U.S. Marines, from the 1st. Battalion of Bravo Company, fire mortars at insurgent positions after they came under attack by small arms fire while conducting a series of raids hunting arms and guerrilla suspects south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, in this file photograph taken on December 1, 2004. Without rest for six months, the mission for the 150 or so men of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, begins just after midnight as they gather at their trucks at Camp Iskandariya, a tented compound around a power station on the banks of the Euphrates, 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad. TO MOVE WITH TEXT FEATURE SLUGGED BC-IRAQ-EMOTIONS REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani HH/ABP/THI