The Making of an Army-transcript
Introduction:
Dateline: Forward Operating Base (FOB) Endurance, Iraq, May 2005
10:00:00 Fade to picture of Iraqi recruit (Hamburger) whose flak jacket is being repaired
10:00:30 Narrator:
The Americans are still struggling to repair the damage caused by their fatal mistake after the invasion of Iraq: The decision to dissolve the Iraqi army.
At Forward Operating Base Endurance the Americans are trying to rebuild what is ultimately going to become a new Iraqi army. A new army for a country threatening to fall a part, an army that will make possible the withdrawal of US troops.
10:01:06:02 George W. Bush, president, USA (partly off):
And as we pursue the terrorists, our military is helping to train Iraqi security forces, so that they can defend their people and fight the enemy on their own. Our strategy can summed up this way, as the Iraqis stand up, we stand down,
10:01:22 Part 1 – FOB Endurance
Dateline, FOB Endurance, May 2005
10:01:27 Narrator:
FOB Endurance lies isolated in a dry desert-like area in the north of Iraq. Within four weeks, the American Army instructors must transform these recruits into professional soldiers.
10:01:45 SSG (Staff Sergeant) Jeffrey Newton:
Go down there, just go down there!
(A faint curse can be heard from the Iraqi recruit. He is swearing at the instructor’s mother)
10:02:00 SGT Andrew McKenzie:
Come on, no more smoking them cigarettes. Four (counting sit-ups)
10:02:08 Narrator:
Hamburger is one of approximately 60 recruits in this class. His goal is to join the new Iraqi Army.
10:02:18 SGT McKenzie (off):
Ain't done yet. Go back down. You ain`t done yet.
10:02:22 “Hamburger” - Abdel Hussein (fake name, real name withheld for security reasons):
Five more?
10:02: 25 SGT McKenzie:
No, no, ten more, come on. Tell him to go back down (laughing)
10:02:34:00 “Hamburger (Arabic);
"They call me Hamburger because of Khaled, one of the interpreters. Once, he was eating a hamburger and said he was thinking of me. Then the sergeant said that from now on: Your name is hamburger"
10:02:53 SSG Newton:
Like this. Not like this, up and down. (Holding a gun)
You try and nurture them. It is like a little kid. You use the crawl method. You teach them very slowly, let them gain confidence in them and you keep on rewarding them to make them: Hey this is good thing. Better things happen when you do good things
10:03:17 Narrator:
Discipline is rigid. When the recruits break the rules, they are punished.
10:03:22 SGT Corey Jarman:
You comfortable. That’s what you want be. You aren’t come here to be a soldier. Right?
10:03:37 Narrator:
In the day room, the instructors show no mercy with one of the recruits caught skipping his working
10:03:43 SSG Mario Pratcher :
You cool, you chilling`. I don’t want him to pull a muscle; I don't want him to sweat. Not just yet. How does he feel?
10:03:53 Narrator:
Initially, they make it seem like they are trying to make him comfortable
10:04:02 SGT Carlos Reyes:
Might as well drink it. I already opened it
10:04:14 SSG Pratcher:
Now, look at some women. Look at that right there, yeses. You don’t want to look at that. She fine. She look good.
10:04:23:Narrator:
The instructors even present entertainment from back home to the Iraqi recruit
10:04:32 SSG Pratcher:
Wow, look at that right there, look at that right there, Look, you better look. Ah you don’t want to look.
10:04:42 Narrator:
After the ironic feel-good treatment he has to do hard but meaningless the disciplinary work. The dirt is spilled all over the floor for him to clean up. The American army instructors enforce punishment in the same ways as they were punished back home
10:04:54 SSG Pratcher (partly off):
This type of punishment here will be punishment we do in the US Army, Marines all the armed forces do this kind of corrective action, that’s what they call it.
10:05:12 SSG Newton:
Squad leader will be in the in the back, the others continue marching. Once they get close to this door, they'll say: Lower you’re weapons, we're passing through the door
10:05:20 Narrator:
The military base lies in the Sunni Arab part of Iraq where the insurgency is raging. The Iraqis are locally recruited and when their training is finished, they will join American forces operating in the area.
10:05:35 SSG Newton:
I work with these guys. Once we train them, back in my company, we go out and we incorporate them into our platoons. Every day, we go out and do the job together
10:05:47 Part 2 – Mission Muhalabiyah
Dateline: Muhalabiyah, Iraq (not far from the Syrian border), 7th of May 2005
Sound of helicopter
10:05:50 Narrator:
In the desert town of Muhalabiyah another Iraqi company trained at FOB Endurance is already taking part in an American lead operation. The Iraqi soldiers belong to the same units which the Iraqi recruits back at FOB Endurance are to join when they have completed their training. Together, the American and Iraqi soldiers have surrounded Muhalabiyah, they are searching for insurgents. And they are in enemy territory; Fallujah is the symbol of resistance says the graffiti on the wall of this school building. The same building the Americans have chosen as their head quarters for the day.
The soldiers are vulnerable outside their own base. Car bombs is the biggest threat.
10:06:47 Major Kevin P. Murphy (off):
General Ali, these guys up here, they need to make sure they're pulling security, watching out for a car bomb or something coming toward this direction
10:07:06 Narrator:
The Americans have brought their own informants. They are to identify local people that may be taking part in the insurgency. Iraqi soldiers are overseeing that the male inhabitants of the town come to the school building for the identity control. The Americans are responsible for recording the data. The informants are hidden behind this sealed window. One by one the local men have to take up position in front of the window. It doesn’t take much time before the informants recognize someone.
10:08:00 Voice of American guard:
We got one, the one over at the window
10:08:11 Narrator:
Inside the school building the arrests are made quietly (sound of helicopter). In the town centre of Muhalabiyah the situation is tenser.
10:08:22 Major Kevin P. Murphy:
We should be moving this way, not this way
10:08:28 Narrator:
A search for male inhabitants that have refused to come to the school building is under way.
10:08:36 SGT Rivera (note: fake name given to the interpreter by US Forces, he is a regular solider, but of Middle East origin):
Do you remember the mosque where we did the announcement, south east of that is the place
10:08: 41 Narrator:
But the search is halted abruptly. The soldiers have received information about a possible car bomb.
10:08:51 SGT Rivera (partly off)
This gentleman reported that a VBIED (vehicle born improvised explosive devise, "car bomb").
Major Kevin P. Murphy:
.. so that guy told them it is a VBIED?
SGT Rivera:
Right, and he went himself, and he checked and he said, I've seen the missile, it is in the bottom of the vehicle
Major Kevin P. Murphy:
Missile?
SGT Rivera:
Rocket
10:09:05 Narrator:
The Iraqis and Americans disagree on what to do with the car loaded with explosives.
10:09:11 MAJ Murphy:
General Ali, go on over there but I don't what you hope to accomplish. You can't defuse it, so we're going to call Mosul and get an EOD(Explosive Ordnance Disposal)-team. What needs to happen is that we should cordon off this block and seal it off so no one goes in. And I'll call Mosul to get an EOD-team
10:09:24 Narrator:
The imminent danger is if somebody detonates the car by remote control.
Before they have been able to do anything at all, their work is interrupted by information from an other site a little further away. Fighting has started on the other side of the hill
Arabic being spoken on the radio
It seems like the Iraqi forces all ready have lost a man.
OFF
Question: What are they saying on the radio
10:10:16 SGT Rivera:
Just reported the first KIA (Killed in Action). A Lieutenant from 107th Battalion. He was taken down by a sniper.
10:10:40 Narrator:
Some town inhabitants have chosen to fight rather than to present themselves at the school building. The Americans pull in heavy armor, which they until now have kept on the outskirts of town.
Sounds of missiles, gun shots
10:11:31 MAJ Murphy (off):
Can we get a sit rap on the casualties?
10:11:35 Narrator:
The handguns of the men refusing to give them selves up can do little against the Apache Helicopters. But the situation is still not under control. The soldiers here are guarding the hill. Then there is the threat from the car bomb behind them.
10:11:49 SGT Nathan York (partly off):
Right here, right now, we're pinned down from a sniper behind us, but we also have a situation of urban conflict in front of us. Which again, given the right opportunity and right scenario, you can get picked off from behind or get ambushed from in front of you
10:12:13 Narrator:
After a while the Iraqi soldiers clear the hill. They make some arrests in the area and an uneasy calm returns.
Now, all they have left to resolve is the car bomb.
10:12:43 Part 3 – Combat training
Dateline: FOB Endurance, May 2005
10:12:43 SSG Diego Alvarez:
There's two methods to it, I am going to show them the method we already know
10:12:50 Narrator:
In the training camp at FOB Endurance, combat training is in progress.
Hamburger and other recruits from the two platoons are enjoying themselves. Combat exercise is more fun than classroom teaching.
10:13:08 SSG Newton:
Do the side mount, do the side mount
10:13:15 Narrator:
American Army instructors are busy teaching the same lessons in military camps all over Iraq.
10:13:24 SGT Daniel Dicker:
Get in that face, come on, get out there
10:13:30 Narrator:
The need for a new Iraqi army is urgent, but it takes time to build an army from scratch. A long time, when the recruits are from dessert villages and the instructor from Rhode Island.
10:13:38 SGT Alvarez (shouting):
It is all yours now, you got a canteen over there. Right? Where's the canteen at? Why you drink out of a bottle. I know you understand me
10:13:47 Iraqi recruit:
But the other sergeant said it was ok, you bull
10:13:56 Narrator:
Drill Sergeant Alvarez is angry because the soldiers are drinking straight from the water bottles, and not from their canteens as they have been ordered to.
10:14:10SGT Alvarez:
I hope you guys have water in your canteen, because it is the only water you're getting now. So laugh it up, have fun, this is your time kids, your freaking time. I am only here to help you, but if you want to the wrong thing, fine, I don't care. Your life
10:14:25 Narrator:
The Americans soldiers don’t speak any Arabic or Kurdish. The interpreters often have to take some liberties.
10:14: 33 Ahmed Sultan - “Cowboy” - interpreter:
American soldiers use to speak bad words more, like fucking, motherfucker, like bitch, like more stuff about this. But if American soldiers said to like Iraqi soldier, like this stuff, No we change this, if he (American soldier), say, get up motherfucker, we told him, please stand up, like this
10:15:07 SGT Alvarez:
It takes a while with the translation. Because when I'm yelling, the translator will not be yelling, and will not have the same tone or demeanor that I will have. But when they see my character and how I am acting, they know something is wrong and that they better shape up. That is an international language. When you se someone angry yelling, just going wild with your hands, they know they messed up
10:15:28 Narrator:
Drinking enough water is a serious question when the temperatures climb over 40 degrees Celsius. The recruits enjoy a short brake in the shade, but the training is not over yet. One of the most eager recruits is Hamburger...but he is also one of the heaviest. He has to wait a while until the others finds someone to match his weight. But he doesn’t mind his nickname
10:16:02 “Hamburger” (Arabic):
I have had many funny names. Back in my village, the called me Bibo because that's the name of the fattest man in the village
10:16:09 SSG Pratcher:
You scared?
10:16:13 “Hamburger “(Arabic):
No, no, I will fight
10:16:21 Narrator
Eventually they find some one and the heavy weight fight can begin.
10:17:28 “Hamburger” (Arabic):
It was good to wrestle with someone as big as I am. It was heavy when we rolled around and I tried to flip him. But it wasn't just fun, it was good training
10:17:51 Narrator:
The adrenalin is pumping after a day wrestling under a burning Iraqi sun. But outside the gate Iraqi soldiers are dying.
10:18:01 “Hamburger” (Arabic):
When I hear about all the Iraqi soldiers getting killed, I think about fate. If I should die, then I will die. But you have to brave out there as well
10:18:19 Part 4- How to dismantle a car bomb
Dateline: Muhalabiyah, 7th of May, 2005
10:18:22 Narrator:
In Muhalabiyah explosive experts have finally arrived from Mosul. The fighting has stopped but the car loaded with un-detonated bombs is still a threat.
10:18:34 SSG Brian Lawrence:
We're making the area secure, not only for ourselves but also for all the civilians that are the area. We will try to get them out of their houses that are close to the VBIED at this time. Once we have established that, then I will attack the vehicle
10:18:56 Narrator:
Nobody knows exactly what is inside the car. Discontented Iraqi officers watch the American’s work. They do not like their methods, especially that the Americans are moving in explosives to destroy the car.
10: 19:36 SSG Brian Lawrence:
Wires continue through the back of the trunk, hooking into deck cord. The wire actually goes through the blasting caps. The white wires go into deck cord. The eleven rounds found inside the trunk, three in the rear passenger seat and three more found the passenger right side front
Question: What kind of damage would this thing cause?
This would cause catastrophic damage
10:20:09 General Mohammed Hussein (fake name, real name withheld for security reasons) (English):
Please Mr. Coalition forces engineering, please, one minute. What happen if we cut this wire?
10:20:13 SSG Brian Lawrence:
We got more blasting caps and wire over there. We have to take each one out at a time before you even start moving anything. If he wants to, I'll show him, I'll rig him up something you can't touch
Shouting
10:21:05 MAJ Murphy (off):
Hey, don't touch.
10:21:07 Iraqi explosive expert:
But it was cut (said several times)
10:21:10 MAJ Murphy:
We have to do this the American way. I am sorry. Let's move out
10:21:19 Narrator:
It is a combination of wounded pride and dissatisfaction with a valuable car being lost. The Iraqi explosive expert cannot watch quietly. In the end he has to be escorted away by the American interpreter. But, still, even if it is to late, he feels he has to explain himself.
10:21:55SGT Riveria (translating what the Iraqi explosive expert says):
We hope we're going to get another occasion to show what we are capable of so that we can minimize the damage to the local nationals
00:21:59: Narrator:
In the end the Americans finish the job.
10:22:16 Part 5 - A rusty pipe
Dateline: FOB Endurance, May 2005
10:22:18 Narrator:
In the training camp, the recruits have finished a day on the shooting range.
What they now are rehearsing in calm surroundings will soon become a lot more serious.
10:22: 35 Iraqi recruit:
I know we might die. But if I don't want to sacrifice myself for my country then who will?
10:22:49 Narrator:
In the dayroom, the Americans keep up with what’s happening in the rest of Iraq
10:22:56 Sound from television BBC World
A row of shops were devastated by a car bomb, not a suicide one,
10:23:04 SGT Daniel Dicker:
They will not quit. You know
Question: Do you think there is a way out of it?
We're doing what we can by detaining as many as possible. But they keep coming, they keep coming at us
10:23:34 Narrator:
The insurgents attack systematically the recruitment centers of the new army. Still, there are plenty of young men willing to sign up. The monthly pay is received in cash at FOB Endurance. An Iraqi soldier makes 380 dollars a month, a considerable amount in Iraq
10:23:51 SGT Carlos Reyes:
Do you want them in two sticks, three sticks?
10:23:54 CPT John Jimenez:
No they go in three. Three packs is payment for one soldier
10:24:16 “Hamburger” (Arabic):
A young man needs to earn money. That is why I joined the army. But there are other reasons as well. I also want to defend my country
10:24:34 Narrator:
Many of the soldiers haven’t been paid in months because of problems in Baghdad. Finally, an American helicopter from FOB Endurance had to be sent to the capital to collect the soldier’s salaries.
10:24:53 CPT Jimenez (partly off):
Now the soldiers can have their three months pay. They have actually been working three months without any pay, some of them getting hurt. It is a miracle that they are still working
10:25:09 Narrator:
Money is an important motivation in the Iraqi Army.
10:25:14 Dateline: Close to the Iraqi city of Al-Shura, May 6th 2005
Outside the camp awaits an elusive enemy, an enemy the soldiers have to face without heavy equipment. This checkpoint south of Mosul seems solid enough from afar. But the silhouette of the machine gun is deceiving. This old rusty pipe will not help the Iraqi soldiers much if the checkpoint is attacked
10:25:48 Part 6 – The car bomb factory
Dateline Muhalabiyah 7th of May 2005:
10:25:49 Narrator:
The war between the insurgents and the Iraqi soldiers is a war fought without mercy. In Muhalabiyah the men of the town are still being kept locked up after the identity check. In front of the crowd the Iraqi soldiers have placed the body of a killed insurgent. But first his body was tied to a pick-up truck and dragged through the town. The Iraqi soldiers are trying to set an example.
After some intense hours the soldiers are preparing to return back to the base. But an already long day is made even longer. Several car bombs have been found on a farm outside town.
10:26:26 MAJ Murphy:
This is a VBIED-factory. Come on, let's head out. I don't like sitting here in case that thing goes off. Come on, let's go
10:26:36 Narrator:
The two rigged bombs is not the only secret hidden on this farm. In the chaos following the invasion anyone could take what they from the ammunitions storages of the old Iraqi army. The Americans were looking for weapons of mass destruction and did no pay much attention to these old bombs. This is a mistake now costing them dear. This is the ammunition used by the insurgents to make car bombs.
10:27:36 SGT Nathan York (partly off):
Blasting caps are a low grade initiation devise, so what that'll do is set off either this here being TNT or a sub-base or it can set off the detonation cord itself. Take this right here and insert it into the nose cone of one of those 120 mm mortar shells, stick it straight into the center with an electric firing devise. You hook this end of the wire into this wire. The blue wire goes into the battery. Then the suicide bomber will press this button to detonate. Very simply, that's how it 's done
10:28:23 Narrator:
On this farm there is enough equipment to make more than 10 large car bombs. Bombs made here would later have been put into use in one the larger cities like Mosul. It is the biggest quantity of explosives that this unit has found since they to Iraq came nine months ago. In Muhalabiyah the Americans found the needle in the haystack, a place where the insurgents in calm could prepare their attacks. This day is finally going towards and end. The question is how many other farms like this there are in this area.
10:28:51 Part 7 – Kurds and Arabs
Dateline: FOB Endurance, May 2005
10:28:52 SGT Corey Phillips:
This is a timing detonation devise right here.
10:28:57 Narrator:
Bombs are the insurgents’ most damaging weapon. At the training camp the recruits are taught the different ways in which bombs are made and hidden.
10:29:09 SGT Corey Phillips:
As you can see, it was found a couple of hours before it actually went off
10:29:14 Narrator:
The explanation takes time. Everything that is said is translated twice, first into Arabic and then into Kurdish.
10:29:25 Hassan Kuryami (fake name, real name withheld for security reasons)
(Kurdish, partly off):
I haven’t had much contact with Arabs. Before we didn’t even dare go to Mosul. For us Kurds, it was impossible to see them under Saddam. The Baath-party was a bad party
10:29:47 SGT Corey Phillips:
They also use the big one, the 155mm
10:29:50 Narrator:
Among the Arabs nobody understands Kurdish either, and a lot of the time is spent waiting for the translations to finish. If they risk falling asleep they have been ordered to rise up and walk to the back of the classroom. Not everybody is able to do this.
10:30:10 SGT Jamal Dixon:
Are you awake now?
Start pushing now. Push.
Ask him why he was sleeping?
10:30:44 Iraqi recruit:
Tell the him, that bull, that I’ve had enough
10:30:23 SGT Dixon:
Get up there, let's go (shouting)
Get in class right now. I want to see you're head up, and I want to see you writing something down and leering something. Is that clear?
10:31:16 Narrator:
This recruit and one other have been told that they may be expelled from the training program. Other places in Iraq, Kurds and Arabs are kept separate, but at FOB Endurance they are not only together but also trained in the same units. The ethnic mix creates conflicts.
10:31:39 SSG Pratcher:
That's been an issue ever since the Kurds came. The Arabic make it seem like we're making a difference between the two, which we don't. Everybody is the same. That's how we treat people
10:31:56 Narrator:
The two recruits facing expulsion have been given disciplinary punishment several times, but think they being treated unfairly. The problem is squealing. The platoon leader is trying to negotiate.
10:32:12 Platoon leader (Arabic):
No, no, there is no problem. If there is one, we solve it
10:32:29 Recruit (Arabic):
Yes, yes, the Kurds snitch all the time. Every time something happens, they go and tell the Americans
10:32:41 Hatem Abdul Karim Shahoot “Jack” – interpreter:
We have like some Kurdish guys trying to fight the Arabic guys. I mean a few, not all of them. They do that to increase the racism between them. They say like why don't we have separate class, separate platoon. We don't speak Arabic; we can't live with the Arabic people. Same thing with the Arabs, some guys say why should they bring Kurds to this base. It is an Arabic base; they should train them back in their places.
10:33:17 Narrator:
They try to convince the instructors that the punishment is too hard but the decision has been made. These two recruits are to be expelled.
10:33:33 SSG Newton:
No, they were starting a fight in my formation. Are you calling me a liar? I am telling you go get in that truck. You were smoking in the barracks, right after I gave you a cigarette, you were sleeping in my class and laughing after you got your punishment. Hurry up! Get in my truck!
10:34:08 Narrator:
There is no forgiveness. These two men will never become soldiers.
10:34:31 Part 8- Mission al-Eitha
Dateline: Al-Eitha, 10th of May 2005
10:34:33 Narrator:
For those who make it, and become soldiers, a though reality waits in these Sunni Arab, dominated areas. The Iraqi soldiers are on a new assignment together with American soldiers. In Al-Eitha it is still early morning, only the weak barks from stray dogs can be heard, but the relative silence is treacherous. This town, only 10 kilometers from the recruit’s training camp, is indeed a dangerous place. In their hunt for insurgents the Iraqi army is about to conduct yet another identity control. Again the male inhabitants are locked into the schoolyard. In the class rooms the Iraqis have isolated men they suspect of belonging to or supporting the insurgent groups.
10:35:32 General Mohammed Hussein (Arabic):
What is your name?
10:35:35 Narrator:
Al-Eitha is notorious town. The Iraqis claim the town is run by Islamists and compare it to Kandahar in Afghanistan, the previous stronghold of the Taliban movement.
10:35:53 General Mohammed Hossein (Arabic):
What is your name?
Come here. What's your name?
10:36:02 Narrator:
The American Special Forces have prepared this operation for several months.
10:35:58 American soldier from the Special Forces:
We want him. Get in there
10:36:13 Narrator:
The identification of the town men is progressing calmly, but then the process is halted. Something has happened on the outskirts of the town.
10:36:41Specialist Monty Wallace
Do you say they got hit?
10:36:43 Narrator:
They cannot be certain about what to expect, but this not an area that the Americans are unfamiliar with. Four months ago they miss-bombed a house and killed 15 civilians.
10:36:55 Specialist Monty Wallace:
I can't get pass that truck. God damn it. This truck has no power
10:37:11 Narrator:
Further a head, insurgents have attacked. American Special Forces and Iraqi unit were ambushed as they were conducting a search inside the town.
10:37:38 LT Dave Burden:
See that asshole running over there; see him running up that hill?
10:37:44 Private Hidalgo (off):
I got a clear shot, got a clear shot
10:37:46 LT Dave Burden:
Fire, fire
10:37:57 Specialist Monty Wallace:
Need more rounds?
10:38:00 Narrator:
The Iraqis want to send their soldiers forward, but the American have called up their fighter helicopters.
Missiles fired, gunshots
As usual the insurgents are heavily outgunned by the American military. When the firing stops, the women and children try to get away from the battlefield
10: 39:25 Women of the killed insurgents (Arabic):
By Allah, our men had done nothing. They were innocent
10:39:35 Colonel Ali Khaled (fake name, real name withheld for security reasons) (Arabic):
You are like the Islamist in Kandahar in Afghanistan. Look at the neighboring village. We don't touch them
10:39:42 Colonel Ali Khaled (English):
We came here to check this village from the terrorists because we have knowledge about some terrorist here. And when the soldiers came to the village, the terrorist attacked. They killed one soldier and wounded one officer. We killed two terrorists. They make problems for their village.
10:40:13 Narrator:
It turns out that the number of insurgents were only five. But they were hard fighters and would rather be killed than caught alive.
They seriously wounded an American soldiers and killed and Iraqi soldier.
10:40:32 Colonel Ali Khaled (English):
I am very sad to loose my soldier. But this is necessary for a safe Iraq
10:40:46 Part 9 – A day for shaving
Dateline FOB Endurance, May 2005
10:40:48 Narrator:
Soon the Iraqi recruits at FOB Endurance are ready to serve in the new army, but one thing remains: the obligatory shave and haircut. It is a day the Iraqis have dreaded.
10:41:02 Iraqi recruit (Arabic)
To shave here in Iraq is a shame. I shave my beard. Never my moustache
10:41:13 Narrator
The march to the barber with burdened minds.
10:41:15 SSG Pratcher:
They're being trained to the military standards. That's what we do when go to basic training. Pretty much, who ever we train, we train them to those specific standards. So only thing is different, is when they march. They do like they do over here in this country, but as far as the military haircuts and the discipline, it all comes from the US
10:41:59 SGT Reyes (off):
What are we doing with the moustaches?
10:42:01 SGT Daniel Dicker:
Cutting it
10:42:28 “Hamburger “(Arabic)
For the Americans, maybe this is normal. But we Arabs cannot shave the moustache
10:42:51: Shouting in Kurdish:
I don’t want to cut my hair; I’d rather go to prison (said several times)
Sit down (others are trying to convince him)
10:43:02 SGT Dicker:
Hey get up. You can do this the easy way or the hard way. Either way you're getting your haircuts
10:43:36 more shouting in Kurdish:
Sit down
Leave me alone
10:43:38 SGT Dicker:
Sit down! Sit! Right now!
10:43:58 SSG Pratcher (partly off):
In the US we've been doing it for hundred and hundred of years. Over here it is a standard we're just putting into place. That's why they have a lot of grievance of what ever. Last class we had, we had a lot of people that were really upset
10:44:20 Hassan Kuryami (Kurdish):
Now all the terrorists will see that I have joined the new Army. I fear for my family. In Mosul they put our names on the gates of the mosque. They threaten to kill us or kidnap us if we don't quit the new Iraqi Army
10:46:20 SGT Reyes (partly off):
I would understand if you had a lot of hair. Trust me, I am doing you a favor. It will grow back thicker.
10:46:30 “Hamburger” (Arabic):
My mother will never let me inside her house
10:46:08 “Hamburger” (Arabic):
I am very sorry to lose my moustache
10:46:17 “Hamburger” (Arabic):
I can't control it. Even when I am sad, I am smiling
10:46:37 Part 10 – The graduation ceremony
Dateline: FOB Endurance, May 2005
10:46:39 Narrator:
The recruits are ready for the graduations ceremony. It is carefully prepared. Every little detail has to be in place before the generals arrive.
But something is not right. A few names in the official program don’t match the soldiers’ real names.
10:47:08 SSG Alvarez (shouting):
Why they different! I gave you counseling yesterday, I asked if that was your name and you signed for and said yes, so guess what that's you're name now, too bad!
10:47:29 Sergeant first class Trawick:
This name is in the program. All 170 of them
10:47:33 SSG Pratcher:
Did you save it? We know there is a problem. Did you save? Good all we got do to is change the names. It's not a problem
10:47:50 SSG Alvarez (partly off):
The names were straight. There's not a problem. I asked them, I doubled checked it. Too fucking bad. I am not changing nothing.
10:48:02 Narrator:
Many of the recruits can hardly read and write. The lists have to be rewritten with the help of the interpreters.
Then, at last, everything is in order before the graduation.
10:48:27 Iraqi and American national anthems being played
10:49:12 Oath being read aloud (Arabic):
I am a soldier
I am an Iraqi soldier
10:49:20Narrator:
The chaplain wraps up the ceremony
10:49:23 The US Army chaplain
God we thank you for your graciousness and for these men who step forward to protect the country that you have given them. Thank you for the freedom and the peace you have given Iraq. Guide these brave men, protect them and use them to bless your country. Amen
(followed by translation in Arabic)
10:49:57 SGT Dicker:
This concludes the graduation ceremony of the Iraqi Army basic combat training course, class 02-05. Please join the graduates in the theater for refreshments
10:50:07 Narrator:
The recruits have become soldiers. From now on, everything they have learnt will be tested in more serious and dangerous circumstances.
10:50:20 SGT Reyes:
We called him Hamburger once, then he got stuck with it
10:50:25 Narrator:
Hamburger joined the new army to support his family. It is them that he is now looking forward to visit.
10:50:31 “Hamburger“(Arabic):
The family back home is nervous. In the army you often get delayed. It is difficult to wait without any news
10:50:39 Narrator:
Nobody is willing to admit that they feel nervous about the their future, but they can understand that their families are.
10:50:49 Recruit:
My mother is also nervous. It is normal mothers are like
10:51:30 End credits
Introduction:
Dateline: Forward Operating Base (FOB) Endurance, Iraq, May 2005
10:00:00 Fade to picture of Iraqi recruit (Hamburger) whose flak jacket is being repaired
10:00:30 Narrator:
The Americans are still struggling to repair the damage caused by their fatal mistake after the invasion of Iraq: The decision to dissolve the Iraqi army.
At Forward Operating Base Endurance the Americans are trying to rebuild what is ultimately going to become a new Iraqi army. A new army for a country threatening to fall a part, an army that will make possible the withdrawal of US troops.
10:01:06:02 George W. Bush, president, USA (partly off):
And as we pursue the terrorists, our military is helping to train Iraqi security forces, so that they can defend their people and fight the enemy on their own. Our strategy can summed up this way, as the Iraqis stand up, we stand down,
10:01:22 Part 1 – FOB Endurance
Dateline, FOB Endurance, May 2005
10:01:27 Narrator:
FOB Endurance lies isolated in a dry desert-like area in the north of Iraq. Within four weeks, the American Army instructors must transform these recruits into professional soldiers.
10:01:45 SSG (Staff Sergeant) Jeffrey Newton:
Go down there, just go down there!
(A faint curse can be heard from the Iraqi recruit. He is swearing at the instructor’s mother)
10:02:00 SGT Andrew McKenzie:
Come on, no more smoking them cigarettes. Four (counting sit-ups)
10:02:08 Narrator:
Hamburger is one of approximately 60 recruits in this class. His goal is to join the new Iraqi Army.
10:02:18 SGT McKenzie (off):
Ain't done yet. Go back down. You ain`t done yet.
10:02:22 “Hamburger” - Abdel Hussein (fake name, real name withheld for security reasons):
Five more?
10:02: 25 SGT McKenzie:
No, no, ten more, come on. Tell him to go back down (laughing)
10:02:34:00 “Hamburger (Arabic);
"They call me Hamburger because of Khaled, one of the interpreters. Once, he was eating a hamburger and said he was thinking of me. Then the sergeant said that from now on: Your name is hamburger"
10:02:53 SSG Newton:
Like this. Not like this, up and down. (Holding a gun)
You try and nurture them. It is like a little kid. You use the crawl method. You teach them very slowly, let them gain confidence in them and you keep on rewarding them to make them: Hey this is good thing. Better things happen when you do good things
10:03:17 Narrator:
Discipline is rigid. When the recruits break the rules, they are punished.
10:03:22 SGT Corey Jarman:
You comfortable. That’s what you want be. You aren’t come here to be a soldier. Right?
10:03:37 Narrator:
In the day room, the instructors show no mercy with one of the recruits caught skipping his working
10:03:43 SSG Mario Pratcher :
You cool, you chilling`. I don’t want him to pull a muscle; I don't want him to sweat. Not just yet. How does he feel?
10:03:53 Narrator:
Initially, they make it seem like they are trying to make him comfortable
10:04:02 SGT Carlos Reyes:
Might as well drink it. I already opened it
10:04:14 SSG Pratcher:
Now, look at some women. Look at that right there, yeses. You don’t want to look at that. She fine. She look good.
10:04:23:Narrator:
The instructors even present entertainment from back home to the Iraqi recruit
10:04:32 SSG Pratcher:
Wow, look at that right there, look at that right there, Look, you better look. Ah you don’t want to look.
10:04:42 Narrator:
After the ironic feel-good treatment he has to do hard but meaningless the disciplinary work. The dirt is spilled all over the floor for him to clean up. The American army instructors enforce punishment in the same ways as they were punished back home
10:04:54 SSG Pratcher (partly off):
This type of punishment here will be punishment we do in the US Army, Marines all the armed forces do this kind of corrective action, that’s what they call it.
10:05:12 SSG Newton:
Squad leader will be in the in the back, the others continue marching. Once they get close to this door, they'll say: Lower you’re weapons, we're passing through the door
10:05:20 Narrator:
The military base lies in the Sunni Arab part of Iraq where the insurgency is raging. The Iraqis are locally recruited and when their training is finished, they will join American forces operating in the area.
10:05:35 SSG Newton:
I work with these guys. Once we train them, back in my company, we go out and we incorporate them into our platoons. Every day, we go out and do the job together
10:05:47 Part 2 – Mission Muhalabiyah
Dateline: Muhalabiyah, Iraq (not far from the Syrian border), 7th of May 2005
Sound of helicopter
10:05:50 Narrator:
In the desert town of Muhalabiyah another Iraqi company trained at FOB Endurance is already taking part in an American lead operation. The Iraqi soldiers belong to the same units which the Iraqi recruits back at FOB Endurance are to join when they have completed their training. Together, the American and Iraqi soldiers have surrounded Muhalabiyah, they are searching for insurgents. And they are in enemy territory; Fallujah is the symbol of resistance says the graffiti on the wall of this school building. The same building the Americans have chosen as their head quarters for the day.
The soldiers are vulnerable outside their own base. Car bombs is the biggest threat.
10:06:47 Major Kevin P. Murphy (off):
General Ali, these guys up here, they need to make sure they're pulling security, watching out for a car bomb or something coming toward this direction
10:07:06 Narrator:
The Americans have brought their own informants. They are to identify local people that may be taking part in the insurgency. Iraqi soldiers are overseeing that the male inhabitants of the town come to the school building for the identity control. The Americans are responsible for recording the data. The informants are hidden behind this sealed window. One by one the local men have to take up position in front of the window. It doesn’t take much time before the informants recognize someone.
10:08:00 Voice of American guard:
We got one, the one over at the window
10:08:11 Narrator:
Inside the school building the arrests are made quietly (sound of helicopter). In the town centre of Muhalabiyah the situation is tenser.
10:08:22 Major Kevin P. Murphy:
We should be moving this way, not this way
10:08:28 Narrator:
A search for male inhabitants that have refused to come to the school building is under way.
10:08:36 SGT Rivera (note: fake name given to the interpreter by US Forces, he is a regular solider, but of Middle East origin):
Do you remember the mosque where we did the announcement, south east of that is the place
10:08: 41 Narrator:
But the search is halted abruptly. The soldiers have received information about a possible car bomb.
10:08:51 SGT Rivera (partly off)
This gentleman reported that a VBIED (vehicle born improvised explosive devise, "car bomb").
Major Kevin P. Murphy:
.. so that guy told them it is a VBIED?
SGT Rivera:
Right, and he went himself, and he checked and he said, I've seen the missile, it is in the bottom of the vehicle
Major Kevin P. Murphy:
Missile?
SGT Rivera:
Rocket
10:09:05 Narrator:
The Iraqis and Americans disagree on what to do with the car loaded with explosives.
10:09:11 MAJ Murphy:
General Ali, go on over there but I don't what you hope to accomplish. You can't defuse it, so we're going to call Mosul and get an EOD(Explosive Ordnance Disposal)-team. What needs to happen is that we should cordon off this block and seal it off so no one goes in. And I'll call Mosul to get an EOD-team
10:09:24 Narrator:
The imminent danger is if somebody detonates the car by remote control.
Before they have been able to do anything at all, their work is interrupted by information from an other site a little further away. Fighting has started on the other side of the hill
Arabic being spoken on the radio
It seems like the Iraqi forces all ready have lost a man.
OFF
Question: What are they saying on the radio
10:10:16 SGT Rivera:
Just reported the first KIA (Killed in Action). A Lieutenant from 107th Battalion. He was taken down by a sniper.
10:10:40 Narrator:
Some town inhabitants have chosen to fight rather than to present themselves at the school building. The Americans pull in heavy armor, which they until now have kept on the outskirts of town.
Sounds of missiles, gun shots
10:11:31 MAJ Murphy (off):
Can we get a sit rap on the casualties?
10:11:35 Narrator:
The handguns of the men refusing to give them selves up can do little against the Apache Helicopters. But the situation is still not under control. The soldiers here are guarding the hill. Then there is the threat from the car bomb behind them.
10:11:49 SGT Nathan York (partly off):
Right here, right now, we're pinned down from a sniper behind us, but we also have a situation of urban conflict in front of us. Which again, given the right opportunity and right scenario, you can get picked off from behind or get ambushed from in front of you
10:12:13 Narrator:
After a while the Iraqi soldiers clear the hill. They make some arrests in the area and an uneasy calm returns.
Now, all they have left to resolve is the car bomb.
10:12:43 Part 3 – Combat training
Dateline: FOB Endurance, May 2005
10:12:43 SSG Diego Alvarez:
There's two methods to it, I am going to show them the method we already know
10:12:50 Narrator:
In the training camp at FOB Endurance, combat training is in progress.
Hamburger and other recruits from the two platoons are enjoying themselves. Combat exercise is more fun than classroom teaching.
10:13:08 SSG Newton:
Do the side mount, do the side mount
10:13:15 Narrator:
American Army instructors are busy teaching the same lessons in military camps all over Iraq.
10:13:24 SGT Daniel Dicker:
Get in that face, come on, get out there
10:13:30 Narrator:
The need for a new Iraqi army is urgent, but it takes time to build an army from scratch. A long time, when the recruits are from dessert villages and the instructor from Rhode Island.
10:13:38 SGT Alvarez (shouting):
It is all yours now, you got a canteen over there. Right? Where's the canteen at? Why you drink out of a bottle. I know you understand me
10:13:47 Iraqi recruit:
But the other sergeant said it was ok, you bull
10:13:56 Narrator:
Drill Sergeant Alvarez is angry because the soldiers are drinking straight from the water bottles, and not from their canteens as they have been ordered to.
10:14:10SGT Alvarez:
I hope you guys have water in your canteen, because it is the only water you're getting now. So laugh it up, have fun, this is your time kids, your freaking time. I am only here to help you, but if you want to the wrong thing, fine, I don't care. Your life
10:14:25 Narrator:
The Americans soldiers don’t speak any Arabic or Kurdish. The interpreters often have to take some liberties.
10:14: 33 Ahmed Sultan - “Cowboy” - interpreter:
American soldiers use to speak bad words more, like fucking, motherfucker, like bitch, like more stuff about this. But if American soldiers said to like Iraqi soldier, like this stuff, No we change this, if he (American soldier), say, get up motherfucker, we told him, please stand up, like this
10:15:07 SGT Alvarez:
It takes a while with the translation. Because when I'm yelling, the translator will not be yelling, and will not have the same tone or demeanor that I will have. But when they see my character and how I am acting, they know something is wrong and that they better shape up. That is an international language. When you se someone angry yelling, just going wild with your hands, they know they messed up
10:15:28 Narrator:
Drinking enough water is a serious question when the temperatures climb over 40 degrees Celsius. The recruits enjoy a short brake in the shade, but the training is not over yet. One of the most eager recruits is Hamburger...but he is also one of the heaviest. He has to wait a while until the others finds someone to match his weight. But he doesn’t mind his nickname
10:16:02 “Hamburger” (Arabic):
I have had many funny names. Back in my village, the called me Bibo because that's the name of the fattest man in the village
10:16:09 SSG Pratcher:
You scared?
10:16:13 “Hamburger “(Arabic):
No, no, I will fight
10:16:21 Narrator
Eventually they find some one and the heavy weight fight can begin.
10:17:28 “Hamburger” (Arabic):
It was good to wrestle with someone as big as I am. It was heavy when we rolled around and I tried to flip him. But it wasn't just fun, it was good training
10:17:51 Narrator:
The adrenalin is pumping after a day wrestling under a burning Iraqi sun. But outside the gate Iraqi soldiers are dying.
10:18:01 “Hamburger” (Arabic):
When I hear about all the Iraqi soldiers getting killed, I think about fate. If I should die, then I will die. But you have to brave out there as well
10:18:19 Part 4- How to dismantle a car bomb
Dateline: Muhalabiyah, 7th of May, 2005
10:18:22 Narrator:
In Muhalabiyah explosive experts have finally arrived from Mosul. The fighting has stopped but the car loaded with un-detonated bombs is still a threat.
10:18:34 SSG Brian Lawrence:
We're making the area secure, not only for ourselves but also for all the civilians that are the area. We will try to get them out of their houses that are close to the VBIED at this time. Once we have established that, then I will attack the vehicle
10:18:56 Narrator:
Nobody knows exactly what is inside the car. Discontented Iraqi officers watch the American’s work. They do not like their methods, especially that the Americans are moving in explosives to destroy the car.
10: 19:36 SSG Brian Lawrence:
Wires continue through the back of the trunk, hooking into deck cord. The wire actually goes through the blasting caps. The white wires go into deck cord. The eleven rounds found inside the trunk, three in the rear passenger seat and three more found the passenger right side front
Question: What kind of damage would this thing cause?
This would cause catastrophic damage
10:20:09 General Mohammed Hussein (fake name, real name withheld for security reasons) (English):
Please Mr. Coalition forces engineering, please, one minute. What happen if we cut this wire?
10:20:13 SSG Brian Lawrence:
We got more blasting caps and wire over there. We have to take each one out at a time before you even start moving anything. If he wants to, I'll show him, I'll rig him up something you can't touch
Shouting
10:21:05 MAJ Murphy (off):
Hey, don't touch.
10:21:07 Iraqi explosive expert:
But it was cut (said several times)
10:21:10 MAJ Murphy:
We have to do this the American way. I am sorry. Let's move out
10:21:19 Narrator:
It is a combination of wounded pride and dissatisfaction with a valuable car being lost. The Iraqi explosive expert cannot watch quietly. In the end he has to be escorted away by the American interpreter. But, still, even if it is to late, he feels he has to explain himself.
10:21:55SGT Riveria (translating what the Iraqi explosive expert says):
We hope we're going to get another occasion to show what we are capable of so that we can minimize the damage to the local nationals
00:21:59: Narrator:
In the end the Americans finish the job.
10:22:16 Part 5 - A rusty pipe
Dateline: FOB Endurance, May 2005
10:22:18 Narrator:
In the training camp, the recruits have finished a day on the shooting range.
What they now are rehearsing in calm surroundings will soon become a lot more serious.
10:22: 35 Iraqi recruit:
I know we might die. But if I don't want to sacrifice myself for my country then who will?
10:22:49 Narrator:
In the dayroom, the Americans keep up with what’s happening in the rest of Iraq
10:22:56 Sound from television BBC World
A row of shops were devastated by a car bomb, not a suicide one,
10:23:04 SGT Daniel Dicker:
They will not quit. You know
Question: Do you think there is a way out of it?
We're doing what we can by detaining as many as possible. But they keep coming, they keep coming at us
10:23:34 Narrator:
The insurgents attack systematically the recruitment centers of the new army. Still, there are plenty of young men willing to sign up. The monthly pay is received in cash at FOB Endurance. An Iraqi soldier makes 380 dollars a month, a considerable amount in Iraq
10:23:51 SGT Carlos Reyes:
Do you want them in two sticks, three sticks?
10:23:54 CPT John Jimenez:
No they go in three. Three packs is payment for one soldier
10:24:16 “Hamburger” (Arabic):
A young man needs to earn money. That is why I joined the army. But there are other reasons as well. I also want to defend my country
10:24:34 Narrator:
Many of the soldiers haven’t been paid in months because of problems in Baghdad. Finally, an American helicopter from FOB Endurance had to be sent to the capital to collect the soldier’s salaries.
10:24:53 CPT Jimenez (partly off):
Now the soldiers can have their three months pay. They have actually been working three months without any pay, some of them getting hurt. It is a miracle that they are still working
10:25:09 Narrator:
Money is an important motivation in the Iraqi Army.
10:25:14 Dateline: Close to the Iraqi city of Al-Shura, May 6th 2005
Outside the camp awaits an elusive enemy, an enemy the soldiers have to face without heavy equipment. This checkpoint south of Mosul seems solid enough from afar. But the silhouette of the machine gun is deceiving. This old rusty pipe will not help the Iraqi soldiers much if the checkpoint is attacked
10:25:48 Part 6 – The car bomb factory
Dateline Muhalabiyah 7th of May 2005:
10:25:49 Narrator:
The war between the insurgents and the Iraqi soldiers is a war fought without mercy. In Muhalabiyah the men of the town are still being kept locked up after the identity check. In front of the crowd the Iraqi soldiers have placed the body of a killed insurgent. But first his body was tied to a pick-up truck and dragged through the town. The Iraqi soldiers are trying to set an example.
After some intense hours the soldiers are preparing to return back to the base. But an already long day is made even longer. Several car bombs have been found on a farm outside town.
10:26:26 MAJ Murphy:
This is a VBIED-factory. Come on, let's head out. I don't like sitting here in case that thing goes off. Come on, let's go
10:26:36 Narrator:
The two rigged bombs is not the only secret hidden on this farm. In the chaos following the invasion anyone could take what they from the ammunitions storages of the old Iraqi army. The Americans were looking for weapons of mass destruction and did no pay much attention to these old bombs. This is a mistake now costing them dear. This is the ammunition used by the insurgents to make car bombs.
10:27:36 SGT Nathan York (partly off):
Blasting caps are a low grade initiation devise, so what that'll do is set off either this here being TNT or a sub-base or it can set off the detonation cord itself. Take this right here and insert it into the nose cone of one of those 120 mm mortar shells, stick it straight into the center with an electric firing devise. You hook this end of the wire into this wire. The blue wire goes into the battery. Then the suicide bomber will press this button to detonate. Very simply, that's how it 's done
10:28:23 Narrator:
On this farm there is enough equipment to make more than 10 large car bombs. Bombs made here would later have been put into use in one the larger cities like Mosul. It is the biggest quantity of explosives that this unit has found since they to Iraq came nine months ago. In Muhalabiyah the Americans found the needle in the haystack, a place where the insurgents in calm could prepare their attacks. This day is finally going towards and end. The question is how many other farms like this there are in this area.
10:28:51 Part 7 – Kurds and Arabs
Dateline: FOB Endurance, May 2005
10:28:52 SGT Corey Phillips:
This is a timing detonation devise right here.
10:28:57 Narrator:
Bombs are the insurgents’ most damaging weapon. At the training camp the recruits are taught the different ways in which bombs are made and hidden.
10:29:09 SGT Corey Phillips:
As you can see, it was found a couple of hours before it actually went off
10:29:14 Narrator:
The explanation takes time. Everything that is said is translated twice, first into Arabic and then into Kurdish.
10:29:25 Hassan Kuryami (fake name, real name withheld for security reasons)
(Kurdish, partly off):
I haven’t had much contact with Arabs. Before we didn’t even dare go to Mosul. For us Kurds, it was impossible to see them under Saddam. The Baath-party was a bad party
10:29:47 SGT Corey Phillips:
They also use the big one, the 155mm
10:29:50 Narrator:
Among the Arabs nobody understands Kurdish either, and a lot of the time is spent waiting for the translations to finish. If they risk falling asleep they have been ordered to rise up and walk to the back of the classroom. Not everybody is able to do this.
10:30:10 SGT Jamal Dixon:
Are you awake now?
Start pushing now. Push.
Ask him why he was sleeping?
10:30:44 Iraqi recruit:
Tell the him, that bull, that I’ve had enough
10:30:23 SGT Dixon:
Get up there, let's go (shouting)
Get in class right now. I want to see you're head up, and I want to see you writing something down and leering something. Is that clear?
10:31:16 Narrator:
This recruit and one other have been told that they may be expelled from the training program. Other places in Iraq, Kurds and Arabs are kept separate, but at FOB Endurance they are not only together but also trained in the same units. The ethnic mix creates conflicts.
10:31:39 SSG Pratcher:
That's been an issue ever since the Kurds came. The Arabic make it seem like we're making a difference between the two, which we don't. Everybody is the same. That's how we treat people
10:31:56 Narrator:
The two recruits facing expulsion have been given disciplinary punishment several times, but think they being treated unfairly. The problem is squealing. The platoon leader is trying to negotiate.
10:32:12 Platoon leader (Arabic):
No, no, there is no problem. If there is one, we solve it
10:32:29 Recruit (Arabic):
Yes, yes, the Kurds snitch all the time. Every time something happens, they go and tell the Americans
10:32:41 Hatem Abdul Karim Shahoot “Jack” – interpreter:
We have like some Kurdish guys trying to fight the Arabic guys. I mean a few, not all of them. They do that to increase the racism between them. They say like why don't we have separate class, separate platoon. We don't speak Arabic; we can't live with the Arabic people. Same thing with the Arabs, some guys say why should they bring Kurds to this base. It is an Arabic base; they should train them back in their places.
10:33:17 Narrator:
They try to convince the instructors that the punishment is too hard but the decision has been made. These two recruits are to be expelled.
10:33:33 SSG Newton:
No, they were starting a fight in my formation. Are you calling me a liar? I am telling you go get in that truck. You were smoking in the barracks, right after I gave you a cigarette, you were sleeping in my class and laughing after you got your punishment. Hurry up! Get in my truck!
10:34:08 Narrator:
There is no forgiveness. These two men will never become soldiers.
10:34:31 Part 8- Mission al-Eitha
Dateline: Al-Eitha, 10th of May 2005
10:34:33 Narrator:
For those who make it, and become soldiers, a though reality waits in these Sunni Arab, dominated areas. The Iraqi soldiers are on a new assignment together with American soldiers. In Al-Eitha it is still early morning, only the weak barks from stray dogs can be heard, but the relative silence is treacherous. This town, only 10 kilometers from the recruit’s training camp, is indeed a dangerous place. In their hunt for insurgents the Iraqi army is about to conduct yet another identity control. Again the male inhabitants are locked into the schoolyard. In the class rooms the Iraqis have isolated men they suspect of belonging to or supporting the insurgent groups.
10:35:32 General Mohammed Hussein (Arabic):
What is your name?
10:35:35 Narrator:
Al-Eitha is notorious town. The Iraqis claim the town is run by Islamists and compare it to Kandahar in Afghanistan, the previous stronghold of the Taliban movement.
10:35:53 General Mohammed Hossein (Arabic):
What is your name?
Come here. What's your name?
10:36:02 Narrator:
The American Special Forces have prepared this operation for several months.
10:35:58 American soldier from the Special Forces:
We want him. Get in there
10:36:13 Narrator:
The identification of the town men is progressing calmly, but then the process is halted. Something has happened on the outskirts of the town.
10:36:41Specialist Monty Wallace
Do you say they got hit?
10:36:43 Narrator:
They cannot be certain about what to expect, but this not an area that the Americans are unfamiliar with. Four months ago they miss-bombed a house and killed 15 civilians.
10:36:55 Specialist Monty Wallace:
I can't get pass that truck. God damn it. This truck has no power
10:37:11 Narrator:
Further a head, insurgents have attacked. American Special Forces and Iraqi unit were ambushed as they were conducting a search inside the town.
10:37:38 LT Dave Burden:
See that asshole running over there; see him running up that hill?
10:37:44 Private Hidalgo (off):
I got a clear shot, got a clear shot
10:37:46 LT Dave Burden:
Fire, fire
10:37:57 Specialist Monty Wallace:
Need more rounds?
10:38:00 Narrator:
The Iraqis want to send their soldiers forward, but the American have called up their fighter helicopters.
Missiles fired, gunshots
As usual the insurgents are heavily outgunned by the American military. When the firing stops, the women and children try to get away from the battlefield
10: 39:25 Women of the killed insurgents (Arabic):
By Allah, our men had done nothing. They were innocent
10:39:35 Colonel Ali Khaled (fake name, real name withheld for security reasons) (Arabic):
You are like the Islamist in Kandahar in Afghanistan. Look at the neighboring village. We don't touch them
10:39:42 Colonel Ali Khaled (English):
We came here to check this village from the terrorists because we have knowledge about some terrorist here. And when the soldiers came to the village, the terrorist attacked. They killed one soldier and wounded one officer. We killed two terrorists. They make problems for their village.
10:40:13 Narrator:
It turns out that the number of insurgents were only five. But they were hard fighters and would rather be killed than caught alive.
They seriously wounded an American soldiers and killed and Iraqi soldier.
10:40:32 Colonel Ali Khaled (English):
I am very sad to loose my soldier. But this is necessary for a safe Iraq
10:40:46 Part 9 – A day for shaving
Dateline FOB Endurance, May 2005
10:40:48 Narrator:
Soon the Iraqi recruits at FOB Endurance are ready to serve in the new army, but one thing remains: the obligatory shave and haircut. It is a day the Iraqis have dreaded.
10:41:02 Iraqi recruit (Arabic)
To shave here in Iraq is a shame. I shave my beard. Never my moustache
10:41:13 Narrator
The march to the barber with burdened minds.
10:41:15 SSG Pratcher:
They're being trained to the military standards. That's what we do when go to basic training. Pretty much, who ever we train, we train them to those specific standards. So only thing is different, is when they march. They do like they do over here in this country, but as far as the military haircuts and the discipline, it all comes from the US
10:41:59 SGT Reyes (off):
What are we doing with the moustaches?
10:42:01 SGT Daniel Dicker:
Cutting it
10:42:28 “Hamburger “(Arabic)
For the Americans, maybe this is normal. But we Arabs cannot shave the moustache
10:42:51: Shouting in Kurdish:
I don’t want to cut my hair; I’d rather go to prison (said several times)
Sit down (others are trying to convince him)
10:43:02 SGT Dicker:
Hey get up. You can do this the easy way or the hard way. Either way you're getting your haircuts
10:43:36 more shouting in Kurdish:
Sit down
Leave me alone
10:43:38 SGT Dicker:
Sit down! Sit! Right now!
10:43:58 SSG Pratcher (partly off):
In the US we've been doing it for hundred and hundred of years. Over here it is a standard we're just putting into place. That's why they have a lot of grievance of what ever. Last class we had, we had a lot of people that were really upset
10:44:20 Hassan Kuryami (Kurdish):
Now all the terrorists will see that I have joined the new Army. I fear for my family. In Mosul they put our names on the gates of the mosque. They threaten to kill us or kidnap us if we don't quit the new Iraqi Army
10:46:20 SGT Reyes (partly off):
I would understand if you had a lot of hair. Trust me, I am doing you a favor. It will grow back thicker.
10:46:30 “Hamburger” (Arabic):
My mother will never let me inside her house
10:46:08 “Hamburger” (Arabic):
I am very sorry to lose my moustache
10:46:17 “Hamburger” (Arabic):
I can't control it. Even when I am sad, I am smiling
10:46:37 Part 10 – The graduation ceremony
Dateline: FOB Endurance, May 2005
10:46:39 Narrator:
The recruits are ready for the graduations ceremony. It is carefully prepared. Every little detail has to be in place before the generals arrive.
But something is not right. A few names in the official program don’t match the soldiers’ real names.
10:47:08 SSG Alvarez (shouting):
Why they different! I gave you counseling yesterday, I asked if that was your name and you signed for and said yes, so guess what that's you're name now, too bad!
10:47:29 Sergeant first class Trawick:
This name is in the program. All 170 of them
10:47:33 SSG Pratcher:
Did you save it? We know there is a problem. Did you save? Good all we got do to is change the names. It's not a problem
10:47:50 SSG Alvarez (partly off):
The names were straight. There's not a problem. I asked them, I doubled checked it. Too fucking bad. I am not changing nothing.
10:48:02 Narrator:
Many of the recruits can hardly read and write. The lists have to be rewritten with the help of the interpreters.
Then, at last, everything is in order before the graduation.
10:48:27 Iraqi and American national anthems being played
10:49:12 Oath being read aloud (Arabic):
I am a soldier
I am an Iraqi soldier
10:49:20Narrator:
The chaplain wraps up the ceremony
10:49:23 The US Army chaplain
God we thank you for your graciousness and for these men who step forward to protect the country that you have given them. Thank you for the freedom and the peace you have given Iraq. Guide these brave men, protect them and use them to bless your country. Amen
(followed by translation in Arabic)
10:49:57 SGT Dicker:
This concludes the graduation ceremony of the Iraqi Army basic combat training course, class 02-05. Please join the graduates in the theater for refreshments
10:50:07 Narrator:
The recruits have become soldiers. From now on, everything they have learnt will be tested in more serious and dangerous circumstances.
10:50:20 SGT Reyes:
We called him Hamburger once, then he got stuck with it
10:50:25 Narrator:
Hamburger joined the new army to support his family. It is them that he is now looking forward to visit.
10:50:31 “Hamburger“(Arabic):
The family back home is nervous. In the army you often get delayed. It is difficult to wait without any news
10:50:39 Narrator:
Nobody is willing to admit that they feel nervous about the their future, but they can understand that their families are.
10:50:49 Recruit:
My mother is also nervous. It is normal mothers are like
10:51:30 End credits