eliminate those who lure Muslims from the righteous path. That means everyone who doesn't think like they do.