"Iraqi woman looks on while 3rd Platoon conducts a cordon and search."

By Tamim Fares

We tried our best to be as accommodating to the locals as we could, but the nature of the counter-insurgent fight made it difficult...It was hard to win hearts and minds when we were breaking down people's doors and rummaging through their shit on a constant basis, looking for weapons or explosives.

For my part, I stopped caring about the civilians in our sector pretty early on. In my mind, they were an obstacle to be overcome in our pursuit of the enemy, who hid amongst them and used them for cover. Quite literally, on at least one occasion that I can remember.

It took me a long time to realize (remember?) that these were normal people, trying to live a normal life in the middle of abnormal circumstances.

The first casualty of war was my humanity.

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Tamim Fares is a storyteller and Army veteran chronicling the stories of the Iraq War during the Surge. You can follow him here.

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What’s happening at VetRep…

Catch our interview this week with Tyron McFarlan on the Savage Wonder Podcast here.

If you weren’t able to watch live with us, you can catch our Memorial Day Write Loud right here on our Instagram page.

Tickets are going fast for the Parlor this season, reserve your seats for Woody Allen’s Central Park West here before they sell out! For the month of June we will be opening Central Park West with the winner of our inaugural 10-minute play competition, Fifteen Dead Souls, by Leilani Squire.

We are currently offering multiple dates for our online and in-person Playwriting for Veterans classes, and our Acting for Beginners class is now being offered weekly every Saturday from 10am-12pm. Scholarships for qualifying veterans, as well as multi-class passes are available. Registration details can be found here.