IRAQ: The honk of freedom

Camp Fallouja is a place of badges, ID cards, passwords, computerized locks, keep-out signs and Ugandan guards with M-16s assigned to enforce them all.

Only one group walks where it wants, when it wants, wherever its (short) legs will take it: a flock of geese who were waiting when the Marines took over the former Iraqi army base.

The geese live near what is called the Battle Square, where the generals and their staffs have their offices. The geese split into platoons each day and circle the grounds, honking their imperious honk.

Convoys halt to let them pass by. Heavily armed Marines walk around them. The sharp beaks on the geese look ominous. Marines know a potential offensive weapon when they see one.

— Tony Perry at Camp Fallouja

Photo: The geese of Camp Fallouja on their daily rounds. Credit: Tony Perry/Los Angeles  Times.