Bing West’s The Watchdogs of Fallujah narrates Marine Air Wing unit VMU-1 calling in an airstrike based on the video from their Pioneer drone. It shows insurgents periodically sprinting from a house to a mortar, in the courtyard of a half-completed mosque, dropping a shell in, then running back:
“The house is the first one north of the vacant lot on the northeast corner. Has a dome roof. Wait — it’s where that truck is. Got it?”A truck had pulled up and five men had walked inside, carrying something in their arms. Three dogs had trotted up.
“Supper time. They’re changing shifts,” Sgt. Roneil Sampson, an imagery analyst, said. “Domino’s delivery.”
“Cleared hot,” Neumann said. Impact was less than a minute away.
Word had spread to the off-duty crew and over two dozen Marines had squeezed into the small op center, murmuring back and forth.
“I like dogs. Get out of there dogs.”
“Stay in there, muj. You’re almost in paradise. Don’t leave now. Don’t leave.”
The courtyard door opened, and a man walked to the truck and slowly drove away.
“Boot muj sent out to get the Coke. Luckiest bastard on the planet.”
Both video screens suddenly flashed bright white, as if a fuse had blown. There was a collective Damn! from the watching Marines. The center of the roof was now a huge black hole.
“That’s a shack,” Neumann said. “Now that’s what I call a shack!”
“I feel sorry for the dogs,” someone shouted.
“Great job, Watchdogs,” Neumann said. “Great job.”