Halal

3 May 07
Most people know Muslims don’t eat pork. However Halal (“permissible”) food requirements are much more complicated than a simple commandment not to eat pork. We like to share our care packages with the Iraqis but whenever we give them something they thoroughly study the ingredients before they eat the contents. Much like Kosher foods, Halal foods must be prepared in a certain way. For example beef or chicken is Halal only if it has been slaughtered with a knife. It is not Halal to strangle the animal. Additionally it is not Halal to feed animals hormones, etc. Essentially, they observe the same laws spelled out in the Old Testament.

Some foods that we wouldn’t give a second thought to are not Halal like Doritos. Arab Muslims, on the other hand, read the label of all western foods and look for Yellow 5 on the label. There are several types of Yellow 5 but one form of Yellow 5 is made from pork-based oil. Yellow 5 is in thousands of processed foods/products (i.e. Tylenol, Crayola crayons, M&Ms, Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit, etc). If Yellow 5 is present in the ingredients they won’t touch/eat it. You can’t really tell the difference in the Yellow 5 family so Iraqis simply avoid all Yellow 5.

We recently learned, however, that there are several Halal/Kosher food processing inspection groups that inspect foods and label them with a Halal/Kosher inspection label if the item meets standards. Generally speaking, if a food is Kosher it is also Halal (unless the item contains alcohol as an ingredient). If you look on the label of M&Ms there is a U with a circle around it which means it means it has been inspected by the Orthodox Union and they are Halal/Kosher…there are two types of Yellow 5 and M&Ms have the Halal/Kosher type.

I’m sure you’ve all seen the labels but I know I never realized their significance. We’ve also introduced it to the Iraqis but they are still cautious of Yellow 5. Below are the most common Halal/Kosher labels:

Unfortunately for my Iraqi friends, Doritos have pork-base Yellow 5…oh well, that just means more in the world for me!

F-16 on the Scene

1 May 07
Susan’s birthday today…happy birthday, honey!

Last night's festivities were the work of a single IDF team firing rockets at the base for just over 3 hrs. They would “shoot and scoot” firing from several locations south of the base. The Brits would fire back but by the time they fired the team would have already moved to a new location, set up a defensive perimeter (a level of professionalism not shown before) and fired their rockets. Finally the call was made for a “fast mover” to come in and assist. The closest aerial support was an F-16 some 50 min away. He showed up just as the team set up adjacent to a soccer field and was about to fire their ninth volley.

Some of our IqAF guys were nearby and said that the people gathered for the soccer game didn’t move because for three years the British would show up overhead but when they saw noncombatants in the vicinity would hold fire. Consequently, the IDF teams used the civilian populace as cover for their activities.

Both the IDF team and the locals saw the aircraft circling overhead and paid it no attention believing it was an RAF Tornado that wouldn't fire. I'm sure the locals that were nearby were shocked when a 500 lbs bomb landed just 12 meters from the IDF team. I’m sure the IDF team was horrified. The IDF team members that weren’t killed immediately were rushed to the hospital. The RAF Regiment intercepted them there. A single USAF pilot with the courage to take the shot sent a new message and set a new standard in Basrah City this week!

A few weeks ago I mentioned I ran in the Easter 10K. The guy that won the race was a British Army major. He won the men’s veteran category (over 40) and the men’s overall. We found out later he was a triathlete and we regularly saw him in the gym at Allenby Lines riding his bike. This morning he was struck and killed by a bus on the COB while riding his bike...Maj Nicholas Bateson of the Royal Signals died of his injuries this morning.

Mice & Men

30 Apr 07
There are lots of mice in the Iraqi squadron. Some time ago Susan sent me a bunch of mouse traps. Adnan saw them and asked for a couple. He had them in his car and forgot about them until yesterday when his wife saw a mouse. He hunted through his car to find them, set them in his house, then left to go to the market. When he returned his wife was locked in their bedroom and the boys came out to tell Adnan the trap had caught a mouse. With mocked disgust he said, “I was so embarrassed of this Iraqi mouse to get caught in an American trap! I was sure this trap would never catch an Iraqi mouse. I think this mouse deserved to die!”

We have two guys named Dan on our team. One is stationed at RAF Mildenhall in England and the other came here from Scott AFB, IL. The Dan stationed at RAF Mildenhall also asked his wife to send him some mouse traps. She sent British traps while the traps Susan sent me are U.S. We’ve been keeping a running tab of whose trap has caught more mice. The British trap has six kills; the U.S. trap has just one.

The RAF Regiment is an army infantry style regiment within the Royal Air Force. They train with the British Army and use their tactics but they are RAF. They are charged with protecting the base from attack and employ heavy machine guns, mortars, snipers, fast attack vehicles, and a range of other weapons to protect the base. They can be employed either offensively or defensively. They jokingly call themselves “the military branch of the RAF.”

Three rockets this morning just before sunrise. A 240 hit the Norwegian Lines, went thru the sun shade, thru the Kevlar roof over one of the cabins, thru the cabin and lodged over 12m deep beneath the Hesco outside the cabin…all without exploding. The occupant was in the room and had been sleeping until the attack alarm. He escaped alive/unscathed.

Two British guards at Basrah Palace have been killed in the last week by a sniper. One was 18 and I heard the other was 19. When the palace closes, I suspect those rifles will be turned on the only remaining Coalition base in Basrah province. I’ve placed the perimeter roads off limits to our team. My next door neighbors, Tim and John, are RAF police. They work the front gate here on the COB.

Leaving work I noticed gray skies and a brown, dust cloud on the horizon towards Basrah. I was giving Ali a ride home and pointed at the horizon. I told him that it was good weather for shooting rockets…we have had some seven separate attacks within the last two hours. The entire COB is currently on lock down and no one is to go outside until further notice.

Ten attacks today so far…the previous record was seven. The first attack caught me outside with my door locked. I rushed back and dove into one of the other guys' hooches. I think it will be a long night. I’ll be sleeping on the floor. None of us dared to take a shower tonight.

Eleven attacks as of 2130. Twelve attacks as of 2239...new record!

Personal Weapons

29 Apr 07
Ali is back from his time off. He came to see me today and said the IqAF had issued him a pistol to take back and forth to his house for personal protection. It was a really nice Walther PPK 9mm pistol. He asked if I had any bullets I could give him. The sqdn gave him the pistol but they had no money for bullets. I commented that it was a nice pistol and he replied, “yes but without bullets, it is just a club.”

Ali said he was very worried about being in Baghdad without a firearm. He was going to the store to buy cigarettes the other day and passed by two guys sitting on a motorcycle. He said they raced up beside him and one reached for what Ali believes is a pistol then the other guy said “it’s not him.” The other guy pulled his hand back. With the pistol he was issued he can at least defend himself and his family in their home. He feels particularly threatened because he had been a pilot under the regime and regime service members have been targeted by locals as well as the Iranians as I mentioned earlier.