Lessons in Iraqi culture part 2

 

Last night, I'm having one of those dreams where there is a repeating sound, and it gets louder and more insistent until you finally half-wake to figure out that it's coming from real life.  CLANG-CLANG-CLANG....CLANG-CLANG-CLANG.  I heard this repeat 4 or 5 times, then resigned myself that it wasn't going away.  Usually, when there is an indirect fire attack, they use the "Big Voice" or loudspeaker warning system that blankets the base.  I figured that either it was broken, or the Iraqis were running a drill.  If it was a drill, I thought as the sole American representative, I was duty-bound to set a good example and play along. 

 

Back in the days when we thought that all our enemies were going to use nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons, we had it pounded into our heads that the sound of metal on metal meant an imminent attack.  I don't know if that also applies to rocket attacks (which is the common threat in Iraq now), but I assumed so.

 

I stuck my head out and saw an Iraqi guy running around sounding the alarm.  I got his attention and mimed a rocket coming in.  He nodded.  So, I got my body armor and helmet on and headed out towards the bunker.  They had fenced it off since I was last there.  I had to walk all the way around, wondering the whole time why I didn't see any other Iraqis.  I got to the concrete bunker and there was no one in it.  That was not totally surprising, since Iraqis tend to blow off alarms.

 

I tracked down the guy ringing the alarm and repeated my rocket pantomime.  THis time, he shook his head and responded with the universal fingers together pointing at his mouth.  I looked down at my watch which read 3am and it all made sense.  He was signalling the last meal before sunrise for Ramadan.  They just happened to pick the same sound that means chemical attack to us.  I had to laugh and went back to sleep for a few hours.