Very Old Christian Monistry on the Base Marz south of Mosul

 

Mar 8   I took a Stryker convoy to two Christian villages of Barthell and Qara Qosh both located some 40 minutes to the east of Mosul. We left at 10:00 and return at 17:00. Very good trip and I enjoyed very much. The patrol was carried out by the 4-23 Infantry Battalion 172D SBCT. My invitation was by the Chaplin John Grauer and also the BN surgeon LTC Chun attended. The purpose was to build relationships with the community leaders. The mayor and new police chief of Barthell, the clinic administrator and a priest of an eastern Orthodox Catholic Church. The second village Qara Qosh the main stop was at another church. This one also had the start of internet café as the first church in Barthell and there was much discussion again by the leaders on how to get the Muslim community to participate when the internet café was on church property.  Much persuasion was made to encourage the internet to be setup on neutral property. The real excitement with this contact was the FM radio station on the forth floor. They felt it would broad cast to Mosul. I gave more gifts at the second stop. It seemed to be friendlier and I think that is because the US Army had been there more. Also the first stop had many issues.

 

These issues ranged from a group of three men walking straight into the meeting up to the priest and started talking in the Assyrian langue. The interpreter said that it was a language that was spoken in the church and he did not understand. The one man wanted help since his son had been kidnapped and it had cost him $50,000 in a ransom to free his son. The other two issues was a group of men that had moved into a house. The men were strangers and had guns. The priest took the captain to see this house. There was also the propane incident where a group of men had come into town and took the propane shipments as back payment to the company, or some such bogus reason. It was unsure who the men were and if they did represent a company or were just were common thieves. The worry was this was done a gun point too!

 

During the drive out to Barthell I think it was the convoys’ greatest danger. The crew did not let me occupy in the top air guard position, but the surgeon did fill the air guard duty on the way out. That route took us by Neivea. The ancient city before Mosul located east of the Tigris River. I did find that the Stryker which is a 22 ton armored troop carrier had a thermal monitor which is like a black and white TV screen and you could clearly see the road even when driven 50 to 70 miles an hour. There was several check points and all had substantial barriers. One was so narrow that the Medical Stryker that is one foot wider than the norm could barely get through. I rode in this Stryker just to be in something different. We had a FIST Stryker that has more gear to call in fire and an infantry Stryker. Both had 50 cal. Machinegun for protection. But our Stryker was not so equipped and only defense was the M16 rifles the soldier carries.

 

When we first arrived in the town everyone off loaded in a place with good vision all around would be maintained. Then after an odd sort of conference in the open the Chaplin just decided we would walk to the clinic. That was about two blocks around a curve in the road. The meeting was held in the administrator’s office. There were two doctors with the administrator when we came in. They made a place for us to sit which just fit. The two more doctors cam and then this real old guy. Later we understood that he was the man in charge of the records. During the meeting the administrator kept having people come in with medical requests which took some time to write notes. This interruption made communicate difficult and the interpreter we had was not very good either. The poor communication began very evident when at the next stop asked to see if we main church and ended up being taken to a storage room! This was an oddity to have happen. We had been left in the waiting room the priest had taken the captain to see the safe house that the locals believed had armed men moving into. After sitting there our Chaplin asked the interpreter if the Caretaker could show us the main church. This was communicated and after some discussion the Caretaker did take us to a room, which was the storage room. The Chaplin said in a mutter that he was going to kill the interpreter. I know that the interpreter was not well educated. He was from a local village and had to wear a mask to protect his identity. After seeing the clinic which included the pharmacy, maternity /inspection and records rooms, we then walked to the other church with all of its problems just noted. The walk was first down a narrow alley that started with small dead fish in a gutter. The gutter was cut into the middle of the street. Then you saw the fish peddler right off to the side with several very large carp. We walked in the alley for about two blocks to a market street. The Chaplin brought some bananas at an open market vendor’s stall. We looked around at the shops, but did not go into any. We then left for the church. Our formation was two up front then my self and two NOC behind. There was not any reason too but yes we did often look up at the roofs tops and I did turn around and see who was following us. After that meeting we married up with the other crew that had talked to the mayor and police chief.

 

From Barthell we traveled to Quara Qoch. There we stopped in the school play ground and off loaded. The kids just came. I still had my box of gifts and all the kids wanted to have a book from it since they must have thought with us coming to a school and it was not a holiday that books were the only thing the box would have. Other children just straight asked you for a dollar.

 

At the church the two ladies said the priest was out but would be back in a few minutes. They looked very Middle Eastern. The younger lady’s name was Julie and the shorter one who was introduced as her Aunt I can not remember but sounded like an Old Testament name. I did not get the introduction at first. Rather they said we could not come into the church with our fire arms. That was the same in the other church, but only when entering the sanctuary, in the meeting hall we did keep our weapons. I notice that the battalion surgeon never did let go of his side arm. I should note that in the first village of Barthell the locals noticed I only had a side arm and asked why I did not have a machinegun? I indicated that I did not need one I hand my pistol and for back up my knife. My comments seem to make a just little impression, but a good one!

 

I did give the gifts after I met the priest and his staff. Some of the gifts originally from my sister were still in Christmas wrappers. Mostly tea and nuts I think. I gave the Father just one and then one each to his two staffers I then took the rest out to the kids. Most had left but two boys did come so I gave them one and then last one to the two guards. It seems strange to them that I had now other reason to do this.

 

After the meeting we walked up the four flights of stairs to see the radio station. It was not too bad. The radio was on a table with a music mixer sat below. This was the entire radio station setup. When we looked at the mixer the sergeant, chaplain’s assistant SGT Jackson, said he could fix the broken core. The Father asked why? What was wrong with it? We point out the loose wires. So the Father simply showed how it worked by sticking the two bare wires into the open socket! It worked fine after he flipped a switch!  More Iraqi construction at its best!

 

The real thing that got my attention was the small side building near the main chapel was being rebuilt over a very old structure. It had some very good construction material and several rooms’ kitchens water closets on the main and upper floor. In the sub floor was another internet café. It was still under construction but we could count 20 computers. I asked the cost. The Father stated it was about $10,000 for the computers that came from Mosul. This is about as good a price as Best Buy in the states, I asked where the money came from. It was clear that churches had a good source of money, both had new model vans and everyone in both towns looked well fed. The Father stated that a man from Kustistan gave them the money. I seem confused and he tried to explain where the province was located north of Mosul. My confusion however was why, but I now believe that the Kurds were trying to improve their standing with the Assyrian community.

 

The ride back was uneventful other than I did get to ride on top the Stryker as air guard. The head set is much more modern than anything I had seen. The TC and I talked over the intercom and at times I could here the convoy commander in the front Stryker on the radio. At one point once near the final leg the TC did grip his rifle and take aim at one trouble area. I guess that we have had issues at that point in the past. Otherwise the county was rolling with wheat growing about three inches in height. It seems to be a good country, just poor from the war and poor economy. Only Mosul is a troubled area in this region, at least to the east and north of the regional center of Mosul, Iraq. That was my trip to the Christian villages outside of Mosul on March 8, 2006.

 

Video of the Battalon's trip in December

 

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