Quick definition – “Hadj” or “Hadji”. Technically a term of respect to a Muslim who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca. Informally, a derogatory term referring to local nationals in general, enemy combatants in particular, essentially the “Charlie” of this conflict.

Observing Hadji’s behavior during combat conclusively proves my belief that there is no god. To the best of my knowledge, coupled with the manner in which they fight, Hadj apparently believes that if it is Allah’s will that they should strike down their enemies, Allah will guide their bullets into the American infidels.

In practice, an American M249 SAW fired by a 20 year old asshole atheist tends to take Hadj apart a helluva lot quicker and more efficiently than an AK47 fired by some religious fanatic takes apart (or totally fails to) Americans.

Yes, I have shot men. Yes, I have killed men. Last I checked, this was basically war. Do I have any regrets? Well, no. Do I feel bad for having killed them? Again, no. If the fuckers hadn’t had shot at us, I wouldn’t have had to end their lives. It’s their own damned faults. Raging idiots.

They’re also remarkably stupid about when and who they attack with what. The one time, they hit us with about three guys with AK47 rifles. We were in our COB, or Combat Operations Base. The sector they attacked from had a Stryker ICV (Infantry Carrying Vehicle) on the ground. The ICV had an M2 Browning .50-caliber machine gun mounted. On the guard towers, there was another M2 facing that direction as well as an M240B, which is a 7.62mm crew-served medium machine gun, my M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, which is a smaller, more portable version of the M240, and a goddamned Mark-19, which is, in my professional opinion, a sickening weapon. We’ve had grenade launchers in various forms since the late 1800s. The Mark-19 is the latest in that line of grenade launchers, except for the fact that it’s both belt-fed and fully automatic. I’m not even making mention of the M4 carbines carried by almost everyone except the 240 and SAW gunners. The fire that we returned reduced these jackasses to basically chunky kibbles.

Who the fuck could possibly be that stupid? Or place that much faith in a god that’s not there? Every time these shitheads step to us, they get their asses plowed the fuck under. Most of the time they gun for us, the idiots choose the side covered by the Mark with the .50-cals in support. And more often than not, we keep an M136 AT4, which is an 84-mm shoulder fired disposable rocket launcher by the main gun emplacements. And for fuck’s sake, remember when the rocket launcher was the most devastating weapon in that game you used to play? (Insert generic First Person Shooter here) Well, yeah, in reality, it’s about twice as badass.

The first time I took fire here, we had dismounted from the Stryker in order to assist a friendly unit exfil from a mission site. We were pulling security to the rear while the friendlys boarded our Strykers. As they were loading up, some fanatical retard started shooting at us from a window about 75 meters away. While he was smart enough to stand far enough back from the windows he was concealed in the shadows, he was not smart enough to consider the consequences, or conceal the muzzle smoke from his gun.

A fire team consists of four men – a team leader, armed with an M4 carbine, an SDM, also armed with an M4 carbine, but with an Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight (ACOG), which is a four-power scope, an M203 grenadier, which is an M4 carbine with an under barrel 40-mm grenade launcher, and an M249 Squad Automatic Weapon gunner, which is a 15.16 pound gas operated, air cooled, belt or magazine fed light machine gun. If those four men have only one target to shoot at, that target is going to have an extremely bad day.

This Hadj, its safe to say, got his shit fucked up. Royally. My boys came home, Hadj didn’t. Hell, the guys we were providing cover for basically sucked my dick the entire ride back. “Dude, you see Morris fuckin’ owning that SAW? Dude suppressed the fuck outta that window!” I won’t post it for a while, but someday I might put up the video of that fight and let you guys see it.

I cannot fathom anyone being that faithful and having their faith come to no good so often. Allah is not protecting these people, I can vouch for that. Allah is not guiding their bullets into the infidel’s bodies – if anyone knows that, its me. I’m probably the most impious man here, as a militant atheist, and I haven’t been hit.

Hmm… Maybe I should knock on wood….

Its not Allah, its not Jesus, its not God, Buddha, Vishnu or anything like that that’s protecting me, and its not them that are guiding my bullets into my enemies. It’s my skill that rips ‘em apart. Their faith also seems to lull them into a false sense of security, making my job easier. As I have no belief in a god, and I don’t believe I have any more protection than my body armor and my helmet, I believe this leads me to be more cautious, if not more trigger happy, than everyone else in my squad.

I do, however, believe in applying surgical but devastating suppressive fire on the enemy. For instance, when we took fire that time, I did not lat down suppressive fire on the entire street; I suppressed the window Hadji was shooting from. But, however, I went through 200 rounds inside of a minute, and I had to stop and reload, and cycle a ghost round because I didn’t seat the ammo properly in the feed tray – I left the first round empty.

I do believe in my M249 SAW. Yes, it’s got a helluva lot of weight to it, and I’ve finally given up on the spare barrel bags and I’ve just started using an entire rucksack for my SAW accessories, but I believe in the care I take of it and the time I spend on it to make sure it’s in top shape before every mission. I believe in my body armor – we’ve already seen a vest’s plate stop an AK round at 50 meters. I believe in my Strykers – it’s a rough ride, but it’ll stop the blast from a handful of 155 howitzer rounds taped together and hidden in a trash can on the side of the road. That’s not god’s protection or anything, that’s our gear.

Bravo team leader is extremely unhappy with me. Every time we go out on a mission, he pulls out his cross on his dog tags and blesses himself. Me, being me, draw my Phaser One from TOS and check the charge on it, set it to Kill, check my communicator, flip it open, then closed, and I put ‘em both away.. Dude asked me what I expect that hand phaser and the communicator to do for me when the shit hits the fan. I told him, “About as much for me as your cross will do for you.” Every single mission, I make this point in my own way. God has no place here anymore.

And now, unfortunately, I don’t think I can put off reading that book any more, so I’ll start with that.

If anyone wants to get in touch with me, talk to Yellow Number 5, he’s got my address. That, and the dude is FAR from a dumbfuck, so I think he’ll use his best judgment with dealing with my address.

AATW, fellas.