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Happy Ramadan!
The time of fasting, prayer, reflection, dust storms and extra mortar fire...or so I'm told.
I think the "dust storm" part is merely coincidental to the Ramadan thing, but the mortar fire appears to be connected to the dust storms. The day before yesterday, we had our first remarkable amount of dust in the air. I hesitate to say "sandstorm," because I really have no basis for comparison. We could walk outside for a couple of minutes without getting too much dust in the eyes, and could see well enough to drive, so I don't think it qualifies as an actual "storm." However, about twenty minutes after the dust set in, we went into Alarm Red.
Yesterday, again, we had a nasty bit of dust blow in at about the same time of day. Again, about twenty minutes into it, we heard explosions. About three minutes later, we officially went into Alarm Red.*
* What are they doing between the time we hear the first unmistakeable mortar explosions and the time they turned on the siren? Do they have to take the pot roast out of the oven first or something?
I wonder if our enemy doesn't rush to their makeshift rocket launchers, whereever they're concealed, when they see the dust coming in and wait until our visibility is diminished so they feel safe in launching them. (Normally, they bury them at night with timed fuses, and the mortars launch when they're far away the next day. That way, we can't get them with counterfire.*) We certainly can't see Jack. Or Jill, for that matter.
* It appears our enemy here is more interested in living for Allah than in dying for him.
I think our Predators use infrared imaging, though, which means we can see Charlie.* Of course, Charlie's habits and thought processes are all speculation on my part. If I knew that stuff for sure, I'd either be omniscient or one of the enemy, neither of which appeals to me.
* Or whatever our cool euphemism is for "the enemy" in this war. Shouldn't it be "India" or "Indians"?
I shot some pics of the dust cover we had yesterday. Then I shot pics of the same areas this morning, for comparison. I'll show them as "before" and "after" pics, though:
Before: 
After: 
Before: 
After: 
And the season's only beginning. Something tells me these are but mere squalls compared to what we can expect before Christmas. That's why we just got issued these sweet babies, I reckon: 
OK. They aren't the sexiest things going, but they beat the pants out of the standard issue goggles the military used to pass out for sandstorms, that make you look like a displaced deep sea diver. The fact that these make me look like a turn-of-the-century bicyclist is an improvement. Really. But when given the choice between sand in the eyes and no sand in the eyes, what one looks like to others is of secondary importance, anyway.
Our cultural sensitivity briefing informed me that Ramadan is a month-long daylight fast in which Muslims cannot eat or drink or have sex. They have to wait 'til dark, at which time they throw huge feasts, punctuated by celebratory gunfire. They're supposed to spend their fasting time reflecting on being hungry...and tenets of their faith, I suppose. I'm told many of them simply rearrange their schedules for that month so as to sleep all day and wake at dusk. I don't know how much truth there is to this, but...wouldn't that defeat the purpose?
Speaking of not making sense, I had an interesting conversation with a Catholic man at my last duty station who came to work one day with a dirty "+"* on his forehead. Me being from heavily Protestant country and around nominal Catholics (and just inobservant in general), I'd never seen this before. He'd clearly done it intentionally. The more worldly among you are thinking, "Doh! It was Ash Wednesday, you idiot!" Well, yes. But I had to ask. I felt justified in asking, too, since clearly, someone had deliberately written on his forehead with a dirty finger. If that isn't a built in "Ask me what this means!" invitation, I don't know what is.
* A plus sign. There were two I saw that day. Both were clearly plus signs--not crosses. Call 'em like I see 'em.
He very politely answered that it was Ash Wednesday and the mark was a sign of contrition. He added--for my edification--that the mark replaced showering one's head with ashes, and that replaced wearing sackcloth and ashes, as in the Old Testament. He said the one mark was sufficient in this day and age, since even sprinkling ashes on one's head is ostentatious. He pointed out, a bit smugly, that Matthew 6 condemns such behavior, that one shouldn't do anything to "be seen of men." I thought about it for a second, then said, "So...how is walking around with a big plus sign on your forehead not ostentatious, again?"
But then, religion and its various practices, regardless of the god in question, hasn't ever made sense to me, anyway. Perhaps there's some inner purpose being served for the Muslims who change their waking hours for the month of Ramadan, even thought it sounds silly to me.
Anyway. On the subject of cultural sensitivity, is it perceived as polite or spiteful to tell the Muslims serving food in the chow hall, "Happy Ramadan!" when you know they won't get to eat or drink anything for another eight hours?
d
14 comments
We call them Hadji’s down here. I guess there was a Hadji on Johnny Quest or something.
Either that or sheet heads. :-)
I was referring only to the insurgents, Pat. “Hadji” is a perjorative term for the whole nationality, as “sheet head” is for the Arab world in general. I’d prefer to avoid such labels as a matter of personal integrity, as well as it being an MEO violation. Many of the enemies we’ve earned recently are Arab, but to fall into using such terms smears the line between who our enemy is and who we’re here to help–also “hadjis” and “sheetheads.” Lest we forget.
d
Ok Ms user of big words. Please tell us how Charlie is not pejorative. It’s possible that the Army uses it to refer to the nameless enemy in general, but I thought that it was mostly a Vietnam era term.
I’m with D on this one. Of course Charlie is a pejorative, just like Jerry. Soldiers have always had demeaning names for their enemies and probably always will.
Pejoratives aren’t the issue per se, as far as I can tell. For starters, we’re already killing the enemy, so it would be nonsensical to take issue with a demeaning label - if it were accurately applied only to combatants on the other side. However, it’s unwise to confuse an ethnic/religious term for a much larger group with a name for one’s enemy.
If our enemy in Afghanistan were all Afghans, what would the place look like right now? Had we taken the attitude in Somalia that we were fighting against all Africans… well, use your imagination. Likewise, our enemy in Iraq is the insurgents who attack us, not the Iraqi/Arab/Muslim people who support us and wish to make the best of the regime change.
It bothers me when I hear the way people here use terms like Hadji… intentional or not, it conveys a lack of respect in almost every usage.
Jeff
Actually, I’ve never seen Charlie as perjorative, even. But then, I don’t remember much from the Vietnam era. I was young then. It was clearly slang for the enemy.
One point cannot be made too sharply, though: Charlie was invariably The Enemy. “Charlie” did not apply to the Vietnamese to whom we gave succor. Hadji and Sheet Head apply to the entire group, friend and foe alike, and using these terms, no matter how “cute” they may sound, smear those lines. Perhaps I’m ahead of my time (alternately, I may just be a sucker), but I think it’s quite possible, admirable and even smart to respect your enemy. They have their reasons for fighting, just as we do. As Robert Heinlein so eloquently put it, “Your enemy is never a villain in his own eyes.”
d
And thanks for passing up the opportunity to point out I’m just a sucker. ;)
d
Diana…those glasses…are a beaut! (Kinda like the ad that said “I’m too sexy for my shirt”
I don’t know about you LT, but I breathe dirt like fish breathe in water these days. Oh, and Happy Ramadan to you!!!
Nix the Happy Ramadan. As I understand it they don’t view this as a “happy” time in as much as it is a time for reflection. It’s Ramadan Kareem (Generous).
That said, has anyone noticed the connection between Ramada Inn and Ramadan???
d,
As I understand it, “Charlie” is from the phonetic “victor charlie” (VC) which referred to the Viet Cong, all of whom were enemy combatants. “Charlie” doesn’t refer to a people, it refers to an army.
As for being perjorative, I’ve never heard “Charlie” used that way. It was usually a way of saying “them” as opposed to “us.” I worked with a guy who had part of his arm blown off by a mortar round in Viet Nam, and he had other words for the people of Viet Nam - friendly, hostile, or indifferent, he called them the same thing.
I apologize for the late follow-up on this topic. I just found your blog yesterday and I’m still getting caught up. And thanks! It’s helpful to know how the people on the ground feel about being there.
Diana, those dust storm pics look like where I grew up in the Panhandle of Texas. I lost track of your blog, looked it up at HH and am catching up today. Great stuff, keep it come… until you leave there anyway.
Riverbend’s blog last year during Ramadan said pretty much what you’ve heard, that Iraqis rearrange their schedules as much as possible to sleep during daylight hours, then feast all night. In fact, she said most Iraqis she knows gain weight during Ramadan.
Warren
Thanks for the info, Hinermad. That was pretty much what I thought. I think “insurgent” is actually a pretty good word for our enemy here. It isn’t snide or cute and it differentiates between the people and the enemy.
Warren,
They gain weight? Hahahaha. It wouldn’t surprise me. Nights are marked by feasting and merriment, and the days are filled with hunger and thirst. And along those lines, how do you make people alcoholics? Limit the times and places they can drink, of course. ;)
d
Ok, now that I’ve jumped in elsewhere (on 11/10/2004 entry) my feet are wet. When I read this a while back, I wanted to say: “Hey! That looks like our AFB!” (Only you have more trees…)
And you’ve got those amazing Giganto-Mungus jacks that give me the urge to drive into one with my car, ya know, just to see what would happen. One of these days some giant kid will come along with a huge rubber ball and start to play with them.