by Ian Demsky
Last conversation Hotel Two-Six?
Do you want Hotel Two-Two element—
Request permission to engage.
Roger, received.
Do you want Hotel Two-Two element?
See all those people standing down there?
Roger, received.
I can’t get them now because they’re behind that building.
See all those people standing down there?
You are free to engage.
I can’t get them now because they’re behind that building.
Hotel Two-Six: Crazy Horse One-Eight.
Repeat: You are free to engage.
We’ll be engaging.
Hotel Two-Six: Crazy Horse One-Eight.
Light ‘em all up.
We are engaging.
God damn it.
Light ‘em up.
Come on fire.
God damn!
Just fuckin’, once you get on him, just—
Fire. Fire.
Keep shooting.
—once you get on him, just open ‘em up.
We need to move. Time now.
Keep shooting. Keep shooting.
We’re still firing.
We need to move.
Roger, I’ve got ‘em.
We’re still firing.
Oops, I’m sorry. What was going on?
Roger. I got them.
God damn it, Kyle.
What’s going on?
All right, you’re clear.
God damn it.
Got bunch of bodies laying there.
All right, you’re clear.
We’ve got one guy crawling around down there.
—bunch of bodies laying there.
Hey, you shoot, I’ll talk.
We’ve still got one guy crawling around.
Crazy Horse One-Eight, this is Hotel Two-Six. Over.
You shoot, I’ll talk.
Oh yeah. Look at those dead bastards.
Crazy Horse One-Eight: Hotel Two-Six.
Good shootin’.
Look at those dead bastards.
Location of bodies: Mike Bravo five-four-five-eight.
Yup. Good shootin’.
There’s one guy moving down there, but he’s wounded.
Location of bodies: Mike Bravo five-four-five-eight.
We’ll let them know so they can hurry up and get over here.
There’s one guy still moving around down there.
We have a van that’s approaching and picking up the bodies.
—so they can hurry up and get over here.
Possibly picking up bodies and weapons.
We have a van that’s approaching and picking up the bodies.
Right down there by the bodies.
They’re possibly picking up bodies and weapons.
Let me engage.
Right down there by the bodies.
Can I shoot?
Can we engage?
Roger.
Can I shoot?
We’re trying to get permission to engage.
Roger.
Are they picking up the wounded?
We’re trying to get permission to engage.
Come on let us shoot.
Are they picking up the wounded?
They’re taking him.
Come on let us shoot.
Bushmaster Seven: Crazy Horse One-Eight.
They’re taking him.
Fuck.
Bushmaster Seven: Crazy Horse One-Eight.
Bushmaster Seven, roger. Engage.
Fuck.
Clear.
Bushmaster Seven: Roger.
No more shooting.
Clear.
Clear.
No more shooting.
Oh yeah, look at that. Right through the windshield.
Clear.
The vehicle appears to be disabled.
—right through the windshield.
Bradley element turning south down the road where the engagement was.
The vehicle appears to be disabled.
I think I drove over a body.
Bradley element approaching engagement site.
Maybe it was a visual illusion.
I think I drove over a body.
Last conversation Hotel Two-Six?
Maybe it was a visual illusion.
—permission to engage.
Author’s Note: This poem is adapted from radio traffic heard on U.S. Military gun-camera video depicting a 2007 attack in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad that killed two Reuters news staff and wounded two children. The video, which Reuters had sought under the Freedom of Information Act, was made public by WikiLeaks.org.
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Ian Demsky, a longtime investigative newspaper journalist, often draws from public records to help make visible what J.G. Ballard called the "invisible literatures" of our society. He is enrolled in the MFA program at the University of Idaho.
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