Wednesday, November 28, 2007

One day on an ambulance mission, we yield as a house-toppling Caterpillar bulldozer passes through the Saha area near the Camp’s entrance. It is escorted by a tank in front, and an armored personnel carrier behind. The flat top of the last vehicle is littered with stones, with an empty cola bottle where you would expect a headlight. And there, tucked into a crevice on top, is a handle-less broom. To clean up after the destruction? This little reminder of home economics looks so foreign in the heaving parade of metallic hardware, and so innocent with its blue, yellow, and red fringes. It is quickly lost in the black smoke spewed out to mask the vehicle and cause confusion.

I understand that Molotov cocktails for urban use are more effective if fashioned from cardboard milk cartons. While a wine bottle can be expected to shatter on impact with a tank or an APC, a milk carton assures a better spread of gasoline in situations where a wine bottle might simply roll across the floor.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }