Just when I thought the ancient city of Ur with its magnificent Ziggurat was off limits, the word came that we could make a trip. My Battalion Chaplain, along with his counterpart from the unit we're relieving here at Adder, worked out a drug deal to make it happen. They coordinated with the Iraqi curator of the grounds, a man who's been the curator since the Babylonians still occupied Ur. We manned a couple of MRAPs to provide force protection and acquired a bus. A lot of our Soldiers signed up and paid $20 each (the going price these days for a visit) and set their alarm clocks for a very early morning wakeup. The next morning, as the sun was creeping over the horizon, we gathered at the HQ. After a cultural briefing by the Chaplain we donned our body armor and loaded up to ride to Ur. I have to say that I was very excited to see the place again. The vast majority of our entourage had never been and I was thrilled for them too. With happy hearts and ready cameras we set off towards the Entry Control Point (ECP). To the Ziggurat!
Not so fast! The sad part of what happened next is that we could plainly see the Ziggurat from the ECP. It stared back at us in the rising morning sunlight, its bricks glowing with the radiance of the gathering sunlight. It beckoned us to climb its steps. An Army Specialist in "full battle-rattle" manning the ECP said otherwise. He and his comrades stopped our merry convoy. For about the next five tense minutes he talked over the radio with his higher command. Then he spilled the bad news - no more trips to Ur were authorized by order of the US Division-South Commanding General. Uh, say that again Specialist? Sir, I am very sorry but I can't let you proceed. What could we do? He and his comrades were just doing their job (and very well I might add). We were thwarted. I could see the sincere disappointment on the faces of several of our Soldiers. I'm certain that had a mirror been handy it would have reflected mine as well. In no time we were making a U-turn and driving back onto the base. The Ziggurat continued to call to us in the distance. All we could do is look back and imagine the "what ifs". I'm not giving up on this one just yet. I want to go back to Ur. I want my Soldiers to have that opportunity to walk in the steps of Abraham. I'm not certain I have enough heft to pull the strings necessary to make this happen before we are gone from Iraq forever. It just wasn't in the cards on this day.
Once back at the HQ we made certain to reimburse everyone for their entry fees. Then we went back to work as if it was any other day.
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