Under the morning sun, a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crew chief starts to remove the fly away gear from a helicopter during a preflight inspection on Camp Taji, Iraq, Sept. 24, 2009. The Black Hawk crew is assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division's, 3rd Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Travis ZielinskiIn Iraq, ‘We’re Still Getting Hit’ -- At War/New York Times
FORWARD OPERATING BASE WARHORSE, Iraq — Soldiers were playing football in the sunset of a long day and a longer war, their shadows tilting across fields of packed dirt. It was Monday, and this base in Diyala Province had the casual air of a heavily armed college campus:
Shouts and whistles from the sidelines. Thanksgiving decorations papering the dining hall. The easy laughter of soldiers strolling through the evening. You would not have been able to tell that an American soldier from a nearby unit had been killed a day earlier.
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My Comment: Iraq's sectarian hatreds and a cultural mindset for revenge will mean there will be continuous low level warfare for the foreseeable future. The only thing that is keeping the place together is the US presence, more symbolic than actual for the moment. Unfortunately, it will also mean the loss of US soldiers even though precautions are taken to minimize U.S. - Iraqi contact.