So there I was... Baghdad, Iraq...
Today was a busy day. Things (mostly cars) kept blowing up all over Baghdad. The first VBIED (vehicle borne improvised exploding devise) that went off this morning, I had the pleasure of being a mere 200 meters away. It was close enough to rattle my chest. There were a few secondary rockets that went off within minutes of the vehicle explosion.
The MPs and I were stuck in a traffic jam when all this was going on, of course, because the traffic in Baghdad is a completely different animal. No one stays in their lane... what lanes? Sometimes there are 3 cars side by side going down a 2 lane road. The go the wrong way down roads into oncoming traffic. They just stop their cars and get out in the middle of the road a talk to each other. But they don't have road rage like Americans do, they are really calm about the horrific traffic.
We started to hear small arms fire come from behind us, so the gunner turned the hatch, ready to open fire, and it turns out it's just the Iraqi Army being complete idiots. They were shooting into the sky, like as a warning? Or just to show us they had ammunition, too? Who knows?
There wasn't any other "action" for the MPs and me. No one got to shoot anything. No one got hurt. No one blew up. But at least it was a change in pace.
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