Arhabi

It is pronounced: ahr-HAH-bee.  It is the Iraqi arabic word for terrorist.  2LT C. does not like it because "it just doesn't sing.  I learned this word from our interpreters and use it often.  I never use mujahedin or jihadi, because they imply a measure of respect due an actual warrior.  After all, both of those terms mean "holy warrior."  This distinction is also very important to the Iraqis.  They have told me repeatedly that these guys are cowards who will not even stand and fight.  They kill innocent people, and bomb indiscriminately.  They have been their own worst enemy in the public relations department.  Even though 2LT C. likes to refer to them using the A-word, (describing a posterior extremity) he would like to find something more catchy.  I am content to us arhabi.  It lets the locals know exactly who we are after, and what this really is about - not oil, not religion, but security and the hope for a better future.

Comments

[Terri]

Hee hee! I like 2LT C.'s word for terrorists! It fits! You are so right that the arabic words implying warrior are not for these terrorists. They hurt the innocent civilian people rather than come out and fight all you real warriors.

Thank you for all you are doing for our country. I am praying for you and your men!

[Grey Eagle]

As a soldier preparing for deployment to Iraq with the 101st Airborne to relieve the units currently assigned there I have read your accounts with interest. It allows me to get an idea of what life will be like and helps to prepare me mentally & emotionally for the challenges ahead. Your accounts are real, gripping and informative. Your posts go beyond a personal account and allow the reader to get a political, social and cultural taste that you don't find in the media or other blogs. This particular post shows that the time is coming when Iraq will one day be able to provide their own security, and that the insurgents are not the majority opinion as the media likes to project.

Blogs like yours inspired my own blog (A Female Soldier's Story) http://cspice426.blogspot.com so that I can continue what you guys started after we arrive to relieve you guys.

Thanks for posts..stay safe

[BHK]

Major K - you might want to quiz your translator about the meaning of that term further. Ahrabi can also mean just fighter, insurgent, or aggressor. It can also mean soldier, in the sense of a grunt (although muharib is the more formal term for soldier or warrior). Not knowing how the local Iraqis use the term, they may well refer to you and your men as ahrabi.It is possible that the locals make a distinction between Baathist types that they know aren't fighting a holy war and the Salafist wackos that see themselves as mujahedin. Context is everything. Keep your head down and stay safe. Hooah!

[Brian H]

New word game in town; the televised confessions of homosex orgies in mosques, or SLT, has turned "mujahadeen" into a sexual slur, something like Fighting Faggot. Not cool in the ME!

[devildog6771]

Nice touch Major! Your choice of using the Iraqi term shows them you respect their distinction. Grey's point is well taken though. Of course 2LT C.'s (nickname) gives local American "color." He! He! [in private between us guys talks of course]

I too read about the confessions of the captured insurgents. There are apparently some questions as to whether or not the confessions are "voluntary."

I have read that the Iraqi Army and Iraqi police at times are a little more forceful than is a good idea. I am sure that you guys , just like our Marines in Falluja will help them see the inadvisability of this becoming a major problem and ruining the credibility of the new government as a Democracy.

[Papa Ray]

Here is a little of the past to come back and haunt us. A story that I know recieved little attention (except for the one trucker who escaped).

http://www.daves-not-here.net/

Truckers that bring your supplies, and the Troops who were with them. A story not heard, and still not understood by the survivors families.

Papa Ray
West Texas
USA