After securing the north neighborhoods of As Samawah, the south (and main urban center) part of the city has become an afterthought for the higher ups. The Iraqi authorities in As Samawah were eager to reach a deal in order to secure material support from the coalition. So the idea of this bloody meeting came to be. A British Army Col. and the chief medical officer of our regiment were the guests, scheduled to arrive six hours later in a southbound land convoy passing through the north part of As Samawah, then crossing a bridge into the very territory that our intelligence has deemed as friendly.
No peace-support-operations convoy of our regiment was supposed to enter into territory we have not patrolled extensively. But the meeting's time and place was a done deal. In order to take any potential troublemakers by surprise, we planned a heliborne insertion one kilometer north of the meeting place. Then we planned to move on foot through the north neighborhoods of As Samawah. My section was to march the exact route that the land convoy would take. The first bump in the road was the gateway to the south part of the city: a lengthy bridge over the Euphrates.
Part (hasty) reconnaissance, part show of force. We are the patrols platoon of the regiment and this is what we do.
