In the 1980s Iran and Iraq fought to a bloody stalemate on a thin strip of desert over access to a waterway, the Shatt al Arab, that had been in dispute since the days of the Ottoman Empire.

The war was a pure fire-power battle resembling the trench warfare of World War I and the set piece charges of the American Civil War.

The tension over the Iran/Iraq border still lingers making border security one of the key missions of US Forces in Iraq.

I spent a day at the Shalamcha Port of Entry, a bustling entry point for Iranian tourists and transhipment point east of Basrah, Iraq.

Every morning hundreds and sometimes thousands of Iranian tourists line up on the Iranian side of the border to enter Iraq.  The tourists arrive in busses, unload, cue up, get their passports stamped then load up in busses on the Iraqi side headed for the holy sites in Karbala or Samarra.

In the afternoon, busses unload tourists heading back to Iran.

Iranian tourists lined up to enter Iraq.

Hundreds of trailer loads of goods also enter Iraq six days a week through Shalamcha.  Tractor trailers park in a load yard on the Iranian side of the border, Iraqi drivers transload the cargo into their trailers, then drive into Iraq where the cargo is weighed, taxed and, at least in theory, inspected by Iraqi customs agents.

Very little cargo is shipped from Iraq into Iran.

The truck gate at the Shalamacha Port of Entry.

Pedestrian lane heading into Iran.

The physical and attitudinal remants of the war between Iraq and Iran still remain.  Firing positions for tanks are still in place and large tank traps still dominate the land scape.

At one time this area had the largest date palm groves in the world, but the land has been stripped bare of vegetation and canal works.

This is a tank trap temporarily filled with water from a rainstorm, not a canal.  The far side is Iran.

The attitudinal remnants of the war physically manifest themselves in the gradual encroachment of Iran at Shalamcha.

In the photo below the green, white and red flag of Iran is only 30 feet from the red, white and black flag of Iraq. Several months ago, the Iranian flag was at the far end of the yellow awning.  If you look closely, on the lower right 1/4 of the photo you can see a metal gate painted green, white and red that is in Iraqi territory.

The Iranian port of entry facilities as viewed from the entry arch to Iraq.

As the clock counts down to the official end of Operation Iraqi Freedom in August when a new phase called Operation New Dawn begins, working with the Iraqi Border Enforcement agency will be one of the key efforts of US Forces in the South and for the 1st Infantry Division. 

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Just when I think I'm out...I get an assignment to cover Iraq.  But since the assignment is to cover the 1st Infantry Division as part of a project for the Cantigny First Infantry Division Museum, I couldn't say no.

The Headquarters of the 1st Infantry Division--The Big Red One--is running the United States Division--South out of Basra.

I flew from Kabul to Dubai on Kam airlines and stayed the night at the Holiday Inn Express Airport.  I'm becoming an authority on the H.I. Expresses of Dubai, so far I like the Airport one the best.  I flew Emirates Airlines to Kuwait and then took a Blackhawk from the military transit point Contingency Operating Base Basra.

The second largest and most economically powerful city in Iraq, Basra is key terrain in the current stability operations in Iraq.  Basra is Iraq's only port, and for a oil producing nation, ports are essential.

In the 1980s, the Iran/Iraq war was fought,in part, over access to the Persian Gulf.  Iraq's access is limited to a narrow confluence called the Shaat al Arab--more of wide, deep river mouth than anything else.

Being so close to Iran, checking the persian influence is a key component of the work of US Forces and diplomats in Basra.  US Forces also work with Iraqi forces on border security.

Here are some snapshots with my little digicam from the helicopter flight from Kuwait to Basra.

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  (The companion story to this photo essay can be found here )

General Abdullah (Ret.) and LTC Cain, commanding officer of the 2-32 talk politics in Tikrit.

JD with LTC Ahmed, commander of an elite police unit, the RDU

The RDU's unit patch

The biggest threat these days may be food poisoning if you are not used to the local "flora" of the Kebabs and Smoothies.  Secondary threat--a septic infection from a cut at the barber shop.

But, with some Immodium and an up-to-date tetanus shot, you should be fine. 

The change from the beginning of the Surge to now, at the end of the Surge has to be seen to be believed.

Luckily, through modern technology, you can see it without going to Baghdad or bending the space-time continuum.

The 2007 video was shot April 29, 2007 with the 1/4 Cav., 4th IBCT.

The 2008 video was shot October 26, 2008 with the 7/10 Cav. 1st IBCT.

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I bring the rain to FOB Falcon every time. 

Iraq is indeed a desert, but it rains here in the valley between the two rivers more often than people imagine. 

The rainy season, running from November through April bring torrents flooding the streets and swelling the canals.  Even in May and June there will be occasional storms. 

But this year Iraq has been in a dry drought.  My return to FOB Falcon broke the drought--that or by sheer happen stance the drought ended when I arrived at FOB Falcon. 

I snapped the pics below on the drive from JSS Jihad in Baghdad's West Rashid district to FOB Falcon in the south of Baghdad.