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SAND-BLASTED SOLDIERS CIRCLE THEIR WAGONS TO SIT
OUT STORM
By JONATHAN FOREMAN in Iraq
March 27, 2003
The war rages nearby but they can't do anything about it. They're bogged down in a sandstorm in a near-endless desert and all they can do is wait.
It's been two days now and their sand-blasted skin and nerves are getting raw.
The soldiers in this convoy of combat engineers are eager to get to Baghdad, to get down to the work they were brought here to do. But the blinding storm has stopped them dead in their tracks.
They know about the fierce firefights between U.S. troops and Iraqi forces outside the city of An Najaf, not far to the north.
They've seen the night sky turn orange from rocket fire. They've heard the thundering blasts of artillery.
They saluted their buddies in the 7th Cavalry - marveling at how they fought back after being ambushed near An Najaf during a dust storm, killing more than 300 enemy soldiers without losing a man.
But they were shaken to learn that the Iraqis, using rocket-propelled grenades and automatic rifles, had destroyed a number of tanks and Bradleys as the fighting continued southeast of An Najaf.
That's pretty close to their encampment - and they know Saddam Hussein's paramilitary forces and Fedayeen are determined to hit U.S. supply lines.
Supply lines like the one they're traveling with.
They know an enemy ambush at their hastily assembled camp isn't out of the question.
A uniform and Kalashnikov assault rifle have already been found nearby. And two Iraqi "civilians" were spotted lurking in the distance. Their mission remains unknown - they didn't hang around long enough to be questioned.
So the tension continues to grow as the sandstorm keeps the convoy pinned down in the desert.