"One Soldier" is in Iraq, writing about his experiences there searching for IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices.) This is from his blog. We'll post entries from it now and then, to help us all see at least one person's view of the situation over there.

Thank goodness for the darkness. Now that autumn has arrived, we are beginning to see clouds here in Iraq. Clouds mean the chance for obscured moonlight and less visibility at night.

As I watch other members of my unit move over the Fallujah terrain at night, it is remarkable how little I can actually see. Maybe a dark blob over there, 50 meters away. If I did not know where they were, I would not trust my eyes. But as I lower the night-vision goggles, the city jumps into stark, green relief. I can clearly see the actions of those around me and scan the rooftops for people who would like to hurt us.

I mentioned in my last post that HMMWVs run with their lights out at night. This is only partially true. They turn on IR lights that the human eye cannot see. Behind the lenses of your goggles, however, the IR lights illuminate the entire neighborhood.

IR is extremely useful this way, allowing us to operate in relative obscurity, while still maintaining a good awareness of our situation. We wear heat tabs on our cammies (black plastic that slowly emits IR at night that it absorbs during the day) to distinguish friend from foe. IR strobes, chemlights and rifle-mounted flashlights all come into use here.

While around us, the predominant light source is the fluorescent tube. Everyone here uses them, mounted end-to-end as bare bulbs, they provide an eerie glow to the surrounding city.

Wealth here as anywhere is measured by how much of a scarce commodity you can afford to waste. In the US it might be gasoline or space. Here in Iraq, it is electricity. The vast majority of the population lives out their nights in darkness. The few with property to protect will install a fluorescent tube or two around their house to ward off would-be thieves. The truly wealthy will use incandescent bulbs.

To use an incandescent bulb makes not only a statement of wealth to be able to afford the electricity but also that you are able to make your own electricity in significant quantities. Most fluorescent security installations will have a battery backup system to provide coverage during the brown outs. This is not a real option for incandescents. The wealthy purchase and run their own generators to power the lights in their houses.

But we avoid both the moderately well-off and the rich by Fallujah standards at night. We stay in the shadows, piercing the darkness only in wavelengths outside of visible and safe in the knowledge of surrounding environs.

----http://www.onestepforward.org--- -Reprinted with permission-