Early September Today was an interesting day. I had to visit my soldiers on the other side of Baghdad. It is always a hazardous journey, but so far we have been lucky. However, the stakes were raised this morning. At the last minute our transport was changed to armoured vehicles because there was a credible threat against us.  | | Smoke drifts with the wind from a massive car bomb that exploded on my route home. |
I could have cancelled my trip, but to be honest, I needed to interview a couple of my senior NCOs. That was a good enough reason to carry on. I was a little apprehensive; I always am when there has been an increase in activity. The last week has seen some devastating car bombs explode in Baghdad without warning, killing scores of innocent people. I didn't want to join that particular list of statistics. In fact, the morning trip was incident free. It was in the afternoon when things went wrong. I was standing outside when I heard an enormous explosion. It didn't take long to see what had happened. Black smoke was rising towards the sky from the remains of another car bomb.  | | One of Saddam's palaces; no expense was spared to cater for his lavish tastes. |
Thankfully my transport was late. If it had been on time, I would probably have been driving past at about the same time as the detonation. It had already been a bad day; two US soldiers died from one of the car bombs on the same road I was due to drive along. And I still had to get back to central Baghdad. We had to head home along less familiar roads. I was secured in the rear of one of the armoured vehicles although I could only see out through a piece of glass as big as a post card.  | | Two Blackhawk helicopters lift off to provide support. |
I heard horns blowing and I watched as we darted in and out of traffic. Sometimes we drove the wrong way on dual carriageways, only to cross directions whilst all the local traffic stopped for us. It was an adrenaline-filled 30 minutes. I held my rifle ready the whole time, just in case. In situations like that I rehearse in my mind what I would do if something happened; an RPG rocket attack against the vehicle behind, or my vehicle, or a small arms attack on the convoy. My senses were absolutely on edge and it was only when I recognised a familiar landmark that I knew we were near the relative safety of the Green Zone and I could relax. That evening I sat in my room staring at pictures of my family for a long time. | 
