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Iraq
Michael Yon: Hunting Al-Qaida, Part 3 of 3
2007-09-19
. . . IEDs are easy to emplace. The bombs can be emplaced in just a minute, and the enemy knows that if they can predict which way we are going, and get in front of us, they can get us. That tire on the front right could contain enough explosives to obliterate us. One of those shops could be stacked to the ceiling with explosives, or enemy fighters who could do a quick and hard ambush.

We walked over what Soldiers later thought was a deep buried IED. Right here. I just happened to shoot a photo. If there was a bomb, they didnÂ’t find it. There is water to the right. If fire comes from the left and you dive for cover and fall into water too deep, the heavy gear can drown you before you get it off. Threats are everywhere.

Small holes sometimes are punched through walls where an AK barrel can suddenly stick through. The enemy could make dozens of holes in the walls, keeping camouflaged, and then suddenly dozens of AKs can be firing from the walls and you can't hit them easily because they are behind the walls. Urban combat is among the most stressful environments in the world. . . .

Do I even need to tell you? Go read it all.
Posted by:Mike

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