We now have a large supply of booze (which, incidentally, is forbidden on all US army bases in Iraq) – five bottles of whisky, two bottles of French red wine and a fridge packed with cans of Heineken – thanks to a daring operation by Peda, Mauricio and Tony. Late afternoon they decided that a dry New Year’s Eve was unacceptable and headed out on an unauthorised trip to a spot Tony knew on the outskirts of Tikrit. Peda drove the armour-plated jeep, and Tony took his gun. Just as they left Tikrit and were in the country somewhere someone set off a roadside bomb by remote control as they drove by. But they were moving quite fast and all they felt was the blast thrusting the car forward. It left only a couple of small scratches on the paintwork. Had they taken the other media vehicle – a regular four-wheel drive – they might not have made it back. Anyway, they bought the booze at a roadside stall as well as a small lump of what turned out to be quite disappointing Iraqi hash (possibly because it was in fact dried donkey shit?) – and returned to base.