Topic: Scary Stuff
I was sitting outside with my friends on the porch of one of the hardened houses in my compound. Two of buddies had just finished playing chess, and another was trying to explain how the U.S. can never bring about the societal-level changes that the neo-cons want to bring about in Iraq. We sat outside enjoying the mild weather, drinking red wine, and listing to music. The confining walls of the International Zone had seemed to melt away, even if just for a few moments.

Then . . . boom, boom, boom, boom . . . boom, boom. The insurgents have fired a few mortar rounds at the International Zone. One person in our group calmly got up and went inside the hardened house, but the rest of us didn't move. The rounds weren't that close. There were almost a mile away. After a few weeks in the Zone, almost everyone grows slightly cavilers about indirect fire attacks. If it isn't close, generally it is not a real threat. Most people also say that unlike indirect fire attack, you can't do much about mortar or rocket attacks. It almost becomes background noise to everything that is happening here. (When attacks are close, people do take it seriously.)

The security office clearly doesn't agree with the attitude that most people have developed. Shortly after the rounds landed, the compound's security officer recommended that everyone stay in "hard cover" to the extent possible for the rest of the evening and limit all movements outside of hardened buildings.