Kaboom (44 page)

Returning to January 2009, I snapped to, still standing at attention, and watched the red, white, and black with green script of the new flag of Iraq flapping in the wind, high above JSS Istalquaal. The Iraqi security forces around me stood proudly and saluted. I carried mixed feelings about the whole affair but couldn't bring myself to really care either way. I just didn't want to crack up in public. Yelling to myself in a Porta-John or an abandoned corner of the JSS would suffice if I could last that long. I would.

Just get back to the old world, I thought to myself. Everything will be fine then. Just get back.

Staff Sergeant Sitting Bull
sat down next to me on the black leather couch in front of the television and frowned. I looked over at him, prying my eyes from the fight taking place on the screen, and ignored the cheers and jeers of the thirty or so other soldiers who watched the fight around us.

“Yo, sir, Las Cruces just called us. He said he knows who planted that IED the Iraqi police found earlier this morning. It's pretty crazy and nothing like we guessed.”

I nodded. “Sure. Of course. Las Cruces wants nothing more than to ruin the entire JSS's ability to watch UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship, a mixed martial arts organization immensely popular with American soldiers). That much I already knew. What more do I need to know?”

Staff Sergeant Sitting Bull laughed. “How about the fact that we got Badr Corps operating in Hussaniyah now?”

My jaw dropped, and I raised my eyebrows protractedly. “Okay, you're right. That is worth knowing. When the fuck did the Badr Corps move this far north?”

“Have fun!” Lieutenant Rant waved from another couch as we stood up. “Today seems to be an insurgent day, not a contractor day. Lucky me!”

Like JAM, the Badr Corps qualified as a Shia extremist group, although that phrase didn't truly encapsulate the organization's history or intent. Originally formed as an anti-Saddam Hussein, pro-Shia paramilitary, the Badr Corps actually fought with Iran against Iraq in the 1980s during the Iran-Iraq War, which ended in a stalemate. The Badr Corps tended to draw from a more educated, wealthier demographic than the upstart Jaish al-Mahdi and had proven far more supportive of Iraqi security forces in the aftermath of the American invasion, as many of their own members joined the Iraqi army and the Iraqi National Police. Nevertheless, elements of the Badr Corps still functioned as a paramilitary on the streets of Iraq, although it was rare for them to operate on this end of Baghdad. Their political capital rested in Karbala, and the organization had played a pivotal role in the Battle of Basra against revolting JAM elements in March 2008.

I walked back to our company TOC to read Sergeant Secret Agent Man's report about Las Cruces's information. The IPs had found three antipersonnel IEDs, filled with steel ball bearings, some four hours before near a populated
street corner in the center of Hussaniyah. Although set for remote detonation, the IEDs did not explode, even with the IPs around. All of this struck us as bizarre for three reasons: (1) JAM didn't normally target their own people instead of us, (2) JAM didn't normally use ball-bearing IEDs instead of EFPs, and (3) today was the Day of Ashura, a prominent Shia holiday. JAM seemed as concerned with public relations as we did, so an IED attack on this day failed the basic logic test. And now we knew why. The Badr Corps had planted the IEDs targeting JAM members.

As I scanned his report, Sergeant Secret Agent Man enlightened us with more details. “Basically, sir, the Badr Corps wanted to make a big splash in Hussaniyah to let the populace know they've arrived. Killing JAM leaders in front of everyone on a Shia holiday would definitely do that.”

“But aren't they a Shia organization as well?” I asked.

“They are,” Sergeant Secret Agent Man replied, tapping his mouth with a pen. “But H-Town is not made up of many of their people, so it seems like a risk they'd be willing to take. Hussaniyah is too poor and too far north to be loyal to the Badr Corps.”

“So why didn't they blow it up?”

Sergeant Secret Agent Man tapped his mouth with the pen again. “That's something I've been trying to figure out. I don't know. It was still remote activated; unless the remote was out of range, they should have been able to detonate it at any point. The only thing I can figure is that they didn't want IP blood on their hands. They knew we'd come after them then.”

I put the report down. “Okay, that all makes sense. But do we have anyone saying this is the Badr Corps other than Las Cruces? And why is he so sure it was them?”

“He's the only one so far. And he's so sure because he's one of the guys they wanted to kill. An IP who recognized a Badr Corps member driving into Hussaniyah at dawn tipped JAM off, so they avoided all of the Ashura activities and stayed at their safe houses.”

I started rubbing my temples and longed for some painkillers. Or a cigarette. Captains Frowny-Face and Clay were all at a battalion meeting right now, so I was the head mother fucker in charge. Hooray. And such.

“What holiday is it again? I get all of these fucking Islamic holidays mixed up, except for Ramadan, because they starve themselves.”

Both of the HUMINT collectors laughed. “It's the Day of Ashura, sir,” Staff Sergeant Sitting Bull said as he stuck a large wad of dip into his mouth.
“The one where the Shias beat their chests with whips. The actual day changes every year, but it's almost always sometime in January.”

“Ah,” I said reminiscently, “but of course.”

The Day of Ashura commemorated the Muslim martyr Husayn, who died in the Battle of Karbala in approximately A.D. 680. Unlike Sunnis, Shia Muslims considered Husayn the rightful successor to the Prophet Muhammad. Many Shias chose to celebrate Husayn's death by slapping themselves or flailing themselves with chains or maces, symbolically exhibiting that they shared in his pain and sacrifice. A year before—had it really already been a year?—the Gravediggers and I had stumbled upon an evening street festival during Ashura along Route Swords in Saba al-Bor. I danced with Sheik Banana-Hands and his eldest son and ate frosted dates with Boss Johnson, who, despite being a Sunni, had shown up to the event as an act of good faith toward his Shia brethren. The three of us and SFC Big Country then held an impromptu conference on the side of the street, discussing the ills and troubles of the Saba al-Bor area. At the time, I truly believed we had made serious headway in the mending of Shia-Sunni relations in our particular AO. Less than two weeks later, Boss Johnson's car blew up, taking his splatter particles and brain matter with it, less than a mile away from Sheik Banana-Hands's house. And now, one year physically and a decade mentally later, I was dealing with the Badr Corps making a play in the sewer politics of Hussaniyah. Needless to say, frosted dates and chest flailing aside, the Day of Ashura was not my personal favorite of the Muslim holidays.

“Any objections to sharing this with Lieutenant Anwar and his boys?” I asked Staff Sergeant Sitting Bull. “They usually have a quick turnaround with lower- and mid-level guys, and they probably should know that the Badr Corps is making a play.”

Staff Sergeant Sitting Bull shook his head. “No, that's a good idea. As long as we don't let them know where we got the info, I don't care.”

I walked over to the National Police dispatcher and informed him that I needed to speak with Lieutenant Anwar immediately. Concurrently, the mortarmen/tanker combo platoon went on mission and conducted a follow-up patrol around the Day of Ashura festivities in central Hussaniyah. Under strict orders to stay on the perimeter of the gathering, Iraqi police approached them, informing the platoon leader that another antipersonnel IED rigged with ball bearings had been found. Battalion dispatched EOD, which successfully dismantled it. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Anwar and I met, and I
informed him of the Badr Corps intelligence. He thanked me and beat it back to his headquarters only five minutes after our meeting started. I took this as a good sign.

The next day, Lieutenant Anwar claimed they had detained one Badr Corps member responsible for the IEDs, who informed them that they had been dispatched from Karbala to make inroads in Hussaniyah and to attempt to dismantle JAM special groups in our area. He also told the National Police that the other Badr members had fled after the Day of Ashura, and he doubted they'd return anytime soon. We couldn't verify this information, though, because the National Police rejected our request to question their detainee tactically. This spurred Staff Sergeant Sitting Bull to think that they hadn't detained anyone and had instead made up the story to try to impress American forces.