Things are hot as you-know-where in Iraq right now, and not just for uniformed U.S. military men and women. Journalists of every race and creed aren’t immune from attacks there, and civilian contractors working on rebuilding the country’s infrastructure are
Things are hot as you-know-where in Iraq right now, and not just for uniformed U.S. military men and women.
Journalists of every race and creed aren’t immune from attacks there, and civilian contractors working on rebuilding the country’s infrastructure are coming under attack as well.
Harold Vidinha of Koloa, a former U.S. Army Ranger now working contract civilian security in Iraq, is coming back to Hawai‘i and Kaua‘i again soon.
It is another sad homecoming, as he is delivering the remains of one of his best friends, Wesley Batalona of the Big Island, home for his funeral.
He was one of four men killed in an attack on their vehicle, where afterwards Iraqis mutilated and displayed their bodies in a sick display of anti-American fervor.
Vidinha’s relatives on Kaua‘i said Batalona was scheduled to join up with Vidinha’s crew only a few days after the attack, and they were to be assigned to an area of Iraq not as hostile as the areas around Baghdad and Fallujah.
There were jittery days and sleepless nights for the many Kaua‘i relatives and friends of Vidinha after the attack was made public but in the two or three tense days before the names of the victims were released, some of the Kaua‘i relatives said.
That was because Batalona and Vidinha, while working for different civilian security contractors, were doing the same types of work, protecting the safety of civilian engineers working to restore or establish roads, water, power, telephone service, and other infrastructure in the country.
Lately in Iraq, Vidinha has had to employ all of his Ranger and survival instincts, oftentimes hiding out while performing his duties.
A couple days after seeking rest and asylum in a safe house in Iraq, the house was blown up, Kaua‘i relatives told The Garden Island.
The death of Batalona might make some people reconsider their dangerous occupation, but it has made Vidinha even more resolute, according to Kaua‘i family members.
He is more determined than ever to finish the job he went to Iraq to do, to honor the memory of his fallen comrade, Vidinha’s Kaua‘i relatives said.
More details about the dangers of being an American, or any kind of journalist, in Iraq, come courtesy of Janos Samu of Kalaheo.
His journalist colleague Dahr Jamail is in Iraq, and sent these chilling words:
It is “an occupied Iraq on fire with rage against the Americans,” with thieves (the slang term used there is “Ali-Baba”) chasing Jamail’s vehicle through the country, Jamail reported.
This was earlier this week.
“This is a far worse situation than anything I experienced my last nine weeks here. Everyone is scared and on edge,” wrote Jamail.
“Most hotels aren’t accepting any foreigners at all. Iraq is on fire today, and right now the flames are only growing higher as the outrage toward the occupiers has drawn the militant Al-Sadr and his huge following into the battle against the Americans.”
Associate Editor Paul C. Curtis may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net.
