First, it is easy to look at photos of the structural and human carnage and say “that sucks”; but having experienced, indirectly, one of these blasts now, that response doesn't even scratch the surface of the reality of these events. I was in an office 300 meters from the December 8th bombing of the court house (one of four that morning). I was on an upper floor of a concrete office building, in a corner office that would have been parallel to most of the concussion wave from this truck bomb. I heard gun shots and turned towards the window out of instinct, I guess, and then felt the concussion wave come through the concrete wall, blowing wood paneling off, causing ceiling tiles to shift and metal trim all over the room to buckle. Those movements dumped the years of collected dust into the room and hallways. The blast blew out the lower floors' windows on the front of the building and the entire glass entry way to the Ministry. And all of that damage occurred over 300 meters (of pretty open terrain) away from the blast site - allowing much of the concussion to dissipate in all directions. I can now only imagine the forces experienced in the adjacent buildings or even worse in an MRAP or HMMWV hit by a VBIED. The concussion alone was startling to me, add the violence of sharp objects, fire and noise and I can better empathize with the blank look on survivor’s faces.
Setting the physical experience aside, the other aspect I think is worth exploring is the Iraqi national reaction to date. We have had Prime Minister Maliki accuse security forces of collusion (probably a valid assertion) and a great deal of finger pointing. But what I find critical is the violence in Baghdad, a necessary qualification, has not set off sectarian reprisals, did not delay the approving of an election law and did not delay (greatly) the setting of the election date. 'Bloody Tuesday,' and the many bloody days that lie ahead here in Baghdad, did not collapse the government or produce the intended outcome – to cause Iraqis to doubt leaving the way ahead in the hands of a democratically elected government. In fact, the Iraqi reaction is finally what we have been waiting for – they are sick of terrorism. The government has moved away, and the media seems to be following suit, from the term ‘insurgents’ and are calling these cowards what they are – ‘terrorists’. This is not a civil war – it is not Shia against Sunni, it is Shia terrorists against the Sunni community and Sunni terrorists against the Shia community (feel free to substitute in Christian, Turkoman, Kurd,… or other Iraqi ethnic minorities for the innocent victims).
These are criminal acts, nothing else. Let’s pray the Iraqis continue to see these bombings for what they are and those who commit them for what they are – losers (in every sense of the word), who, as Alfred said in Batman Begins, “just want to watch the world burn…”
Grace & peace –
Chris
P.S. As I write this multiple large explosions have echoed through my CHU. Please pray for those in Baghdad suffering tonight.
P.S.S. Don't let this blog worry you about my safety. I have the utmost confidence in the security of the Embassy Compound from an IED. 'Presents' lobbed over the walls are a threat but are very random, not well targeted and represent a low risk/high impact event. The places I go in Baghdad have pretty good force protection (stand off, guard forces), factors that highly discourage the 'losers'. When I'm out, I have great security teams and I am always fully armored up. All that to say, I'll probably get hit by a bus or die of old age. No worries.
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