228 AMERICAN SPYMosul is one of Iraq’s largest cities, and historically it has been home not
only to Sunni Arabs but also Kurds, Assyrians, Turkmen, Armenians,
Yazidis, and other minority groups. Despite its diversity, in recent history
Mosul has become known as a bastion of Sunni extremism. Al-Qaeda
took root in Mosul and other Sunni areas after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Daesh/ISIS easily took over the entire city of Mosul in the summer of
2014, with the cooperation of many of the city’s Sunnis. ISIS’s task was
made easier because the US-backed Shi’ite government of Nouri al-Maliki
had a track record of blatantly mistreating Iraq’s Sunnis, in part because
Saddam and his Sunni minority regime had a history of mistreating Iraq’s
majority Shi’ites. When it comes to ethnic and religious grudges, the cir-
cular blame and revenge game is never-ending, and all sides can legiti-
mately cite grievances against each other.
In 2007, Babylon Inc. won a contract with a large corporate customer
located not far from the US military forward operating bases (FOBs) Dia-
mondback and Marez, established at Mosul International Airport. The
dining facility (DFAC) on FOB Marez was the site of the 2004 suicide
bombing by Ansar al-Sunna, which killed fourteen American soldiers, eight
others, and injured dozens more. One day in early July 2007, after com-
pleting a job for the new customer in Mosul, three of our Iraqi employees
were returning by car to the safety of Erbil, some fifty miles to the east,
when they found themselves face-to-face with a gang of (Sunni) Islamic
extremists likely connected to those who committed the Marez DFAC
atrocity. “Hassan” and “Sadiq” were Shi’ite, and “Omar” was Sunni.
Hassan was our “superman” employee, a tough but soft-spoken Shi’ite
from Baghdad who operated on our behalf night and day in all parts of
Iraq, regardless of the threat from insurgents. Babylon Inc. quickly devel-
oped a reputation for performing under fire in Iraq’s lawless “red zones,”
thanks in large part to employees like Hassan. US Marines once raided
Hassan’s apartment building in Baghdad, searching for insurgents. After
they were satisfied he was not a threat, several young US Marines removed
their helmets and sat with Hassan on the couch, where together they all
played Call of Duty. Another time, Hassan was arrested by MPs when he
showed up at a base, carrying what they deemed suspicious equipment.
We had been invited to send Hassan and the equipment to the base by an
officer, but unfortunately, he neglected to coordinate Hassan’s visit with