This is my second entry involving the Kids that live and play around the Diwaniya Police Headquaters. As an Iraqi VIP arrived for a meeting the PSD squad of Iraqi soldiers waited outside and I found it amazing to watch the actions and interactions of these soldiers who will soon take this country's security back into their own hands.
The Iraqi soldiers casual approach to their job, and attitude toward the kids was quite different than I expected, but thinking of it now, I'm not sure why I had any expectations at all. Many of the soldiers in my unit are less than friendly to kids being around in tactical situations.
In most cases it's an easy outlet for stress and emotions to scream "fuck off" at a kid who doesn't speak your language, but in reality they can be a distraction, and if something bad did happen, being around our trucks is not the safest place to be. But part of the mission has indeed become a diplomatic effort, and we finally, years after the shallow placed slogan was echoed, have won hearts and minds. Striking a balance is not easy but possible.
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