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<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 1.2em; COLOR: #003366"><STRONG><FONT size=2>From "The
Sandbox" at:</FONT></STRONG></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 1.2em; COLOR: #003366"><A
href="http://gocomics.typepad.com/the_sandbox/">http://gocomics.typepad.com/the_sandbox/</A></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 1.2em; COLOR: #003366"><STRONG><FONT
size=2>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------</FONT></STRONG></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 1.2em; COLOR: #003366"><STRONG><FONT size=2>MARCH OF
THE IMAM</FONT></STRONG></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 1.2em"><BR><FONT
size=2><STRONG>Name</STRONG>: Eddie<BR><STRONG>Posting date</STRONG>:
2/27/08<BR><STRONG>Stationed in</STRONG>: Iraq<BR><STRONG>Milblog</STRONG>:
</FONT><A href="http://airborneparainf82.blogspot.com/"><FONT size=2>Eighty
Deuce on the Loose</FONT></A><BR><FONT size=2>Email: </FONT><A
href="mailto:airborneparainf82@blogspot.com "><FONT
size=2>airborneparainf82@blogspot.com</FONT> </A><BR><A
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<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 1.2em">There was a Muslim religious holiday recently,
honoring a fallen Imam named Hussein. On one of the big celebration days the
people come to the streets by the thousands, and parade around and punish
themselves by whipping themselves in the back with chain whips. </SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 1.2em">During these kinds of celebrations we try to
keep our distance and not interfere with what they are doing. But at one point
we had turned onto a street and started heading down it when we noticed a<EM>
huge</EM> procession of people coming towards us. We couldn't turn around and
so, in an attempt to stay out of the way as best as possible, we pulled off to
the side of the road and waited for them to pass.<BR><BR> There were
thousands of men, women and children marching, some of them playing music, some
dancing and singing, others dressed up in costume and the rest just walking
along with it all. It was not the best situation for us to be in, so we locked
our doors. We were surrounded by thousands of people, and if they wanted to get
to us it would have been a lot easier than at any other time. It took 30-40
minutes for the procession to pass, and the whole time we just sat in our seats
and watched the people go by, occasionally waving when they waved at us.
<BR></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 1.2em">It was pretty surreal, because normally we try
to keep people away from our trucks as best we can when we are out there. But
there was nothing we could do, and our trucks were completely surrounded with
people putting their faces right up to the windows. Once the crowd thinned out
and we could drive off without interfering, we did so.<BR><BR>We had a basic
idea of what the holiday was about but we wanted to know more, so I went to our
interpreter and asked him. He explained that this was a Shiite holiday, and the
story behind it deals with the split between the Shiite and Sunni sects of
Islam. A big group of the Muslims felt that the Imam, Hussein, should be the
next to run all of Islam. He was on his way to Iraq from Mecca in Saudia Arabia
to talk with the people who were calling for him to be in charge. But an army
was sent out after his caravan to kill him.</SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 1.2em">His caravan consisted of mostly women and
children, so he did not have much of a fighting force. When he learned an army
was coming for him, he went into the nearby city and called out for people to
join him and help him fight. But no one came out, and in the end he was
slaughtered and had his head cut off and brought back to the king to prove he
was dead. </SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 1.2em">This is why the Iraqi people come out into the
steets and whip themselves -- to show their support for him now, and punish
themselves for what they did to him then. I find it pretty interesting to learn
about the history and holidays of Islam, but I have noticed that there seems to
be much violence in it. Maybe that is why things are the way they are for us in
this region.<BR><BR>I hopped on Google the other day and looked up the area that
we are in. It is the oldest part of the city, and is where Baghdad was founded,
many, many years B.C. It's kind of crazy to know that probably some of the
streets and alleyways that I patrol were originally paths that people have
walked on for thousands of years</SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 1.2em"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 1.2em; COLOR: #003366"><STRONG><FONT size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 1.2em; COLOR: #003366"><STRONG><FONT
size=2>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------</FONT></STRONG></SPAN></FONT></STRONG></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 1.2em"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 1.2em; COLOR: #003366"><STRONG><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 1.2em; COLOR: #003366"><FONT size=2>Seeya round town,
Moscow.</FONT></SPAN></STRONG></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 1.2em"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 1.2em; COLOR: #003366"><STRONG><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 1.2em; COLOR: #003366"><FONT size=2>Tom
Hansen</FONT></SPAN></STRONG></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 1.2em"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 1.2em; COLOR: #003366"><STRONG><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 1.2em; COLOR: #003366"><FONT size=2>Moscow,
Idaho</FONT></SPAN></STRONG></SPAN></SPAN></P></DIV></BODY></HTML></FONT></FONT>