Mark Giaconia, who served for 20 years in the U.S. Army, of which 15 years in the U.S. Special Forces and was embedded with the Kurds in Iraq, poses for a photograph at his house in Herndon, Virginia, U.S., October 19, 2019. Picture taken October 19, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso
(Reuters) - In the summer of 2004, U.S. soldier Greg Walker drove to a checkpoint just outside of Baghdad's Green Zone with his Kurdish bodyguard, Azaz. When he stepped out of his SUV, three Iraqi guards turned him around at gunpoint.
As he walked back to the vehicle, he heard an AK-47 being racked and a hail of cursing in Arabic and Kurdish. He turned to see Azaz facing off with the Iraqis.
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