Chapter 33: The Battle of Baghdad Part 4

We filed into Tahrir Square, weapons held out in front of us. Our mixed bag of Palace Guards and police officers wasnt sure what to expect but we forged ahead driven by a need to punish the insurgents.

What we found however shocked us. Tahrir Square was jam-packed with civilians shouting slogans and carrying makeshift torches of burning wood. In the middle of the crowd items of furniture had been set alight and the crowd faced a battery of jeeps and soldiers whose faces were lit up in the orange glow of a burning vehicle.

A soldier stood on the bonnet of a jeep with a loudspeaker in hand.

"Please please brothers and sisters, calm down! We're here to protect all Iraqis' futures," he pleaded.

"Long Live Iraq!"

"Long Live Baghdad!"

"Death to Traitors!"

"Long Live Saddam!"

"Brothers and sisters why do you chant for a tyrant who shares a bed with the Great Satan? He sells our most precious resource to them for pennies and hoards the wealth of our nation!"

"Death to Traitors!"

"Long Live Saddam!"

A wall of humanity separates us from the view of the treacherous soldiers so we stopped crouching and stood straight.

"What now?" Kamal asked loudly trying to be heard over the volume of the crowd.

I was in shock at the display of solidarity and patriotism. The night had started with despair but the fact that ordinary Baghdadis were willing to stand in the way of armed soldiers in defence of their city gave me heart.

"I don't know," replied Osman frustratedly. "We can't start shooting otherwise civilians will get caught in the crossfire. Dammit, they've already managed to bring the tanks up till here!"

I shook my head and replied slowly, "Doesnt matter. Faoud's already lost."

"What do you mean sir?" Kamal asked, bewildered.

"Theres no coup without civilian support. Not in this country. Too many vested interests. If he shoots a civilian then he's lost. If he doesnt shoot, his men are asking to be picked off. So basically he's already fucked. It's just a matter of time before this all comes to an end."

"So...should we retreat to the Palace?" Osman asked. I didnt blame him. It had been a hell of a night and we'd suffered casualties. I was pretty sure Kamal was shell shocked.

"No, we cant do that," I said regretfully. "If the worst happens and he does attack the civilians we have to try and prevent a massacre."

"But what can we do against tanks sir!"

It was a difficult situation. If we took to the terraces again, we could probably kill a few soldiers seated in the jeeps but a tank would just blast us out of the sky. If we stayed on the ground and were noticed, the traitors might fire at us with civilians at our back and amongst us.

"We take the flanks," I said relying on Saddams military instincts and noticing the shaded and columned walkways around the periphery of the square. These public footpaths used for window shopping during the day were unlit and covered in shadows at night. "Stay in the shadows and line up parallel to where the joker with the loudspeaker is standing. If and when we get the chance we advance quickly and either capture the forward guard or incapacitate them. They're in a bottleneck so hopefully the tanks and soldiers behind them wont be able to make out what's going on."

We moved gingerly but in relative lockstep. I was hoping upon hope that the traitors were too occupied with the angry civilians to notice us slinking around them. I breathed a sigh of relief as our team reached our position on the left flank and the other team radioed in a few moments later confirming that they were in position as well.

Now it was a waiting game.

The soldier with the megaphone kept demonstrating with the crowd sounding more and more frustrated as time went on. The crowd was getting frenzied.

"Do you think the crowd will attack first?" Kamal whispered.

"I fucking hope not, they'll get chewed up," I replied.

"Please please brothers and sisters I beg you!" Megaphone urged. "We're only here to help you and our countrymen. Please let us through. I promise on my honour that we have the best intentions."

"We've already got a cunt, hes good enough! We've already got a cunt, he's good enough!" the crowd chanted.

"Are they taking about me?" I asked.

"I think they mean it as an endearment sir," Kamal replied sympathetically, patting my shoulder.

Megaphone was handed a radio receiver which he put to his ear and a frantic exchange followed. He threw away the receiver and squeezed his eyes. Then he grabbed the megaphone again.

"All civilians must vacate Tahrir Square within 2 minutes or we will open fire!" he screamed.

The crowd became louder and louder yelling defiance in the face of a coward.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, get the teams ready Captain," I told Osman. "We need to take them now before they open fire."

Everything became tense again. Battle was upon all of us again. My breathing sped up and my heart pounded in my chest. I let Saddams subconscious fill the recesses of my brain. My breath evened and a strange yearning happiness filled me.

"Get ready...on my mark," Osman whispered curtly. We all readied our weapons.

"In 3...2.."

He was cut off by a screeching sound that filled the air and shook the buildings and the ground. Everyone in the Square whether friend or enemy paused and looked to skies in confusion.

And then two jets whooshed by over our heads.

I regained my head first. "Go go go! Take them now!" I screamed and pushed and jostled to get my team back down to earth. Whether friend or foe the jets had given us an in.

It was a scrambled, clumsy affair but we managed to rush forward while everyone was still staring in the direction of the jets. So it was that Megaphone and the traitor vanguard didnt notice us until our guns were inches from their faces and we were screaming at them to drop their weapons.

We continued to scream at them as we saw and then heard two massive explosions from the direction of the traitors' rearguard. Everyone ducked momentarily but Osman was the quickest to recover this time. He jumped into Megaphones jeep and clocked the traitor on his head with the butt of his rifle. Megaphone went down in a spray of blood.

"You, man the turret!" Osman ordered one of the Palace guards.

"Everyone get ready to fire!" Osman ordered us as our machine gunner swiveled the turret to face the traitors' clogged up forces.

There were more explosions from the same direction as more jets flew overhead. The enemy soldiers broke ranks and began to run in our direction in blind panic to try and escape whatever was happening at their rear.

"Open fire!" Osman ordered. "Give it to these bastards!"

It was a massacre. Saddam revelled in it. I felt little sympathy for these men who'd blown up half my ear, but I felt sick looking at what a large calibre machine gun bullet can do to a human body.

When the firing stopped and the smoke settled all we could see and hear were the death throes of traitors.

(Break)

Cable News Network Broadcast

"And now we return to our top story this week. New details are emerging about the attempted coup in the Middle Eastern country of Iraq.

Newspapers around the world today featured this image, showing the country's President Saddam Hussein standing atop a jeep, wounded and bloodied, with a rifle in hand. It may seem like a Hollywood script, but we can confirm that the President along with his Palace Guard fought back street to street and halted the advance of the rebels before the Iraqi Army and Air Force encircled and defeated the rebels.

Today we learned that ordinary civilians of the capital city Baghdad faced down armed soldiers and tanks to stop the attempted overthrow and to protect their city. The actions of the Baghdadi civilians has sparked jubilation and wild celebrations through the historically disunited country.

Iraq has been undergoing an economic miracle over the last 5 years as the country has embarked on an ambitious plan to connect the country with best in class infrastructure and diversify the economy into services and manufacturing.

And now we head to our special correspondent Alia Faraazi in Baghdad. Alia, an incredible story!"

"Thanks Jim. 193 minutes. That's how long this attempted coup lasted. People here dont know what to celebrate more, a swashbuckling action hero President, defiant civilians, the highest ranking General of the Iraqi Army racing from Kirkuk to Baghdad overnight to relieve the city or more generally just the unity and progress of the country. Everyone I talk to has the same thing to say. We may be a small country but we're a proud country and we're more than just our oil."