Duds

To paraphrase roving war correspondent and recent CJR
contributor David Axe, getting mortared is boring. Walking out of
the DFAC (dining facility) early Wednesday afternoon at Camp
Taji in north central Iraq, soldiers and contractors were lined up to
dump their trays at the door before exiting--nothing new or
exciting there. But during the usual line up at the door, one of the
workers ran up and blocked the exit, preventing anyone from
getting out. The disruption lasted probably less than a minute, and
then the doors swung open again. Once we got outside, word
started trickling back that someone lobbed at least two mortars at
the base, and they landed about 150 meters away from the DFAC
near the PX. One round hit the trailer containing the beauty salon,
and a hole could be seen in the side of the structure, while the other
landed nearby, and the Army was still trying to figure out exactly
where. One soldier who cordoned off the area told me that as far as
he knew, there were no injuries.

Since no one heard any explosions, and the beauty salon trailer was
still standing, it seems that neither mortar round actually detonated.
Just another example of how despite the new security gains being
made in Iraq, there are still plenty of people out there who are ready
and willing to fight--even if their mortars are duds.

This post is crossposted at the Columbia Journalism Review.