IRAQ. Mosul. 2006. Daily life continued in Mosul amid the brooding underlying threat of insurgent action or American
excess. One evening a red Opel rounded a corner. The Iraqis and some of the Americans started
shooting long bursts. Someone yelled cease-fire, and the soldiers ran up to the smoking car. A
quivering Iraqi man emerged without a scratch, his hands raised. He was quickly searched and
questioned. He said he was leaving work late and that’s why he was out past curfew. The Iraqis
tried to give him money to pay for the damages, but he just gripped his face in his hands. He
was put into the back of a Stryker armored fighting vehicle and driven home. His family was
waiting at the door. As the vehicle drove away he crushed his young daughter in an embrace
and waved wildly.