Embedding by proxy

The Danish daily Politiken are publishing a number of blogs, written by soldiers doing their tour in Iraq on the 8th Danish contingent there.

This is an interesting kind of war-reporting. The style is mostly reminicent of postcards, with the young Danes getting impressed by the heat, the infrastructure etc. It is a description with warts and all - bad grammar and spelling, erratic focus and sometimes naïve surprises. It doesn't have the air of the OPSEC-breaching ranting exposées that any Army staff would fear.

But maybe because of that it is also a very honest and sympathetic description. Of special note is "Ronni D."'s blog.

The 24 year old language-officer of the reserve is working as a translator and intelligence officer. His writing is straightforward and has a good flow to it, making for some interesting reading.

He describes a situation where an Iraqi "associate" (intelligence source, one would think) is calling because his son is seriously ill. Because he is a good contact, normal procedures are suspended and he is allowed in on the Shaiba Log base (after consultation with the person normally cooperating with the contact, of course). It turns out that the boy (12 years old and delerious with pain biting his mother in the arm) is suffering from a liver-infection and that he has already been to the hospital in Basra. There seems to be a genetic disorder in the familiy, as they have already lost four children to liver-diseases. The doctors last words to the family is "May God be with your son".