In Kill Zone by Neil Reynolds

Author:Neil Reynolds
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781868428571
Publisher: Jonathan Ball Publishers
Published: 2018-05-30T08:58:58+00:00

OSSI/Safenet co-owner Mauritz le Roux had the binding from the 10 000 stacks of dollar bills framed

A marine had counted out their three million from one of the pallets and they’d carried it away in two suitcases, one and a half million dollars in each. For his part Mauritz didn’t want to take his eyes off the suitcases, and spent a very uneasy time gulping down his supper in the hotel dining room that night before rushing back to the suite to ensure the money was safe. We soon started referring to this payout as ‘Monopoly money’. Talk about throwing money at a problem.

In the days before John arrived, we spent the time checking out the Baghdad International Airport so that we could clear our new staffers through it quickly. We left early one morning and, thanks to the embassy badges, made it through even the toughest checkpoints. Hassan knew his way around the terminal buildings and we soon had the lay of the land: where the drop-off points were; the parking areas; what sort of searches were conducted (a dog search at the entrance to the terminal buildings); and discovered that with embassy badges we could accompany our clients and take our weapons inside.

Our task completed, we had brunch in the nearby Camp Victory, a US military base that had the biggest military supply store and fast food places (including a Burger King) in Iraq. The coffee and the burgers were something else. Pleased with our morning’s work, we bought a burger for Mauritz and headed back to the hotel.

On the airport road – Route Irish – we were some way behind one of the high-profile PSD teams. As they took the off-ramp to the Green Zone, I noticed three insurgents leap out from under a bridge and run into the road. One had an RPG-7 and the others opened fire with AK-47s.

The RPG-7 is a particularly impressive rocker launcher. When it is fired it emits a huge flame at the back but there is no recoil to speak of. The projectile is a shaped charge with a copper cone inside. The copper cone melts as it penetrates the armour plating, splattering copper drops that burn and cause injuries to anyone in the target vehicle. A direct hit on an armoured vehicle will destroy the vehicle. Just the noise of the explosion will ensure that any passengers left alive are confused and stunned.

From my days in the Border War I had fired and been fired on by RPGs. However, bush war is one thing, urban warfare is another.

Seeing someone running around a highway with an RPG was unreal, it was out of my context for war. I realised then that there was no way we could ever identify the enemy. The only way of telling foe from friend was when weapons were produced.

At first we didn’t know if we were the insurgents’ target or the PSD teams ahead of us. But when the insurgents turned their backs on us

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