Legal Village

Under attack in the Green Zone

Posted 8/04/2008 by Ben Hallman

It’s 3am in Baghdad and someone is trying to kill me.

I’m standing outside a guard gate in a dust storm, waiting for my ride, when I hear the thump-thump of a shell landing in the distance. I had expected to hear mortar and rocket fire and I realise that no-one is targeting me specifically - as I’m sure they would rather kill US soldiers, Iraqi government officials or the group of American diplomats standing next to me than a tired legal affairs reporter. But motives don’t matter once the shell is launched.

We hoof across the road to a concrete-slab bomb shelter. An Army sergeant there to escort the diplomats isn’t doing much to ease the tension.

“We’ve been taking live rounds here, Sir,” he tells one man who had taken off his flak jacket. The man puts his vest back on. The sergeant scurries around like a nervous hen protecting her chicks until a large SUV comes and the diplomats drive off toward the US embassy. I’m left standing alone, waiting for my ride.

The Green Zone has been a popular target since the 2002 invasion, but until recently the choice of attack had been a mortar, which fires relatively small rounds. A few weeks ago, Shiite militias began launching rockets, a more deadly weapon with a greater blast radius. The kill zone, I’m told, is 30 meters out in the open.

I didn’t know it at the time, but earlier in the day two Americans were killed in an attack. This is why people spend most of their time indoors under 'hard' shelter these days. At the embassy, officials are sleeping on cots, chairs, and even on the floor. As it turns out, I’m a bit luckier.

A few minutes after the embassy group leaves, a press officer arrives and drives me to the press office, my home for the next five days. It has a nice, thick roof and there’s an empty bunk-bed waiting for me. As I settle into my sleeping bag, I’m able to put my earlier fear into context. The Green Zone is big, the chance of being in the wrong place at the wrong time small. Plus, I’ll be spending most of my time indoors, where it is safer.

Even so, I feel a quiet anxiety that I suspect will be a companion until I leave.