JimSpiri ”THE LAST LAP #9”

The latest journey called, "The Last Lap" - IRAQ, 2015

Made with Xara

July 20, 2015 It is Monday morning in Iraq and windy. From my past experiences in this country this could

result in a dust storm. I am feeling much better now after discovering ciprofloxacin, an

antibiotic that my hosts provided me with and deals rapidly with the dilemma I was facing.

I’ve now been on the road on this final journey for over two weeks. I’m on the home stretch

with the final week coming into view.

It seems I’m just now getting the hang of how to communicate here in this place we call Iraq.

Soon I will turn 60-years-old. A lot of things lately are coming into view although my

eyesight isn’t what it used to be. I can see things from far away sharply, but the up close part

is always blurry. The use of cheap reading glasses purchased at the ever popular dollar stores,

seem to assist me in focusing on the fine print of things. Just when one learns how to read

between the lines, focusing becomes an issue. All part of the aging process I guess. Sunday in Iraq was the third and final day of the Eid celebrations. The numerous visits to

different households in the community should slow down a bit even though the extended

invitations for evening meals continue to come my way. Here we are in the middle of the

summer heat and days above the 120-degree mark are often. By 0600 hrs the sun peering

through my window begins to announce that the scorching hot is on track and things will be

burning everything in its’ path. Where I am staying, most daytime activities are limited

because of the heat and by noon all things have come to a screeching halt. It is “uber-siesta

time” Iraq style between the hours of 11 am to 6pm. It is a matter of practicality. What the result is for such a break in the activity is that it means the cool time in the evening

keep things going usually until way past midnight. Visiting, shopping, cooking, etc., all pick

up a rapid pace as the sun makes a slow descent in the late afternoon summer sky. A drop in

temperature to just below the century mark is a highly welcomed event at the expense of

daylight departing. I had mentioned to my host that I had wanted to take a photograph of the

entire extended family for a keepsake.

Sunday afternoon would be this time around six in the evening when the light was not so

intense and the air was cooler for everyone. This is what I was able to obtain and it is now

among a treasured select group of photos I will keep as an historical archive concerning this

journey. I enjoyed taking this photo a lot.

At dinner that evening, we were watching the news like any household in America would.

Something caught my eye quite prominently which happened to be outgoing chairman of the

Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey’s “surprise” visit to Iraq to discuss things

going on at the moment. I had noticed that 24-hours earlier there had been some aircraft

movement overhead that had been non existent. Once again I have realized that wherever I

end up, others are soon to follow. I was expecting this prior to my departure from home as

things here in Iraq are or at least should be headline news for those who care. As I stopped eating for a moment I asked my host to translate briefly what the General was

saying on the Iraqi TV evening news. He told me from the news reports that his visit was to

assess actions on the ground and that General Dempsey had made a statement saying that

those taking the lead (supposedly the Shia Militias backed by Iran) have for the most part

acted in an undisciplined manner.

Hmmmm….that caught my attention.

Here we go. The other day I was watching a video from local reports on one the younger

folks smart phones showing the “softening up” of targets in the Fallujah area by Shia Militias

and their weaponry. I made a comment that went something like this: “Oh no, Fallujah is

about to get another dose of freedom”. What I meant was a kind of scorched earth policy for

Fallujah seems to be in effect. I am aware that ISIS is in Fallujah as well as other Sunni areas

and the spoken goal is to rid them of their free reign there. Got that. Point taken. But in the

mean time, what happens to the Sunni communities at large as they bare the brunt of the

battles? This is a question that few are answering. It also opens the door to another world of

details that are simmering under the surface and for the most part kept from the world’s public

view and attention.

So during this journey, I’ve begun to do something that I have rarely done in depth in the past

regarding situations around me that I find myself in the middle of. I’m researching a few

things. The forest becoming evident through the trees. I am content with just seeing a tree here and seeing a tree there and leaving things at that.

Somehow or another I seem to have found myself seeing a forest. Ok. Therefore, as time

permits, I will check out what kind of forest I’m in and see what the characteristics of said

forest are according to those that have identified said forest from past information gathered.

That is a nice, professional, journalistic way of saying, is there anyone else who sees what I

see? That is what I call research. In the past, it has not been important to me whether others

have seen or not. Nor is it now. But, it is kind of interesting to know whether or not I’ve

completely gone bonkers or am I really in a forest.

Research does show me I’ve not lost my mind although it is very difficult to find that I am not

alone in what I am sensing. Regarding the fall of Ramadi, I found this statement from some

writers in Washington DC who say: “The Shia militias don’t really care about Ramadi. The peshmerga certainly don’t.

This is a Sunni area that the Shia are not willing to go and fight and die in, and ISIS

knows that, Sunni insurgents know that, the Sunni population now knows that, and

this is an opportunistic environment for anti-government forces to do something

about it,” It gets even more insightful as the research continues:

“Much of the current upheaval and sectarian conflict stems from successive Shia-

led Iraqi governments failing to reach out and give the Sunnis a place at the

country’s political and security table. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had

pledged to redress that imbalance, but he said Abadi was still heavily reliant on Iran,

which is a Shia power some analysts say is bent on keeping Sunnis out of power”.

Now I’ve chosen these two quotes from other writers to show the jist of what I’m stumbling

upon. I remember back in 2007 when I was on the ground for seven months in Iraq as an

embedded freelance journalist. I was in Fallujah during a time when the so called, “Sunni

Awakening” was in full swing to counter AQI ( al-Qaida in Iraq). I also went to Diyala

province at that time as what came to be known as the surge was in full swing. Now, eight

years later, the program that was successful for saving Iraq, i.e., bringing the Sunnis in on the

program to save Iraq, has all but been abandoned in favor of what some are now terming, (one

of those is none other than General Dempsey) as “undisciplined behavior by the Popular

Mobilization Forces” known across Iraq by their common name, Shia Militias. The fact is

that those in the know realize that this behavior borders on a clever form of ethnic cleansing

that is taking place and it is almost excused as payback for the years Sunnis had control under

the old regime.

Further academic research shows me that there are multiple others writing such things yet

none have been on the ground first hand hearing from those suffering it. Most rely on what is

known as “lackies” to do the heavy lifting while the “academics” put the pieces of the literary

puzzle together under what is known as a bi-line.

One does not have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that the Sunnis in Iraq are in fact in a

jam. Currently the whole world that is listening is hearing via controlled media sources that

the “civilian forces” or “Popular Mobilization Forces” or whatever term one wants to use for

Shia Militias, are leading the way to saving Iraq. Yet what is not being broadcast is that there

is credible evidence they (the Iranian backed militias) are wreaking havoc on the local Sunni

populations who also are fighting against ISIS, while at the same time the militias claim to be

coming under the banner of clearing the land from ISIS. It is a clever move by those in

control from Iran who enjoy almost a free reign in Iraq at the moment. Again, I’m not a rocket scientist but I have to ask a few simple questions of my readers.

What exactly were the recent so called “negotiations” with Iran all about? I hardly believe it

was all only concerning this nuclear debacle we are all told. On the ground, I keep hearing

time and time again this question from the local Sunni population who fought valiantly to

defeat ISIS in their town:

“Why has your country (USA) handed the entire country of Iraq over to Iran on a golden platter”? Senator John McCain, R-AZ, has raised serious concerns about any kind of collaboration with

Iranian elements that boast constantly about how many Americans they helped kill during the

“war years” in Iraq. And then I have an interesting question to ask that brings the whole thing

to my own local level of New Mexico. How is it that the New Mexico National Guard has

been deployed in the region near-side Iranian backed Shia Militias while the outgoing

chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff comments just 24-hours ago that the so-called militias

are acting in an undisciplined fashion? I’m not even allowed to get near them, yet the

Iranians can. Have we all gone bonkers trying to figure this one out or is there just something

I’m missing? The reply will be we have to fight ISIS. Once again, I got that. Point taken. But I find it

perplexing that while out of control undisciplined Iranian backed militia forces are able to

assert their own agenda wherever and whenever they choose, American air power is bombing

the hell out of ISIS targets while what is bordering on ethnic cleansing of local Sunni

populations seems to be taking place. I have been to the IDP (internally displaced persons)

camp here where I am. I have on record that they are not allowed to return to their homes.

I’ve even addressed this matter to the Governor of where I am who is Sunni and he explains

to me that it is a long process and it takes time. While, at the same time, yesterday here,

before my own eyes, I saw across the Tigris River more of their (Sunni) homes going up in

smoke as the daylight hours weaned in the summer skies.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I do not need to do all that much more research to verify that

I’m indeed in a damn forest. I’m going back to what has led me all around the world in the

first place. One tree at a time is all I need to know. The dots are plenty big enough for me to

see and I can connect the general outline well enough to see that after 3, 4 or 5 dots forming

the shape of a tree, time and time and time again, sure enough, it’s a tree and if there’s enough

of them in the same area, it’s a forest. How it got there, what kind of forest it is, how to

manage the new found forest or how to improve the forest is something that is apparently

“way above my pay grade”.

I came to this land Iraq, once known as Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent, one more time

to see what there was to see and to fulfill a promise to many I’ve met along the way. To my

friend who first took me here in 2004. To the parents of soldiers whose sons and daughters

were killed here that I’ve interviewed. To the thousands of wounded whom I carried onto

medevac transport planes. To the co-workers I worked with who spent a portion of their lives

here in this land with me. To my wife who spent time working here with me and always

remaining a part of the journey. To my son who spent time here as a soldier and lost friends

along the way to war. To myself for having gone down the road less traveled to share what I

have seen along the way. And now to those who call me family and tell me I am still green in

my soul as I enter my sixth decade on the planet. I always do what I say I’m going to do. I just never do it in the time allotted. Yet, it always gets done in due time.