Home » Archives » "'Earth Pigs' Patrol Baghdad Refugee Camp"

'Earth Pigs' Patrol Baghdad Refugee Camp

Oct-13-2006 » Filed Under: Iraq News

It is unclear whether this reporter is with the 3/2 or 172nd SBCT.

UPDATE: Apparently this is 1-23 INF, 3/2 SBCT.

By David MacDougall, FOX News

BAGHDAD, Iraq — They call themselves the "Earth Pigs," although they're perfect gentlemen to my crew and me. Captain John Lovin and his men don't have to take television crews with them on a mission, but they've loaded us into their Stryker vehicles, and now we're rolling around a Shiite neighborhood in West Baghdad.

This will turn out to be a routine patrol. Not every mission ends in a gunbattle or a roadside bomb blast. But there is always danger, and the Earth Pigs remain on high alert.

The first place we stop is a warehouse district. The Earth Pigs have never been here before. It's a chance to check for insurgents and make some introductions with community leaders. The people here seem more curious than hostile, although we see the telltale colored flags that show allegiance to radical militias.

Some the residents peer out from behind half-closed doors; others come into the street to get a good look at us.

One woman has a small stall at the side of the road, and she's baking bread. In another part of the world, under different circumstances, I'd be lured by the scent and would probably stop and buy some. But this is Iraq, a war zone, and we're not tourists.


Advertisements