It has been a while since my last post. I honestly haven't been able to think of anything that has happened recently that warranted a full post to itself. Things have been rather dull and monotonous and I finally came up with this topic while I sat in a meeting today with some Iraqi Federal Police officers. I want to talk about what Iraqis (at least Iraqi soldiers, or more specifically their officers) are really like.
The perception that most Americans have of an Islamic country is largely the idea of a deeply religious, pious society where everyone prays five times a day, all women cover their faces and the strict tenants of Islam are upheld to the letter on pain of death. There are small segments of the population here that do fit this description but it is not as wide spread as Fox news might lead you to believe. This is at least true for Baghdad. Honestly, the number of mosques I have seen have been surprisingly small. There are some small towns in the United States with a disturbingly larger number of churches for a significantly smaller population than Baghdad has (Baghdad has over 6 million people and Wheaton, Illinois has only 55,000 with over 45 churches).
The only Iraqis that I really interact with, aside from our interpreters, are the Federal Police officers. The people I interact with range from the lowly Lieutenants on up to Generals. The first thing you will notice is the amazing level of hospitality one receives immediately and every time you visit them. Even if an Iraqi hates you (and they do) you will still get chai (tea) and if you stay over lunch time, you will be offered food that you can't turn down. Today we had several cups of chai and were invited to a lunch with a Colonel after meeting him for the first time and only for an hour. Everyone who has been to Iraq more than once (not me but most my NCO's) know that it is always safe to drink and eat with the Iraqis. You may shit your brains out that night (there is no guarantee this food will sit well) but you definitely will not be poisoned. An Iraqi will shoot, stab, or blow you up before he would even consider poisoning you. Once you enter their home or compound you are subject to their hospitality and care. If anything bad happened to you under those circumstances would be enormously embarrassing for them.
An interesting thing that I find about these guys is how un pious they all seem to be. Not a single meeting has ever ended without our Iraqi counterparts saying something about their girlfriends on the side. One Colonel joked that he stays up til 2 am talking to his girlfriend but gets the shakes every time his wife calls. Side note: Islam allows for up to four wives, but these aren't extra wives. Today some colonels joked about how white and pale we all were, we often discuss with one guy how a fellow LT in my troop should be used as a wingman to pick up chicks with the Iraqi Colonel, and dick jokes are also regularly exchanged. also today, an officer discussed with us how awesome German beer is when I mentioned that I was going there for R&R. I joked about bringing samples of beer back, and I have no doubt he would drink them happily if I was to manage it. Also, some of them mentioned how their politicians were "Mother F*#$ers" for not giving them a pay raise. We kinda have a lot in common.
Want to know the most hilarious thing about this whole situation? Every single one of these guys served in Saddam's Army and some of them were even Republican Guard. The Sergeants Major of one of our partnered units openly admitted to being Republican Guard for many years. The Colonel we met today made a joke that he survived the initial invasion against us because we primarily targeted the Iraqi tanks rather than the armored personnel carriers that he rode in while he fought against us. Weird how one day a guy will be trying to kill you and the next he is serving you chai and is working with you. I still carry a loaded gun into these meetings..
PS. Na'am is Arabic for "Yes" and Sayyidi is "Sir."
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