" My Brother The Rakkasan "

The following is a story on Msn my brother emailed me. He is currently serving in the US Army in Iraq. His message simply was= " This is where I'm at " nothing more- nothing less. I cannot begin to fathom what these guys and galls are going through. He knows that though doesn't he? I cant tell yall how many countless hours I stared at CNN the first time he went- Just to get a glimpse of him-I do not do that anymore- I just have faith that he will be ok- and that he will come home to my 3yr old niece and his wife and his extended family and friends who miss him beyond words. Be safe Daniel- come home again. We all think of you daily, We all thank you for fighting for our country, and -We all love you. 101st Airborne Division struggles with a faceless enemy on second tour of Iraq ASSOCIATED PRESS BEIJI, Iraq, Dec. 14 .. The explosions erupt from sand piles on the shoulder of a road, or from potholes that pock the highways. They come from propane tanks filled with explosives and buried in the ground or from artillery shells wired and hidden in the shadows. ''The enemy is anywhere and everywhere,'' said Sgt. 1st Class Tony Griskey, 36, of from Page, Ariz. ''There is no calling card on an IED,'' or improvised explosive device — a roadside bomb. Soldiers in the division's 3rd Brigade, the ''Rakkasans,'' face the same enemy every day in Beiji, about 150 miles north of Baghdad. It's an enemy they don't know, that has no face, that follows no battle lines and kills indiscriminately. The war in Iraq has changed because of the bombings, according to soldiers who have had previous tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. For the 101st, which fought the Taliban in Afghanistan and helped U.S. forces drive north into Baghdad during the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, there is the frustrating reality that otherwise friendly village leaders could be behind the bombs. Anyone could be an insurgent, and ahead of this week's parliamentary elections, the attacks showed no signs of waning: Four American soldiers were killed Tuesday in a bombing northwest of Baghdad. Each day, a white board inside a wooden shack turned into tactical operations center for Bravo Troop, 33rd Cavalry Regiment displays the day's events. ''Possible IED,'' one entry reads. ''IED explodes; four soldiers taken to aid station,'' another said in red ink. One of the brigade's most recent losses came from the 33rd. Cpl. Jimmy Lee Shelton, 21, of Lehigh Acres, Fla., died in a Dec. 3 mortar attack launched just after the morning call to prayer from a nearby village. A convoy of soldiers moved to the mortar site and found only desert. ''I can accept the fact that the guy got the draw on me. But not being able to see the enemy, it ain't fair,'' said 1st Sgt. Andre Johnson, 38, of Baton Rouge, La. ''Just show me your face. Let me know who you are.'' Frustrations like Johnson's are common as roadside bombs become the insurgency's preferred method of attack. Direct rocket attacks and small-arms fire, which could help soldiers identify an enemy, are rare in Salahuddin province, said Maj. John Calahan, the brigade's executive officer. Instead, the same soldiers who stormed into Afghanistan for Operation Anaconda and fought Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard are forced to rely on police tactics and investigations to find insurgents. ''It's frustrating at times,'' Calahan said. ''If the enemy will step out and fight, we can fight him. But we aren't trained to fingerprint.'' They collect evidence, work informants and follow leads. A security guard at the oil refinery in Beiji, for example, tested positive for explosives last week when soldiers swabbed his hands. The bombs around Beiji, home to one of Iraq's biggest refineries, still come at a rate of about 40 a month. Sgt. Casey Stimson, 22, of Louisville, Ky., sat on a wall of sand bags surrounding a small metal building where he lives at Forward Operating Base Summerall. He knew the young corporal who died, and his brow furrowed as he spoke. ''All we can do is keep hunting them down,'' Stimson said, staring at the gravel at his feet. ''That's the worst part of this deployment, feeling so out of control.'' The deployment here would end if the soldiers could find the insurgents, said 2nd Lt. Seraph Townsend, 23, of Warwick, R.I. ''You can't lead soldiers because there's nothing to lead them against,'' he said. ''They can sit two miles away with a spotter scope and blow an IED. I mean, that's it. They can never leave the couch.'' During a traffic stop outside Beiji, soldiers from the division's 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment searched cars for bomb-making material this week, comparing drivers' licenses with a list of known insurgents. Sgt. Maj. Vincent Camacho asked a taxi driver if he knew who was planting the bombs and where they could be found. The man shook his head sheepishly and looked away. Camacho asked the man if he wanted the American soldiers to leave Iraq. The driver smiled. ''God willing, you'll all be gone soon,'' he said.