My Share of the Task(265)
Nouri al-Maliki: Details of Maliki’s biography are drawn from “Leader Profile: PM Nouri al-Maliki,” Islamic Dawa Party website, 2012.
both interior and defense: Filkins and Oppel, “Iraqis Form Government.”
abducting and killing them: See the description detailing these actions in Dexter Filkins, The Forever War (Vintage Books, 2008), 315–18.
a thousand corpses: Bobby Ghosh, “Why Iraqis Aren’t Cheering Their New Government,” Time, May 20, 2006. Iraq Body Count breaks down Baghdad deaths by month and similarly finds 1,066, 1,315, and 1,090 Baghdad deaths in February, March, and April, respectively. “Iraqi Deaths from Violence 2003–2011,” Iraqi Body Count website, January 2, 2012.
The Exorcist: The movie begins in northern Iraq (Mosul), so it became a joke with Mubassir that Mosul was the source of evil in the world.
below the operational tempo: A close participant estimated that the squadron hit thirty-two targets in twenty-one days.
eighty thousand Iraqis: Department of Defense, “Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq,” May 26, 2006, 41.
victims of the city’s bombs: Louise Roug, “Baghdad Morgue Reports Record Figures for May,” Los Angeles Times, June 4, 2006.
that Sunday, June 4: The best estimate is that the squadron positively identified Abd al-Rahman on Sunday, June 4, though it may have been on June 3. Several interviewees remember strongly that the event occurred over the weekend but cannot recall whether it was on Saturday or Sunday.
The next morning: The events of June 7 are based upon my recollection as well as multiple interviews with participants at all levels of the task force.
Al Qaeda enjoyed alarming support: Around this time frame, the New York Times accurately labeled the area “one of the most violent in the country.” Sabrina Tavernise, “Gunmen in Iraq Execute 20 Bus Passengers,” New York Times, June 4, 2006.
together in banana crates: Roug, “Baghdad Morgue Reports Record.”
take their final exams: Tavernise, “Gunmen in Iraq Execute 20.”
what we’ve been waiting for: We ran kinetic-strike profiles on every building that we would potentially strike. Any time we sent troops to an objective, we ran kinetic-strike approvals so that if things went bad, we already had a head start on the approval process. This was no different. As Rahman stopped at this location, the squadron fires NCO ran the kinetic-strike numbers to the Combined Air and Space Operations Center for a Collateral Damage Estimate.
At 4:55 P.M.: Multi-National Force–Iraq (Major General William B. Caldwell IV), “Iraq Operational Update” (briefing), June 15, 2006.
had been improperly worded: When the JTAC had told the pilot he was “cleared to engage,” he provided one type of authorization that was incorrect and resulted in the abortive bombing run. He should have authorized the run by telling the pilot he was “cleared hot.” “JFIRE Multi-service Tactics Techniques and Procedures for the Joint Application of Firepower,” Air Land Sea Application Center, December 2007, 56.
second hit the house: MNF-I (Caldwell), “Operational Update,” June 15, 2006.
out of his nose and ears: Multi-National Force–Iraq (Major General William B. Caldwell IV), “Iraq Operational Update” (video), June 26, 2006.
air sacs in his lungs: Zarqawi’s autopsy and means of death were discussed in the MNF-I press briefing on June 12, 2006.