Insurgents at the Gate

                                                     

Carefully screening the desolate urban setting before him with his precision binoculars, Major Josiah Daniels issued orders into a wireless handset, “Greens 2 and 4 sector 1, Greens 3 and 1 sector 3, Green 6 back eyes. Move.” Greens was the codename given to an elite special operations unit in the US Army trained to scout and eliminate critical and scattered enemy combatants in an urban setting. Their present coverage area: eastern Baghdad, Iraq.                                 

“The eternal God [is thy] refuge, and underneath [are] the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy [them],” Josiah whispered the passage from The Bible to himself.

For a couple of hours, Josiah and his team prowled their coverage section until they were replaced by their backup counterparts. As usual, he sat silently in the Humvee on their way back to the base. He was a disciplined man notorious at mentally strategically evaluating the current day's events, and planning the day ahead of him ever ready to serve SOCOM (Special Operations Command), God, and his country.

As he thought to retire for the day, he wrote a letter to his wife:

February 14^th, 2004

Dear Maria,

I am doing well and with all my heart wish the same for you. It is February 14^th, today, and if I were in Wakefield, would take you out to Ruth and Chris's in Virginia Beach for dinner. Happy Valentine's Day, my love. Not that I am complaining, but I sure can use a good steak dinner. I have received a picture of Jeremiah that you had sent me. He is teething. Our baby is growing up. I miss my boy.

Me and the boys, here, are doing alright. I have some bright young men working with me, and our mission is going well. By God, we will prevail, bring peace and democracy to the world, and bring an end to all evil. Please pray for us ..........

Here's hoping mom and pop are doing well.

I will see you in my dreams, sweetheart.

Josiah

“And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil,” he whispered before drifting off to sleep.

Only Josiah and officers like him knew the truth. Insecure communications protocols, IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices), and countless urban ambushes, among other matters, were taking a heavy toll on the lives of men of US led forces. He was nevertheless proud to have been serving in the army and was firm in his conviction that his presence in Iraq was for the greater good of humanity.

Badr Khalq was awaken by the squeal of a rat in the downtrodden building he had rested for the night. Being a pious man, he could feel the onslaught of 'fajr' by the smell of freshness in the air. He prayed 'fajr' after making ablution. Before leaving his quarter, masked and carrying his rifle, he bid farewell to his fellow fighters before they left to fight the forces who invaded their country.

“Wherewith Allah guideth all who seek His good pleasure to ways of peace and safety, and leadeth them out of darkness, by His will, unto the light,- guideth them to a path that is straight,” Badr whispered this Quranic verse to himself.

In the silence of fledgling twilight, Badr and his band scurried off like scattered ants to man adjacent ruins at a secluded corner in eastern Baghdad. And they awaited, in silence.

“Nay, but if you are patient in adversity and conscious of Him, and the enemy should fall upon you of a sudden, your Sustainer will aid you with five thousand angels swooping down!"” Badr recited.

The monotony of the big in-line 10-cylinder engine was disturbed when the body of Josiah's Humvee was rattled with bullets from 7 mm rifles at short range. He looked around in confusing rush but could not see anyone, anywhere. Two of Josiah's men died in their seats before they could react. “Ghosts,” he yelled, “Disperse.” His men scattered to take cover at corners of buildings nearest to them. Josiah's movements felt irregular to him until he realized that he had been shot in the shoulder close to the neck, besides pulling his dying driver, a private, to safety.

The random bullets came pounding from pale buildings and the shining sun made it no easier for Josiah and his team. Two hours later, with ensuing fighting, three more of his men had died, including four members of Badr's team. As his team ran out of ammunition, they surrendered, and as Josiah started to lose consciousness from losing excessive blood, he saw the bearded face of a handsome man approach him.

The last thing Daniels' heard, in Arabic, before he lost consciousness: “God does not burden any human being with more than he is well able to bear: in his favour shall be whatever good he does, and against him whatever evil he does. O our Sustainer! Take us not to task if we forget or unwittingly do wrong! "O our Sustainer! Lay not upon us a burden such as Thou didst lay upon those who lived before us! O our Sustainer! Make us not bear burdens which we have no strength to bear! "And efface Thou our sins, and grant us forgiveness, and bestow Thy mercy upon us! Thou art our Lord Supreme: succour us, then, against people who deny the truth!"

“Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh (May Peace, Blessings, and (God's) Mercy be upon you),” announced a voice as Josiah started to regain consciousness. It belonged to the same person whom he heard before he fainted.

Unsure of the intentions of the person who now faced him, Josiah silently recited, “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he [it is] that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”

Seeing a smile on the face of the person who stood in front of him, Josiah said, “Hello!”

“Why are you here in Iraq?” asked Badr.

Feeling physically and emotionally week, sensing the aura of potential death, something in Josiah gradually started to break lose. Nevertheless, only courage and love for God and his family held him together.

“Because the world must be purged of evil.”

A long silence followed.

“You are a brave man. Have you seen evil, here?”

Josiah recalled the warm hospitality of the civilians, most of them, he had the chance to meet.

“No,” he answered.

“Then why are you here?”

Daniels started to lapse in depth of obscure thought, pondering, feeling the life drained out of him, in delayed moments. He did not answer.

Badr started to leave and Josiah noticed that his wound was dressed and there was food besides the bed he rested on.

“Where are the others?” he murmured.

Badr turned and with a stern yet compassionate tone said, “They are safe.”

Josiah started to lose consciousness until he drifted into slumber.

“Why are you here?” Josiah heard again when he awoke.

Josiah regained his composure, a sense of realization of his location.

“Because I was ordered to by my command.”

“I suppose they did not tell you that you will invade a country that has done your country no wrong? We are humans just like you. You invaded our country, stole billions of dollars worth of oil from us, killed our elders, women, children, destroyed our schools and mosques with your bombs, left permanent marks on our childrens' psyche. I suppose they did not tell you all this when they ordered you to come here with your tanks, guns, bombs?”

Josiah had never known any other way but to tell the truth. He did not know if each of Badr's allegations were true, nevertheless the gist was on the mark, as realization from two days in captivity had assured him.

“No, they did not.”

Silence propagated which made insignificant but muffled noises seem noticeable. Josiah, with a semi-numb mind, found no words to answer and shut his eyelids. After what seemed like a few hours, Badr's voice broke the silence.

“You and your team are our guests until you all feel better. Our religion does not teach us to harm our prisoners. Our religion does not advocate violence unless it is first thrusted upon us. Your guns are missing, but your communications equipment is here. There is enough food for you and your team. We can not stay here any longer, but you are free to leave anytime. May Allah be with you.”

Josiah had heard from various media sources about innocent civilians being murdered by 'insurgents'. But what he had just heard did not fully register in his head as he was sure he would die, being a direct aggressor in the eyes of his captors.

Over the course of what seemed like many hours, Josiah repeatedly kept wondering,” Why? Why were we sent to attack these people who have not done anything wrong to us? Oh God, tell me, why? We stand for freedom, justice, honor and for carrying out your will. The bald eagle clutches the olive branch in its right claw. Why did we attack a nation whose people demonstrate the awakening spirit of hospitality? Living here for this past, by the calm desert sunsets, by certain quiet nights, I have felt your presence here. Why was I sent here? We have become victims of our own ignorance and arrogance. We did spawn injustice, here. Help us, have mercy on us.”

As Josiah started to lose consciousness, again, for weekness had started to take its toll, he whispered, “And he said, Blessed [be] the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I [being] in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren."