Road With a Bad Rep
The Army got the bad guys off Baghdad's airport route. Now, about the good guys...
Now, throughout the afternoon hours, the road is jammed with Iraqis. There are also regular convoys, some protected by soldiers in humvees and others with private security guards dressed in black body armor who peer out menacingly from the backs of Chevrolet Suburbans. By the time darkness falls, the road empties. Curfew is 11 p.m., but the highway is deserted well before then. Iraqis who live near the road say they are uncomfortable around American military vehicles and claim the soldiers shoot first and ask questions later. Iraqis say the road is particularly dangerous at night, when military convoys drive very fast and often without lights. "It's now like a military road," says one nearby resident. "It's no longer really a civil road."
Contractors and fresh-off-the-plane soldiers fear the road by reputation, says Slack. "We will not stop these guys [from shooting] until we get rid of this idea of 'the road of death.' I want the Disney company to paint me a big sign that says: 'The safest road in the world: Put your gun away.' "
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