I first arrived in Baghdad in early September 2004. It was the peak of summer, with daily temperatures in the low to mid-40s. Hot, dry and dusty, but still a bustling city of 7 million people, all trying to get on with life in an extreme environment – not just the heat, but the violence.
My team crewed the seven armoured vehicles that would transport the diplomats around the greater Baghdad area, ferrying them around the city to attend meetings at Iraqi government ministries and the embassies of other nations. Now I was dealing with a situation where my soldiers were having to make decisions to act illegally to act ethically. They were taking on significant personal risk and I knew I had to protect them.First, I approached my boss, a more senior officer who had neither a background working with armoured vehicles nor the frame of mind to appreciate the nuances of the situation we faced. He was dismissive.
As the only Australian armoured vehicle troop in Baghdad, I did not get asked a lot about the tactics we employed. My soldiers worked within the orders and to my knowledge no civilians were killed by fire from our vehicles.Within months of my team rotating out of Baghdad an Australian patrol was hit by a suicide VBIED [vehicle-born improvised explosive device]. Fortunately, only the suicide driver was killed, but many of the soldiers involved carry wounds to this day.