Veiled Threats in London

Commentary by Steve Harrigan
October 19, 2004 11:48 AM
London

There's no reason to lie in bed and listen for an explosion in London. You can lie there and it just won't happen. The only thing you can hear in the distance is the automatic voice of the elevator saying "fourth floor."

When you walk outside, in the evening, alone, with no armored vest on, you stretch your arms out and wonder why it feels so good.

I'm working on a story on radical Muslim leaders in Britain. The first one lost both hands and an eye in Afghanistan. The second one had heart trouble, was heavy and walked with difficulty. He kept referring to Westerners as "crocodiles." He said Westerners were like "crocodiles in the bedroom." What he meant, but didn't say, was that they should be killed. He spoke in veiled
language to avoid legal troubles. He had a soft round face and smiled a lot. He said if he wanted to call for violence he could "make you forget the name of your mother and father."

Another Exposé:

A Dark Ride
October 18, 2004 3:47 PM
London

There are two ways to get out of the Marine base at Fallujah: you can fly out in a helicopter, or drive out. The Marine advising me there, 1st Lt. Lyle Gilbert, prefers to drive. That way, he says, if you get hit at least you can get out and fight. You have your fate in your own hands. In the air, he said, if you get hit you're probably dead.

I figured flying was a lot safer, but there were sandstorms in the West so nothing was flying. I stood out with a bunch of other guys at a post in the sand until 4 a.m., then got a bus back to my tent. To avoid the same thing the next day, I got a place booked on a ground convoy out.

The ground convoys are something some guys do almost every day. This one was to shuttle food back to the base from Baghdad, so there would be military Humvees escorting about a dozen big container trucks, with air support overhead in case the convoy got attacked.

There was an 8 p.m. briefing for the convoy departure. There were about 100 Marines in the briefing. I stood in the back of the tent with 1st. Lt. Gilbert. An officer was in the front with a slide projector. One of the slides showed the ground route from Fallujah to Baghdad. A red star meant that a convoy had been attacked at that spot on the route during the past two weeks. There were a lot of red stars. In two areas it was just a blur of red. I looked at 1st Lt. Gilbert and thought about asking if it was too late to try to get on a helicopter.

There were questions and answers. A common Marine answer was "hoo-rah" or just "rah" or sometimes just "rrrrr." I saw a female Marine walk into the tent and a male Marine said something to her and she just growled "rrrrr."

My seat was in the back right of a Humvee. It was not a fully armored Humvee, just armored doors. 1st Lt. Gilbert said if they started shooting just to get low behind the door. I am tall so a good part of my body was above the metal door. I tried slouching or sitting in different ways to reduce the amount of my body exposed. Then I practiced my duck, lowering my head and body inside the vehicle, but my side was still fairly exposed. In the end we went over a bump on the road and the door lock broke, so I had to lean back and hang on to the door for the rest of the ride.

It was a dark ride and I waited for it to be over. I kept thinking along the ride that I was not playing enough golf. I ought to play more golf.