Relics and Rubble: OIF1 and WMD who?

From inside Camp Echo, outside the gate, we start our missions by entering into the Iraqi Army compound that operates adjacent to our FOB. From that inner circle we pass through flattened fields of shelled out barracks and buildings, abandoned and left to waste after US forces passed through in March 2003, "Operation Iraqi Freedom." I try to imagine what it was like to be among the first soldiers to invade this country 6 years ago when we (the American people) were still seeking justice for the 9-11 attacks. This emotion which politically mutated into the fruitless search for Saddam Hussein's infamous WMDs.A few months ago I mentioned WMDs as a joke to a young soldier after finding a hollow spot in a loose floor tile. Indeed there are hundreds of military abbreviations that one can become familiar with but WMD was one that this soldier had never heard of. Impossible right? In 2003 he was probably in middle school and concerned with the threat of impending puberty rather than terrorism (as it should be), but I was really surprised. I spent the rest of the day popping the question on soldiers including NCOs. 1 in 3 knew the correct answer.Where does the world stand now years later? In a safer place? Are we living on a planet that is destined to get more dangerous? In any case, here we are, moving on. President Obama has announced plans to have all military out of Iraq by August 2010. Our national focus has shifted and re-adjusted. There's always a bigger picture of global reality, but it always seems out of view and boxed in a rear-view mirror. Iraq is now operational and back on its feet. Now a stabilized government and day to day life takes place as it does in other parts of the world. Are Iraqi people better off than under Saddam Hussein? I should say so, but I'm really not one who could say. They will most often say yes when asked, and I have. American politicians who opine on this subject either way can only get lost in the hot air that came before them. It would seem Iraqi citizens have been brought back to a neutral point, a zero/zero on the grid from which things could go in any direction. What happens next is up to them and beyond our intervention. Hopefully the natural tendency for governments to become corrupt will abate and not hinder the lives of those who wish to sustain peace. Being here, in Iraq, I would say it's time for us to leave. What we should do next within the world is something I know less of.
With a taste of the Saddam-free freedom we helped bring, and the Bush-free democracy which has been available since things have settled down, hopefully the zeitgeist of this country can keep its strength, quell terrorism within its borders, and take advantage of its own natural resources making a better life for those who live here.

Beyond a Shadow of a Gun

Months from tomorrow, morning at the trucks, like yesterday and for the foreseeable future. The UAV balloon in the sunrise is for observation and uses hi-tech cameras and whatever else, after they send it up, to keep an eye out for a variety of security threats. The brief is put out and we're off in the long shadows. The recent "sig-acts" in Mosul involving another MP unit and their interpreter were covered in the brief. According to news reports at least one soldier died and three or more were injured while in an IP station where they were doing the same mission we do, in a scenario of meet and greet before going through checks with the IP chief and officers. This news gave me a refreshed and renewed sense of what is still real and possible among the day-to-day peaceful transactions, one-on-one interaction, and perfect moments to photograph. Really, getting good shots feels too easy. I come back to Echo everyday with a camera full of wonderful pictures, and I don't always quite know what to do, feeling like something special should be done with them. Thank goodness for blogging. Just too good to keep to myself. The people are beautiful here. This isn't my bleeding heart talking... it's my camera.




From my e-mail home to my mom and brother today with some of these pictures:

This is maybe 1/3 of the photographs I took today. I'm loving my camera. Why did it take me so long?! (to just get one) Cool to think that I can send home things I've seen in the same day. Rolling off the FOB early, children and people, and riding in with my collection after the day. The little girl, she was so shy at first, but her bravery increased as the boys kept playing around. The kids seem to come looking for me. "What the Hell Buckles!?" my truckmates say. They tend to ignore the children all together. The fact that I smile, joke and make faces with them must be something really unusual. As the medic, and an extra on the set, or so it feels like, I can interact more, whereas the gunner has his every minute duties, and the driver his truck and radio. Notice the shadow of the gun, and the posters behind the kids of Maliki, and Talabani.



The little Iraqi Princess disappeared, but soon returned with a friend who was now wearing her headgear and they seemed to be posing for pictures. The funny shape beneath the black proved to be rounded blonde and brown braids with white bows. Simple and natural, but amazing.

On Mission: Through The Motions

People, times, routes and station locations change everyday. Other details have been left out as well, but the below describes an average work day for our MP company. And what I do most days of the week when not working in the Troop Medical Clinic.

0700 Hrs: All meet at the trucks to run through vehicle and equipment checks.

0730 Hrs: Mission Brief, Camp Echo: Go and make contact with the same people at the same stations and get the same info. We wonder as much as the Iraqis do, what the reason is at this point. But nobody is in a position to question.0800 Hrs: We drive out past the same battle field setting outside Echo to and from our destination with the blasted rubble of buildings and twisted metal of bombed vehicles. We change up routes and times from there but that's all that ever changes.0900 Hrs: We get the back story on detainees, their offense(s), and how well they're being treated and processed. In the south, nearly pure Shi'a, the courts and government get things done quicker than in say, Baghdad, where the tribal friction is worse.
With all the crap we wear, in "full battle rattle," your weight increases 33% and one feels like a baseball in a pinball machine trying to get around in the narrow hallways of often crowded IP stations. Yes that's me, looking like Louie Anderson in the belly.


1030 Hrs: Afterward we make reports to the division we fall under and wait in a safe location where this is done, within Diwaniya, before heading back to Camp Echo.

Camera Candid

No pork but plenty of ham. Getting the camera out always brings a change in people. Some about-face and hide in the same breath, while others reveal their inner entertainer and open their curtains without hesitation. The shot below is actually me with my morning coffee, a joe with joe I guess, before mission.


The above shot was taken in the hallway at the IP station. With the camera the Iraqi adults are the same as the kids. An instant group pose is formed and afterward just as quickly satisfaction with seeing the LCD of what you just took and it's on to business with no questions.

Some of the soldiers in our squad on our daily mission to visit a Diwaniya IP station got in on the act in this photo of a photo. A more American pose in this case, but no less candid. The other photographer is actually an interpreter who typically are not too keen on having their faces photographed.

Juggernauts to Political Crucifixions

The political landscape of the State of Illinois is starting to look like the floors of the slaughters rooms in the old Chicago Stockyards and we seem to have become less squeamish about sending our politicans to their crucifixtions.

The comments I wish to share in these paragraphs are not about the assigning of guilt or the protestations of innocence of Rod Blagojevich or Roland Burris. These words are an expression of my growing fear that we, the family of Illinois, are not doing enough to keep in check a juggernaut mentality that truncates the necessity of a sober and deliberate process of ascertaining acts of political misdeeds or corruption.

The call for the impeachment or resignation of a elected official is a very serious matter and it seems to me more too often that such calls are presented in an irresponsible manner - with the greater emphasis placed upon sensationalism rather than merit. I believe that those who call for impeachments or resignations have the responsibility to do so in a meritorious manner.

Some have proposed that the recent process which lead to the impeachment of Rod Blagojevich ultimately resulted in a political crucifixion of Blagojevich rather than an impeachment. I cannot accept the attitude that regardless if the process was a act of political crucifixion or impeachment - "the important thing is that he's gone."

That is not the Illinois way.

A juggernaut is something that once created and empowered, has a mind and will of its own that cannot be contained or controlled. A juggernaut can be as deadly as any force of in nature.

I fear that the juggernaut that took down Blagojevich did not expire the moment after the impeachment was declared official. I believe that it has continue onward with its sites directed at Roland Burris. I hope that it might be possible for us to will the derailment of this juggernaut in order to permit emotional sobriety, together with facts and law, and ultimately answer all questions being aimed at Senator Burris. We must not permit Senator Burris or any elected official to be hounded out of office solely because of drunken sensationalism fueled by the media.

That is not the Illinois way.

If we fail to put aside our juggernaut addiction, our political "Mount of Olives" will soon run out of room.

Our constitutional process provides up with a sound avenue to deal with matters of political corruption and misdeeds. Our constitutional process is in place to prevent any form of vacuums to occur and provide openings for juggernauts to rear up. Let us trust this process to carry us through our questions about Senator Burris.

I believe in the goodness, honesty and integrity of the people of the State of Illinois.

We are NOT like the mob standing before Pilate demanding a crucifixion. We ARE a people dedicated to the process of justice and truth.

Let that be the avenue we travel as we address the questions surrounding Senator Burris.

That is the Illinois way.

Sincerely Yours,




James Alan Wilkowski
Evangelical Catholic Bishop for the Diocese of the Northwest
Chicago, Illinois

One Window: Many Rooftops

Watching while waiting. The distractions are many. But snipers are real. Life goes on. Beauty and simple human tendency vs. the dark old broken violence and the blood that spills like a future memory. Just a projection or a concept? Focus gets framed and the eyes shift fire. Who has what intentions? Where are they? Which is which?



Protection vs. contempt. Aware of pros and cons, to watching and being watched, to being alive and staying alive. Whatever happens next, and it does... nothing. Today, like yesterday...a hash-marked calendar. Home in a few months, my concept and the projection. Investing in vigilance. Perhaps something we can all agree on.

Illinois HB 45 - Release of Elderly and Rehabilitated Prisoners

The primary vocation of our Department of Corrections is not just to warehouse those who have been convicted of crimes, but rather to transform and rehabilitate those who have shown errant behavioral patterns and return them to society so they may be able to make positive contributions.

In recent years the attitude of our society has shifted more towards warehousing and away from hopes and goals of transformation and rehabilitation of those incarcerated. I believe that we all have an obligation to open our hearts and minds towards the prospects of transformation and rehabilitation.

Illinois State Representative Arthur Turner (D-Chicago) has offered House Bill 45 which offers society the opportunity to recognize that the transformation and rehabilitation of those imprisoned for their crimes is indeed possible and to welcome those who are prepared to except the responsibilities for productive citizenship to return to society.

HB 45 also provides a sensibly approach towards addressing the issue of rehabilitated prisoners who are elderly.

Under the terms of the bill, the Prisoner Review Board would only be allowed to order the release of a person if the Board finds that the person poses no threat to public safety. The bill provides that if the Prisoner Review Board determines that a committed person should receive a sentence adjustment, the Board will set conditions for the committed person's release. Finally, the bill creates a voluntary Impact of Crime on Victims Class (ICVC), which incorporates principles of restorative justice. The ICVC would be a pilot initially, patterned on a similar program within the Missouri Department of Corrections.

There are economic, social, and moral reasons to support this legislation. To the first, if only 100 prisoners were released under the proposal, it is estimated the state would save $7 million. Obviously, financial gains cannot be the primary force for a change in sentencing. The bill also recognizes that 25 years is a significant amount of time and that age 50 for a prisoner is considered elderly by researchers. The bill would not be a "get out of jail free" card. The requirements are stringent and will not be met by most petitioners.

I sincerely believe that justice, mercy and fiscal accountability dictate that some of the nearly 1,000 men and women meeting the requirements of this bill should have their sentences adjusted. I am convinced that HB 45 meets the constitutional mandate of returning prisoners to “useful citizenship.”

I thank Representative Turner for authoring this bill.

As we prepare for the beginning of Lent, I encourage all to support HB 45.

Sincerely Yours,




+James Alan Wilkowski
Evangelical Catholic Bishop for the Diocese of the Northwest
Chicago, Illinois

A Day at Camp Echo: Leisure

While on deployment, all work and no play makes a dull boy. Dull days and finding leisure is no dull joy. I've been reading Hagakure by Tsunetomo. On deck: Bushido The Way of the Samaurai by Yamamoto, Buddhism (my official "religious preference" in the army) Plain and Simple by Steve Hagen, sent by my brother from the states. On hand and read at random: The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran and The Arab Mind by Raphael Patai.

Film: Where In the World is Osama Bin Laden? and Joy Division, also sent by my brother.

Music: See previous posts.

Photography: Forced Perspective

A Day in Diwaniya: The Police

Our mission, on a daily basis is to check up on assigned local police stations in Diwaniya, offer training and logistical support. In most cases I go inside with the portion of our squad that enters, but today at the Nada IP station, with my new camera in tow, I "stayed back with the vehicles," and took some shots. This girl and her sister were the only two to come and visit our trucks with the curiosity that usually surrounds us in the minutes after arriving.
The woman making an expression with her hands next to the coolest scooter ever, talking to a plain clothes policeman, was just removed from the station after storming in angrily right after our squad members entered. Most of the suicide bombers that are still active in Iraq are females and this got the attention of soldiers the IPs and everyone else...except the kids.

A Day in Diwaniya: Kids

I got a new camera. A digital one. Unintentionally I have been something of a luddite in the past, but I have lived most of my life broke and with little in the way of tech-toys. So I leave our Camp with my squad and go into Diwaniya with my fancy new camera and find the truly broke and toyless (in the modern/manufactured sense) but prove with pictures as I have seen on every mission, the kids are happy nonetheless. In the states, cartoons and consumer ads are hard to tell one from the other on SaToys'Rusday mornings. The whole socio-marketing animal of "you need what you don't have, and if you do have it...you need the newer better one...or you won't be happy" is not king in the lesser westernized or "developing" countries. Look for yourself. This crew entertained myself and half our squad as we waited for the other half to return from inside the Wadawahia Iraqi Police Station in Diwaniya.