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Forty-third Job of Bob - In-country war-culture writer: Iraq, Kurdistan, Turkey Part II - Date with fate post 58: Oneway street into Kurdish machine guns - taxi dude ...., "Idiot"
This entry was posted on 9/22/2011 1:30 AM and is filed under Jobs of Bob, Fate Fairies.
Unlike Turkey, there just isn't much for bus service in Northern Iraq. So, I had to rely on taxis - or perhaps taxi is too kind - the junk car mafia might be a better discription. It is best to pile in with four other travelers because then you all share the price. Often though, they want to short-cut through Mosul and Kirkuk - bad guy places. So I often rented the whole taxi to myself to go through the mountains. And, my first visit to Iraq was the Ramadan holiday time. And this season often sees days without many people at the taxi ''garages'' at certain hours. So on the day in question, I had to ride the 50 miles to Zakho, Iraq alone whether I wanted to or not.
You know one of the only bus lines I was able to use was the ride from Sulaymaniyah to Halabja, which is only five miles from Iran. That ironically, I considered one of my most complicated and dangerous days I had in Iraq. It just wasn't a route you would expect a bus to go. The whole mini bus was stopped for 20 minutes so a theifdom checkpoint could figure out who I was. But the Zakho taxi ride escalated to almost match the Halabja ride.
The 50 mile taxi ride from Dahuk back to Zakho went well until we got to town. ''I'' and only ''I'' of course, misunderstood the Arabic numbers used to agree on the price of the taxi ride before hand. But that was the least of my impending problems.
The taxi driver pulled into Zakho and he immediately shifted into, I-can't-find-the-hotel-mode. And to his credit, all the hot shot mafia drivers were...., off for the holiday. This guy was a mope from top to bottom. He was older and seemed to have trouble seeing and breathing. I knew where the tiny hotel was because I had stayed there on my first night in Iraq. I started to see landmarks and knew I could walk from that point, but he rolled on seemingly determined to play stupid for as long as possible even though I gestured in every sign I could for him to stop.
The straw that broke the camel's back for me was after he drove down three dangerous alleys. One which was a dead end - a great place for an ambush or at best a...., kidnapping. When he finally pulled out of the alley maze, he turned down a one way street the wrong way. The police and militias in Iraq enforce no traffic laws except for that one way thing..., because somebody going down the wrong way could be a bad guy trying to do some kind of damage. So of course this guy being on a ''stuck-in-stupid'' mode broke the only traffic law anyone in the entire region enforces.
Keep in mind this fool drives the Zakho route for a living. By then I had the door open, but he turned right into a machine gun check point. Guns pointed at us from every direction. A Kurdish Pesmerga soldier slung open my door and another the driver's. I was staring at the business end of an AK-47. While the driver tried to explain his lunacy to the soldiers, I got out and waited to pay him. Then he jumped out of the taxi (soldiers at his sides), and wanted to argue about the price after almost getting us both machine-gunned.
It is like their Christmas Day this special day of the long Ramadan month. All the shops are closed except some sidewalk toy vendors. That in itself is creepy, because the streets usually bulge with people. All that was in the streets were plenty of soldiers; adolescent and teenage boys by the hundreds playing with realistic toy guns (to make matters worse they play with fire crackers too); and, a few people trying to get to their relatives' houses for the holiday meal.
When ever there is a car wreck in Turkey or Iraq, or even some problem with a work truck in the street or something similar, the men and boys in the streets crowd into the scene for a first hand view and talk loud about it. They all put in their two cents - it is a custom - even a damn habit if you will. In one minute, the taxi was surrounded by three hundred men and boys (the boys all with real looking toy guns).
I threw the money at the taxi driver, grabbed my bags, pushed away from the taxi, and proceeded to turn right into a Pesmerga soldier with a machine gun. I held my breath. But, he just touched my elbow, gave me a reassuring smile, pointed at the taxi driver and said in rather good English....,
...''Idiot.''
Note: This blog "Jobs of Bob" Category does not list the jobs chronologically - I write about the experiences as they pop up in my memory and I often revisit an older job. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Jobs of Bob Page for an ordered chronology.
Note: This blog "Fate Fairies" Category does not list the brushes with fate chronologically - I write about the experiences as they pop up in my memory and I often revisit an older event. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Fate Fairies Page for an ordered chronology.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Army Specialist Tyler Richard Kreinz, 21, Beloit, Wisconsin, died on Saturday, June 18, 2011, near Deh Rawod in Uruzgan province, Afghanistan. He was killed from injuries he sustained during a vehicle roll-over. Kreinz was assigned to Company C, 4th Battalion, 70th Armor Regiment, 170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, out of Baumholder, Germany.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted that Specialist Kreinz was one of four soldiers killed in the crash. Kreinz joined the military just after graduating from Beloit Memorial High School in 2008. He was due to return to Germany in February of 2012.
The Journal Sentinel went on to say that Kreinz enjoyed outdoor activity such as hunting and fishing. He played football and also participated in kickboxing. He had hoped to go to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point to study conservation after he completed his military enlistment.
The Web site mystateline.com said the news of the death came to the Krenz family on father's day. Information on fox11online.com said Tyler had always been influenced to join the military because of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
A series of articles in the Beloit Daily News regarding Specialist Krenz indicate he was deployed to Afghanistan January of 2010. Tyler Kreinz was born December 29, 1989 in Beloit, Wisconsin. His job in the Army was as a tanker and a Scout. He worked as an Army Scout. He was part of a team that would recon areas assisting in the safe travel other units. He had hoped to study to become a Conservation Warden after his military enlistment.
The Janesville Gazette noted Kreinz, "...wanted to be a tanker in an armor division. After basic training, he volunteered to stay behind to learn how to drive other vehicles such as the Stryker and the mine resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicle."
An obituary posted in the Beloit Daily News notes that at the time of his death Army Specialist Kreinz was survived by his parents David and Mary Kreinz; two younger brothers Tanner and Grant; maternal grandmother Betty J. Wright; paternal grandparents Dennis Kreinz, and David and Kathy Gerber; aunts and uncles Leesa (Frank) Murry, Stacy (David) Stout, Janet (Todd) Walls, Brian (Tammy) Kreinz, Sharon (Todd) Hanson, Russell Wright, Marci Pingleton, David N. Gerber (Nikki), Joe Gerber (Missy), and, Billie Jo (Jerry) Sharp.
Army Specialist Tyler R. Kreinz was the 33rd Wisconsin military service person killed in the war in Afghanistan since October of 2001.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
102,522 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003 (actually documented).
10,125 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,479 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1774 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
946 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
1 American/Coalition casualty in Libyan "Operation Odyssey Dawn" since March, 2011.
32,191 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
592 Wisconsin Service persons have been wounded in Iraq since Spring 2003.
13,896 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
192 Wisconsin Service persons have been wounded in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
107 Wisconsin Service persons have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
34 Wisconsin Service persons have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
3 Wisconsin Service persons have been killed in the U.S. related to "The War on Terror" since September, 2001.
150 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since September, 2001.
5 journalists (regional and independents) have been killed in Libya since March, 2011.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org .
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