A whole bunch of muslims

Today the team followed the Iraqi S3 as he made his security checks. The fellas rode while I flew and observed the madness from above.

They are still coming.

What the pictures don't convey is the smell of millions of people walking and essentially living on the street. Sanitation isn't exactly the greatest to begin with here, but when you add 8-12 million folks all on the same route executing bodily functions (Business note: Port-o-potty contract for Arba'een) it becomes especially aromatic. Below is a picture of a Shiite mosque in Mahmudiya. You get a better sense of the people: The foot traffic consumed a four lane divided road, and it was this heavy from 8am until about 4, and it's been that way for 3 days.

Some of the folks today weren't too nice, but we think they are from Sadr City, which has a lot of wackos in it. We think tomorrow may be the last big day. IF they aren't through Mahmudiya by Saturday afternoon, they aren't going to make it to Karbala by the 15th.

So far so good for us; no big incidents, knock wood.

Take care-

Ron