"Here's a guy who says the hardest thing about going off to war for him was leaving his beloved Dachshund behind." "Gotta be an officer." "Group attention!" "At ease." "I need volunteers." "And you're it." "It smells like goddamn Trenton, New Jersey, around here in case you hadn't noticed." "I'm building a camp designed to hold 30,000 soldiers, and I have 11 slit-trench latrines and that's it." "And you know why?" "Why is that, general?" "Because down the road there's a bridge that my overpaid civilian contractors won't cross." "I've got 80 trucks lined up on the other side of that bridge including the ones that have my 1,200 brand-new American standard toilets on 'em!" "And I want my toilets." "Bridge is taking accurate mortar fire from the village, and we just can't level the dump which is what I would've done 'cause the goddamn head of the goddamn shitty parliament's goddamn mother-in-law lives there!" "Give me one of those pills." "Now..." "I need men willing to go in there and draw fire and see who's doing the spotting for the mortars and stop him." "I understand from Colonel Ryan that your people are capable of handling a delicate situation without making too much noise." "Is that so, general?" "Yes, it is, sergeant." "And in the future, if you don't want the shit missions, don't be so good at doing 'em." "As you were." "Shit missions are our speciality." "Rawhide Six, this is Rawhide One." "Radio check, over." "Roger." "Copy that." "Out." "I got activity already over here, sergeant." "What kind of activity?" "Little kid waving." "Yeah, seems happy to see us." "Yeah." "You see his parents yet?" "Not yet." "Take cover!" "Little kid's laughing now." "They got a flight going back to California" "And I gotta get back to the tank." "Hmm." "Call him "the tank", huh?" "He's big, honey." "He's in the 99th percentile." "He's gonna be better than I ever was." "He'll have a better coach than you ever had, that's for sure." "You mean me?" "I sure do." "I still want to get back to my unit." "Don't even say that around me anymore." "Understand?" "You're having crazy thoughts." "You keep them to yourself, okay?" "I don't want you mustered out on a section 8." "No, ma'am." "I don't mind you getting mustered out." "We have to, we can deal with that." "But..." "I don't want any hints of any other kinds of problems on your record." "I'm serious." "Understand?" "Yes, captain." "As you were, soldier." "Mommy?" "I say again, we'll need transportation when we're done, lieutenant, over." "Negative." "Of course not, Rawhide Six." "We're not done yet." "Out." "The mom snatched him in." "Do you see her?" "Just her arm." "Could it have been the dad?" "If he wears a red dress around the house." "Some of these fundamentalists wear robes look like dresses." "All right, this is the deal." "I want two men watching the village at all times." "I want to know who visits who and what they do when they get there." "I want to know everything about this dump we can possibly know from right here." "And I want one man watching the road too," "Which means we're gonna be short on shut-eye for a while." "Angel, you and Dim are up first on the village." "Verify what you think you're seeing with the other guy." "I'll take first watch on this side." "Tariq and Smoke, you can alternate on the radio." "I couldn't imagine a stupider way to do this." "I could imagine a stupider way, sergeant." "Dim, the idea that you might have a real gift for strategic thinking scares the shit out of me." "This is one quiet town." "It is today." "You mean 'cause we're here?" "Think there'd be more activity if we weren't?" "I think that goat would've got fed." "I didn't see there was a goat." "It's been hanging around that back door the last two hours." "Somebody's been neglecting to feed it." "Someone who's afraid to be seen, huh?" "In that house there close to the row on the left with the black-and-orange barrel on the roof." "Is that where the kid lives?" "Mm-hmm." "Makes it seem like somebody's moving." "He wasn't afraid to be seen." "He is now." "Lights came on." "I ain't blind." "I'm supposed to say it anyway." "You always do everything you're supposed to do?" "You think it means anything?" "Yeah, I think it means two things." "First, they still have electricity in this hole which has got to be because of their connection to parliament." "Nobody else around here has power anymore." "So?" "So, the insurgents know that too." "That this town's protected." "That's why they're here." "Second, we can see inside the houses when the lights are on." "And they know that, too." "How do you know that?" "See that house right there where the kid lives?" "Yeah." "There's no lights on, but there's people inside." "We been watching all day and nobody's left." "So there's at least the kid and the mother..." "If it is the mother." "They in there sitting in the dark..." "Like a brother on Saturday night in Compton, sitting in the dark, looking out the window..." "Waiting on guys coming to do you harm." "I must have done that 1,000 times." "Yep." "You grow up in a gang, you spend half your life sitting in the dark." "Yeah, I wouldn't know." "Yeah, you lucky." "Well,at least we know where our spotter's at now, don't we?" "Yeah, we have an idea, but we don't have any proof." "Proof?" "Man, suck my proof." "This is a goddamn war, man." "I tell you everything you need to know about proof in a goddamn war." "You live, that's proof you right." "You die?" "Well, that's proof you wrong." "Incoming!" "Oh, bullshit." "What?" "This woman at the stove like she's been there the whole time." "You think it's bullshit?" "Yeah, she wasn't there 45 seconds ago." "She wasn't, sergeant." "I think someone left the house using the mortar fire as cover." "That's a lot of trouble to go to sneak out of the house." "Makes you wonder where he went." "Do is it?" "Sure does." "We're not about to get overrun, are we, sergeant?" "What happened to those guys who built this bunker, anyway?" "Don't think too much, Dim, okay?" "Intel says there's no armed insurgents in the village – Just the spotter." "Nobody's gonna attack us, okay?" "We're gonna attack them, okay?" "We're gonna take away their eyes and ears, okay?" "That's our job." "Now, get back to your posts." "I want to know this guy's routine, understand?" "I want to know what he does and when he does it all the time." "Rawhide Six, what if we sent a truck through right now?" "Over." "Well, if they fire and miss by a lot, then it's likely this guy we think has left his house is the spotter." "Over." "Negative." "It's not definite." "I'm just trying to figure a way to work this out given the constraints of the mission." "Over." "Well, tell 'em to drive fast, sir." "Out." "They're gonna send a vehicle through right now." "Sounds like good duty, huh?" "Well, it can't be helped." "Drive over here, soldier, and we'll see if anyone blows you up." "It's a whole new kind of mission." "Search and be destroyed." "All right, Dim." "That's enough." "Was that your suggestion to the driver, sergeant?" "What?" ""Tell 'em to drive fast"?" "I could've said, "tell him the army is a shitty job in spite of the commercials", but I got to think of the morale of my men." "Right, Dim?" "Yeah." "Right." "Keep your eyes peeled." "Good luck, brother." "That's Mrs. B., ain't it?" "Yeah." "Anything going on over there?" "Nothing, sergeant." "Less than nothing." "That woman's cooking like she doesn't hear a damn thing." "Well done, ladies." "She's a bitch." "Hence the name." "Say what?" "We call her Mrs. B 'cause she's a bitch." "Brenda "Mrs. Bitch" Mitchell, you know?" "How you know that?" "Mechanic told me." "Doublewide." "You been chatting at the girls and I ain't noticed?" "I say you been doggin' these bitches?" "They're not my type, man." "They're not your type?" "No." "They all my type." "They got through." "First round was close, but they got progressively further away." "Over." "Yes, I think we've identified the spotter." "Over." "Negative." "We're not sure." "Out." "We're supposed to think of another test, one that will definitively identify the kid's father as the spotter." "I think we should have Angel put a cap in his ass." "Nigger can shoot." "That's your idea of a test?" "That's my idea of definitive." "Hello, ladies." "Hey." "You're the driver that just ran the gauntlet, huh?" "That's right." "That's a, uh... fine piece of driving, I hear." "Thank you." "So, they, um..." "they pay you extra for that?" "I'm sorry." "I'm pulling your leg." "It's just that, um..." "I know what you're making." "You're making $1,700 a month." "Am I right?" "Mm-hmm." "See, I make 35 grand." "And I wouldn't have done what you just did to save my mama's life." "Damn, you have got a pair on you, sister." "Where you going?" "My mother says, "don't cast your pearls before swine"." "Shit, I get my pearls from swine." "35 grand." "A month?" "You're ahead of schedule, soldier." "You won't be in here for another week." "Well, I'm just trying to get the jump on what's next." "That's fine." "What are you reading?" "Oh, uh, it's a story of a guy who lost a leg but went back to combat anyway." "It's called "one tough marine"." "I know it." "Too well." "You wouldn't believe how many copies of that book" "I seen come through here." "Between you and me, I hate that book." "Hi, Sergio." "What are you doing here?" "Uh, just, you know." "I know what you're doing here." "I just..." "I come here all the time." "I've never seen you before." "That's all." "I took Hector to the pediatrician." "Oh, is everything okay?" "Yeah, just a checkup." "He got a shot, so he's just chillin'." "We keep bumping into each other." "It's weird." "Do you mind if I join you?" "Um..." "No." "Oh." "I..." "I don't want to make you uncomfortable, Sergio." "I don't mean anything by it." "I just..." "No, no, no." "It's all right." "Sit down." "I mean..." "Thanks." "Uh, Miss?" "Well, dust my broom." "What does that mean, anyway?" "It means he walked right out to the yard, play with his kid." "I see that." "I mean, what does "dust my broom" mean?" "I've heard that expression my whole life." "I never had a goddamn idea what it meant." "It means "kiss my ass"." "I know that." "I mean, what does the words mean?" "What do the words "kiss my ass" mean?" "Come here, you two." "Come here." "See this guy?" "What do you make of this?" "This guy's showing himself to us." "What?" "Does he want to be friends?" "That's funny." "He's better dressed than the kid." "He's showing himself to us for a reason." "Maybe he's suicidal." "Maybe his wife is driving him nuts and he's ready to pack it in." "Maybe he's taunting us." "He wears traditional robes when he's killing the infidel..." "Western clothes when he lets us see him." "He's making it harder for us to kill him." "He's wearing our clothes." "He's playing with his boy." "Later on, he's gonna kiss his wife right there in that window." "He wants us to see, we all the same." "I say he want us to help him end it all." "He ain't suicidal." "He ain't afraid to die neither." "He's a believer." "How you know what he is?" "'Cause I'm a believer too." "All right." "Watch the guy." "I still need something definitive." "I got to see him with a radio, a G.P.S., something." "Okay?" "I got activity over here, sergeant." "What do you got, Angel?" "I got a vehicle approaching, sergeant." "Looks like..." "Looks like a taxi." "Rawhide Six, is there really a taxi coming my way?" "Over." "And someone authorized it to come through here?" "Over." "Roger that." "Out." "Some local insisted he had to get through and the general heard about it," "Said he needed another guinea pig anyway." "All right, what's daddy doing over there?" "Nothing, so far." "He can hear the car, can't he?" "Yep." "He's heard it all right." "He's acting like he ain't noticed." "He's picking up his kid, though." "Taxi's coming hard." "Man, this guy's doing some driving." "Pedal to the metal." "He drives like my uncle back in Detroit." "Missed him by 30 yards." "Our guy's going inside." "He's carrying his kid, getting him out of harm's way." "He's walking in." "He's closing the door." "Was that any closer?" "Nope." "Off to the left." "Can't see daddy anymore." "He could be doing anything at all in there." "Taxi's gonna make it." "This is better than goddamn NASCAR." "Lord, lord, lord." "You want us to get him, sergeant?" "He'll be dead by the time we get there." "This is starting to piss me off." "You got to put a cap in his ass, Angel." "You got to whack the..." "You got to blow his goddamn head off." "Dude be wastin' his own, man..." "Just to let us know he could do it." "Got to kill him." "He's right, Angel." "Is he?" "Yeah." "You sure this is the guy?" "Yeah." "So sure you ready to kill him?" "Yeah." "Then you kill him." "You're the only one who can." "I ain't doing it, sergeant." "I'm a soldier, not a judge." "He's right, sergeant." "We can't be sure of anything – not from here." "I can." "So can I. That's enough." "I'll check with the lieutenant, he'll check with the general, and they'll tell us what we're gonna do." "Tariq, Dim, get some shut-eye." "Smoke, I'll be with you as soon as I talk to the lieutenant." "Screaming stopped." "Hey!" "Hey!" "Hey!" "Hey, stop!" "Hey!" "Hey!" "He didn't go to school at all?" "Well, why didn't I hear about this?" "Lord, I didn't realize he'd been absent that often." "No." "No, no, no." "I'll call them." "I'll call them." "Yes." "I guess it is." "Yeah." "Well, my child is missing, so, yes, it's an emergency." "My 7-year-old." "Eddy." "He didn't go to school." "I didn't find out about it until just now." "Yeah, I'll stay right here." "I..." "I..." "I have no one to help me look." "He's in Iraq." "He's in Iraq." "And I'm pregnant, and I don't know what to do." "He's in Iraq and I..." "I'm pregnant." "I think..." "I think there's something really wrong." "Only one way this is gonna end." "Angel gonna shoot the son of a bitch." "General gonna tell him to, and he gonna do it, and we all know it." "Waste of goddamn time." "Is he right, sergeant?" "About what?" "General gonna order us to assassinate this guy?" "Never heard a general give an order like that." "Good." "Not with the word "assassinate" in it." "Nobody says anything too direct" "When they're talking about this kind of killing." "Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?" "Who said that?" "Henry the second." "He's a king, huh?" "Who did he want to kill?" "Becket." "Archbishop of Canterbury." "Somebody killed him?" "Yeah." "They get the right guy?" "Well... yeah." "Good." "That's a good sign." "No, it's not that simple." "Well, why not?" "I mean..." "They were dishonored." "Dishonored?" "Yeah." "They live?" "Yeah." "Enough said." "White people." "Had you known you were pregnant?" "Yes. 12 weeks." "And yet you were still drinking heavily?" "That's contraindicated." "Did no one tell you that?" "Yes." "They told me that." "And yet you drank, all the same?" "Yes." "If you can't stop drinking, we can refer you to the base program." "How about you just deal with the miscarriage," "And I will deal with the drinking?" "They're not unrelated." "Shut up!" "Goddamn you!" "Just shut the hell up." "Hi, mommy." "Did you get hurt?" "Not at all, sweetheart." "Not at all." "Why are you here?" "Because..." "You scared me, sweetheart." "That's all." "They brought me here because I was so unhappy..." "Because my little soldier ran away." "Where were you gonna go, honey?" "Iraq." "I wanted to see frank." "That's all." "There weren't any flights." "Not for kids, anyway." "So..." "You gonna have the baby today?" "Not today." "Good." "You got your mind right, yet?" "You ready to give up being the angel you think you are?" "Be the angel of death, instead?" "I bet when you hear me whisper in your ear, you hear the devil speaking." "Don't you?" "Don't you, brother?" "I ain't your brother." "Oh, you a believer like him, but I ain't your brother." "That's right." "Whose side you on, man?" "You got a goat back home, too?" "So you on the side of the goat people?" "I ain't got a goat, nor a son, nor a wife." "But I know I'm a sinner." "So if you asking me if I got more in common with my enemy than I do with you," "the answer's yes." "Anything else?" "It fits great." "Thank you." "So, Serbo is coming home soon, huh?" "I don't know when he's coming home, Victor." "I don't think the army does yet, but I just want to be ready, is all." "I got an extra piece of carpet here somewhere." "Let me get it for you." "All right." "I could drive a Humvee right now." "Even without the prosthetic." "Sure, you could." "They're automatics." "That's right." "I could drive the hell out of one." "Till you had to stop and get out." "Column comes under rocket attack." "Everybody's got to take cover." "You pile on out of the vehicle and fall flat on your face?" "That I'd like to see." "I'm thinking about taking up the guitar, myself." "Negative." "I say again, we'd rather not kill a man we don't know to be an enemy combatant." "I just mean we don't want to be wrong." "Over." "What if he's just a civilian?" "Over." "No, we don't have any other suspects." "Over." "Is it a discussion, sir, or has it already been decided?" "Over." "I can hear the general in the background, sir." "Over." "Is the general ordering me to put a number to it?" "Over." "Then we're 95% certain." "Out." "What did he say?" "He said, "you know what to do"." "What the hell does that mean?" "It doesn't mean a goddamn thing." "Fact is, general's sending the trucks through, anyway." "He expects us to do whatever is necessary to protect them." "I tried." "When?" "When what?" "When's he sending the trucks through?" "Now." "Now?" "Yeah." "First vehicle will be here in a few minutes." "Does he know the spotter's still out there?" "They've been told the spotter's being taken care of." "Hell of a risk for a bunch of goddamn toilets!" "No shit." "This isn't right." "Right." "Wrong." "It's too much to think about." "It's all we got." "We ain't got that." "We got a job to do." "So when the big dog comes, you roll over, show your neck." "That's all." "You ready to take him out, Angel?" "He ain't ready to do nothing till god tells him." "How about you stay out of it?" "How about you blow me?" "!" "How about I kick your ass again?" "How about I – shut up!" "Shut up, all of you!" "This is no time for talk!" "What you think you believe in, what you think you live for, it's time to put that shit aside!" "It's killing time!" "Somebody's gonna die today, and that is a fact." "The only question is, who?" "So, don't be thinking about anything else." "Look at me, soldier." "Angel, look at me." "Either you shoot him, or we all do and probably kill the wife and kid, too." "Those are our only two choices." "Here they come." "Curtains just moved." "Somebody's at the window." "It's way wide." "Let's do it, Angel." "Let's do it..." "you and me." "You sure, Smoke?" "He's standing right there." "I can feel him" "coming up to the hill." "Where was that?" "It was too close." "Lead truck almost ran off the road." "Goddamn, there's a lot of 'em." "You got a bead on him?" "I got a bead on the window." "You want me to favor the left or the right?" "if he's looking down the road, he's on the left side of the window." "First truck's coming over the hill." "Ready?" "Yep." "Fire." "Was damn close again." "He's wearing binoculars and a radio." "No mortar fire right now." "They're probably trying to reach him on the radio." "That wasn't nearly so close." "Good job, Angel." "Good job, everybody." "The day is coming." "The drums are drumming." "If you know one, say a prayer." "There's mothers crying and fathers sighing, uh-huh." "War is in the air," "the trains are filling up with boys" "who've left behind their favorite toys." "They're going over there, over there." "Where someone has to die over there." "Where ours is not to reason why over there." "Where someone has to die."