Hmm...

Working on something new...

Ugh

Frustration and boredom have set it...I guess I've hit that wall that everyone that has been to Iraq talks about...

First it is exciting, then fun, then typical...now...not so much. Sort of like the stages of dying just not with the same outcome. lol

Get these cookies

OMFG...think the love child of an Oreo and a Thin Mint...Trader Joe's Candy Cane Joe-Joe's. This could be the best cookie ever.

Stupid Steelers

Ugh...what a disaster of a game last night. If that weren't bad enough my AFN is all jacked up so this is what my view of that travesty of a game looked like:


Actual in-game view. >:(


On the plus side...this arrived today. Planet Earth and three other BBC nature documentaries all on Blu-Ray. I'm in love with Amazon Prime. Free two day shipping even makes the creaky APO system somewhat speedy as my stuff arrived in 5 days.

Amazon Prime is seriously the best $75 that I've ever spent...possibly in the history of purchases.

Heard around the office

To a colleague while setting up his Menorah: that's what Jews use to count down the days to Christmas, right?

Good times.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nice weather

Seems that the weather back in the States is getting crappy. It is still gorgeous here. Even though everything is dusty brown during the day there are still some nice sunsets - these are from today.

Sadler arrives in Baghdad

A buddy & former colleague of mine from the Pentagon has started his own adventure in Baghdad just down the road at MND-B. I managed to stop by for a few minutes after a run to the PX.

Why China isn't a threat

They have nothing better to do than comment on GnR's long-awaited Chinese Democracy. I don't know why they bothered...the album is meh.

On the other hand I was surprised to discover that myspace still exists.

Nice Day and moving news

While DC was suffering through 30 degree weather is was a nice, balmy 75 degrees here in The Dad. Not too shabby for late November. I suppose I should enjoy the relatively nice weather as I learned today that we will be moving to Basra in the March time frame...right when it starts to get hot...like 130 degrees hot. Anyway, a picture taken about an hour ago:

It must be qualification day

Dunno if people are getting ready for weapons re-qualificaiton or what...but the range has been in use the entire day. Given all the racket thousands of rounds must have been used today.

The Phantom Crapper

The plumbing in Iraq - and in the Media Operations Center in particular - sucks. There was a sign on the door the bathroom in the MOC which read: "#1 only. #2 will back up the plumbing"

Apparently that did not send a strong enough message as there is (hopefully was) a mystery person leaving dookie in the toilet at random times. Today a sign with slightly stronger wording was put on the door to the bathroom...

Thinking of buying a Mac

Someone asked me the other day why I don't write more...I guess there isn't that much that is terribly interesting to say most of the time. Work in Iraq is just like work in DC - save for the fact that I'm in Iraq. That basically sums it up.

At any rate, with that out of the way I'm wondering if any of the two people that read this foolish thing have an opinion on the following:

I'm thinking of buying a MacBook Pro. Given the fact that I have some time on my hands I decided to poke around the Internet to see if I could get find any opinions on the new laptops. After girding myself to venture into the creepy Mac fanboy underground I discovered what I would characterize as the Red Sox vs Yankees debate...glossy vs. matte screens. The MBPs only come in glossy (unless you want the giant 17"). While the Mac community is fairly vocal (particularly the graphics / image / coding types) there is apparently a great fault line which bisects the Internet on this issue. Sadly, the standard advice doesn't (compare glossy vs. matte in store) really apply to me.

So...has anyone used one of the "newer" laptops that have the glossy screens? I hear that they are better for color rendition etc but I'm concerned about reflections coming off the glossy finish. I'd love some opinions on the matter. I love my Thinkpad but am interesting in something that isn't so slow and clunky. Plus I can write off the purchase price of the Mac on my taxes.

Presidential transition

It is rather interesting watching all of this election / handover stuff from afar. I can only imagine that there is wall-to-wall coverage in DC and that the senior staff guessing game is in full swing during happy hour.

It does seem that Bush is treating Obama with a hell of a lot more class than Clinton treated Bush.

Iraq must be making me stupid

While it seems comparatively minor...I'm guessing that I'm losing some gray matter or something. For the life of me I simply cannot remember to bring my soap and shampoo back from the shower. If it had happened once or twice I wouldn't think anything of it...however it routinely happens a few times a week (seriously). Of course I never realize this until I get up in the morning to take a shower. It really is rather annoying. Bar soap is beyond difficult to deal with here so the PX is stocked with lots of body wash. Oddly, it is almost all AXE...I've been using it as there is nothing else. I must say, however, I'm a little let down at the lack of truth in advertising. Not that I've been counting but I have yet to experience any of the panty-throwing or the other benefits of which the ads speak. On the plus side I've purchased enough of the stupid bottles of soap to know which ones I like and which ones I don't like.

AAFES has probably taken a good $100 of my hard earned cash just on shampoo and soap. Good grief.

And now...what is good about Iraq

The day after

I'll leave the analysis of last night's election to the professionals. Merely by way of observation I'd describe the mood here as "subdued." The office is quiet, the outside is quiet, and one could hear a pin drop in the chow hall today. This, of course, is not terribly surprising as I could probably pick out about two of three people in total over here that voted for Obama.

The election experience, however, reinforced some of the less than happy things about living in Iraq - namely loneliness. Had I been in DC I would most likely have been out at a bar with a bunch of people, watching the returns, and drinking far too much beer for a Tuesday night. At the very least I would have sat around with my dog and watched the television.

By way of contrast (and reality) I was on my bed in my hooch, with the lights out, and headphones attached to the TV via a long cord - as to not to wake the (disliked) roommate. I finally went to sleep after 0530 after Ohio was called for Obama. All in all it was rather depressing. Speaking with a colleague this morning (also from the DC area) he shared many of the same sentiments - probably a bit moreso as his dude won.

Update: though I will say that unlike 2000 and 2004 when the though of either Gore or Kerry was enough to keep me awake at night I don't feel the angst (or disgust) about Obama. He wasn't my choice but I'm sure that he'll be marginally effective so long as he doesn't 1) embrace the kooky far-left or 2) immediately demonstrate anti-business and anti-competitive tendencies. Besides, the Republicans are going to be doing the whole circular firing squad bit for the foreseeable future and will, hence, likely be pretty useless.

Vote

I simply couldn't pull the trigger for Obama. In the end it came down to the fact that I could not support the amusingly-named "Employee Free Choice Act" - ie: "card checks" for union organization. This is one of the worst ideas that I've ever heard of in my brief 29 years. It is worth all that the baggage that McCain comes with merely to ensure that "card check" does not pass. Not that I really think that McCain is going to win but here's to hoping...

Rain

I'll try and get a picture of the mud later on...it truly defies description.



This is the water pouring off of the roof...or should I say this is the mud pouring off of the roof...

Full moon must be early

The natives have been restless today...

1) Woke up to a fair amount of SAM (small arms fire) today. I hear quite a bit of gunfire as my CHU is right near one of the training ranges. I suppose the upside is that I can now distinguish range fires with shit going on outside the wire. Likewise, it is pretty easy to tell who is shooting at the larger caliber AKs etc that hajji uses make a much different sound than the M16/M4. Definitely not range fires this AM. I guess I can say I actually learning something during my trip here. lol.

2) Something big went off somewhere later this morning. I was outside taking a break and was not only able to hear it go off but I felt the pressure wave. Good times.

3) Three hours later the "incoming" alarm goes off...which normally is cause for a big yawn. Today, of course, I was taking a shower after chow and was walking back to my CHU in a towel and flip flops. Extra annoying.

My people need to talk to Brother Hajji's people to see if we can schedule a time for them to fire off all of their shit that is more convienient for me. Walking around in a towel and flip flops is a red line.

Christmas in October

Yesterday my television, ipod dock and assorted other things arrived in the mail (thanks mom and dad!). It's amazing what some simple things in the mail do to boost morale...and the Dunkin Donuts coffee certainly didn't hurt.

I had to scrounge some parts from various "vendors" on the economy (various shops that aren't outside the wire but certainly not inside the wire...sort of a DMZ, I guess) to get everything working. Was up until about 0300 0100 getting everything setup. 'Tis nice to not have to watch my CHU-mate's television - particularly since he's always watching the local arabic channels.

Likewise, when I woke up this morning someone had left a beach umbrella (I guess you'd call it) outside my CHU. I have a chair outside to sit in so I guess some anonymous benefactor decided to off-load some gear prior to shipping out. Requires a picture when it is light out.

Good times.

[Update] all of this allowed me to watch the Pats last night. I did wonder, while watching Monday Night Countdown, if folks back home were out and about watching the same thing around 1900 Eastern.

Absentee ballot...how to vote?

I have a few days before I drop the thing in the mail (the one thing that the military ensures will 1) actually get to the US and 2) get there on time) and I'm actually somewhat conflicted.

Clearly I'm going to vote Mark Warner for the Senate. Who in Virginia is not? Seriously...if Warner pulled 70%+ of the vote I would not bat an eye. It would not surprise me if he received more than half of the Republican vote (given the alternative of that idiot Gilmore).

However, when it comes to voting for the bubba that gets all the marbles...I'm finding myself conflicted.

I really dislike Obama. I find him to lack substance and I really get annoyed when people start running for President the minute that their ass hits the seat in the Capitol. Joe Biden is enough to queer me from the entire thing...Biden puts Obama's narcissism in a box. The fact that the rest of the world is so in the tank for The One is almost reason enough to pull the lever for McCain just to tell everyone else to go pound sand, thank you very much.

I've got a McCain sticker on my car (unless my parents have removed it) though it probably is pretty lonely up there in the People's Republic of Massachusetts. If I vote for McCain I'm really going to have to hold my nose. The McCain of 2000 is gone and has been replaced by someone that I really don't recognize...the solution to everything is not to lower taxes. McCain has been correct on his assessment of what needs to be done here in Iraq - and was correct when it was unpopular and when Obama was flat wrong. While it clearly was a principled decision - and even somewhat maverick (bottoms up, people) - I'm not sure that McCain should be given the benefit of the doubt on every decision (*koff* Palin *koff*) simply because he made a good one in the past. Granted, it was the biggest decision on one of the biggest issues of our day. Plus, the crazy Christian right scares the bejeezus out of me.

I can't believe I'm going wobbly. I wish Guliani were still around.

Decisions, decisions...

10 minutes ago

Point - Counterpoint

The stuff you get via email...

The sad tale of a bike

I've been desperate to get a bike since I've been here...even though we have two vehicles at the office which anyone can use (though one is likely going away in Nov) it is rather hard to "get away." Right now I'm basically confined to Camp Victory and I know that it is going to start gnawing at me in a while. On my day off I'd like to be able to ride to Liberty or Slayer to look around, take pictures etc. I suppose I could use the bus system but I hate waiting around. Besides, I'm tired of humping my ass 15+ minutes each way to work every day.

So, to make a long story short...I got a bike the other day. After repeatedly striking out at the PX (and not willing to purchase the gay bikes they had) I finally asked one of the guys in the office to procure a bicycle for me...the bubba is like James Garner's charater in The Great Escape (Lt. Hendley - "The Scrounger"). Within 20 minutes (and $50) of asking him if he knew of a bike that was available it appeared...complete with helmet. I suppose the saying "you get what you pay for" really is true...I have no idea where the bike came, how it was "procured" or whatever. Suffice to say I took it without a test-ride which was mistake number one...The cables that shift the gears were jammed / rusted / or something...suffice to say when I got on the bike at about 2330 that evening to ride home (in the pitch dark) I discovered the hard way that the only gear that worked on the bike was 1st gear. Seriously.

I must have looked like a complete idiot with my feet flying around as fast as possible yet going nowhere. Likewise, I was drenched by the time that I got back to my hooch. The bike was returned the next day.

The search continues.

The blog is back (sort of)

Haven't written much lately...I even received an email about it...so I guess one or two people do read the foolish thing. lol.

Truthfully I've been both 1) busy and 2) very fatigued lately. I sort of missed the jet lag effect when I came over here but for some reason it has hit me pretty hard the last week or so. Maybe it is because I haven't been to the gym in a week or so but I've found myself many nights staring at the ceiling until 3, 4, 5 in the morning. Not good.

Dow Jones

Holy shit.

No power

Good thing that I have a travel alarm clock as a backup...I woke up today about an hour late due to the fact that I had no power in my hooch (nor did the whole LSA). The most annoying part is the fact that no showers were available either.

Given the fact that it was about 90 degrees at 0930 it will be a fun experiement to see if Old Spice: High Endurance really lives up to the marketing.

Trip canx...

...damned near as fast as it was scheduled. Contractors don't rate terribly high on the Space-A lists...

Bummer.

Heading to the IZ (maybe)

Looks like I *may* be heading to the Green Zone later in the week. 1,000,001 things could come up to canx the trip but I'm hopeful...would be nice to see something besides Camp Victory.

Are we making a difference?

We, as in "I", and the rest of the public affairs staff...

Tough question and one I hear bandied about a bit every now and again. For better or worse we're not being judged on metrics per se as any old idiot could blast out press releases and be down with it...nor do we particularly care what the big-time media have to say about Iraq (crickets...).

Right now we're focused primarily on hometown outreach. A lot of the bubbas and bubbettes in the Army come from the smallest places imaginable (trust me). Whatever their individual reasons were for joining the Army (escape, travel, warfighting etc) in many cases some of these folks are among the first to ever really break away from their local communities. In many respects I suppose it is tough on them and it is probably somewhat tough on the small towns as well...particularly as many of them are on their second, third, or fourth trip to either Iraq or Afghanistan.

It is somewhat interesting, however, pitching stories to hometown news outlets particularly when the press release is just the hook to get the local media to do an interview with Private Tommy who is out in the field. Be it small town papers, local radio programs etc it is often funny to listen to assignment editors, anchors, broadcasters etc say "I've never had anyone call me from halfway across the world." Many of the folks are more than happy to do an interview with a local soldier that is deployed over in this broken country. No public affairs talking points, no story to push, no redlines...it is an interesting approach to the issue, I think. The soldiers seem to like it and the local media and townies seem to be pretty thrilled about it as well.

Oddly, getting local network (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX) affiliates to agree to do an interview. Bizarre...I figured that they'd be the difficult ones to snag.

My office

My little corner of the Media Operations Center

Birthday in Iraq?

No booze, no bars, no women, chow hall food...what to do...?

Water balloons were the order of the day. It is the little things that make you feel normal.

Never thought I'd read *this*

Clicky

Associated Press
BOSTON -- The Boston Red Sox brushed aside the 100-win Angels in four games, dismissing their best-in-baseball regular season as last month's news.

When it turns to October, no one dominates like Boston.

WTF? I remember back in Oct 04 heading to the Rhino Bar in DC getting all drunked up with people while watching something that my father and my grandfather had never seen (though had been oft-considered).

While trophy after trophy is nice, I suppose, the Sox have come unmoored from history by all of this winning (frankly I enjoy it more when the Pats win it all). The sad thing is that all of the bandwagon mooks from 2004 now have hats that are just as faded and grungy as mine.

The only saving grace has been knocking the (Anaheim) Angels out in the first round in 2004, 2007 and now 2008...I'm never going to get tired of looking at the confused face of Mike Scioscia...that dude's team falls apart during the playoffs quicker than a drunk sorority girl.

Losing freedom to maneuver

Politically, that is...the end result of The Surge.

It is pretty clear that the surge worked as intended. Hell, it was clear months ago (the dirty secret, of course, was that the surge started way before it was announced). Violence? Way, way down. Political reconciliation? Going in fits and starts. Well, that is not 100% true as politicial reconciliation is going much better between Iraqis (as is Iraqi provincal control) out in the hinterlands. Much like the politicans in DC that believe that they are the axis upon which the world revolves, policy makers and analysts back in the States seem to use "reconciliation" to only speak of movement at the Iraqi national level.

In many ways the Surge has been too successful. I'm not sure that FM 3-24 covers the following situation:

Violence in Iraq is ticking back up in certain areas of the country - particularly where there is local Iraqi control. In these areas of the country there remains a healthy number of bad dudes and other assorted psychos. In the past Coalition Forces had the freedom to manuever, politically, to do what needed to be done to take care of the problem. Detain, kill, snatch, grab, whatever. In many of these provinces and other areas where we have "known knowns" (in the words of Rummy) the security operations now have to be pushed through the Iraqi political wickets. Suffice to say that the Iraqis are not always the best partners...CF coordinate in good faith on the one hand and on the other the Iraqis make sure that the dude(s) that we're after bug out in plenty of time to avoid capture, death etc. There are certainly ways to mitigate this (and they are being employed, of course) but trying to pacify restive areas where the local political class is disinterested at best and wholly complicit at worst is sort of like using a shovel to throw water back at the incoming tide.

Death of a soldier

Since I've been in Iraq a soldier has died almost every day in the MND-C AO. Sometimes just one soldier, sometimes two, and the blessed days where no one is killed or injured. I'm not really sure what to make of it, to be honest.

When I was working at the Pentagon the death of an airman seemed to be more of an academic exercise, for lack of a better description. Due to the AF's role in the GWOT the likelihood of dying is pretty small. This is not a criticism of the AF, of course, just a recognition of the fact that their role in the Joint Fight is somewhat different. The tip of the spear would cease functioning without the AF. That being said the death of an airman was always somewhat remote. We did talk about it, read about the deaths in the daily Ops Brief etc but it was just a number on a chart. In the Big House I'd describe the reaction as a kind of institutional existential angst.

Things are a bit different out here in the sandbox. The lens through which I view the situation is one primarily of a Public Affairs staffer. For better or worse that generally means that I'm one of the first people at higher headquarters to know when things have gone to shit. It is an odd thing to be in the office at 2330 (after a 14 hour day) and see a death notice being staffed through the coordination process.

Even though the soldier likely died somewhere out in BFE Iraq there is a real sense of weariness and sadness I see from the soldiers around here every time one of their own is sent off to meet his or her maker. It is an odd thing and rather hard to describe without witnessing it...moments of quiet and then two minutes later it is time to drive on and continue with the day's work. I suppose things might be a bit easier if a soldier was out on patrol and simply was shot. For better or worse that fits in a neat and tidy intellectual box...sometimes that stuff just sort of happens to men at war. However, when you hear stories that Iraqi Police were detained under the suspicion of being party of the death is makes you wonder...particularly when the same guy that was killed was training the police and breaking bread with the same individuals the day before. Likewise, when the locals that soldiers have spent months getting to know turn out to be the IED makers...it can be somewhat difficult to rationalize this sort of behavior.

At the end of the day the fact of the matter is that, for me, the death of a soldier is just a number of a chart as I have no real frame of reference. I think that I expected things to be similar to reading the daily death updates in the Washington Post...there is nothing that the media enjoy more than a steadily rising bodycount. The reality is that the numbers are the same to me...whether I read them in the Post, hear about it at the BUB or happen to be on the Ops floor when the report comes across the wire. The difference, I guess, is that I'm seeing the reactions of all those that have to put next-of-kin notification procedures into motion and I see them drafting up the release that will be add to the Post's count the next day.

Even though this must be old hat for many of the people here by now it is somewhat unsettling (in a good way) to know that the process kicks into high gear to get a death notification released. The death of a soldier is still something that is cause to wake up commanders and senior leadership in the middle of the night to keep them informed and have them make decisions. In an age where many soldiers have access to email and cell phones out in the field the staff at headquarters still uses words like "solemn obligation" and "final tribute" when it comes to ensuring that a family hears about the death of their loved one from a commander first instead of from one of the soldier's buddies in the field. One often hears about the loneliness of command or the weight of command...which is something that I really don't know the first thing about. However, I can imagine that times such as the above certainly contribute to the experience. In a world where half-measures are often the rule rather than the exception I suppose it is good to know that these professional men take this awful duty very, very seriously.

I can sit here and post this on a blog that no one reads, drink my coffee and consider the state of the world. One question I have been asked from the folks back at home is: what is war like? Life at Camp Victory is really a poor substitute for life at war as nothing really happens here. War, for me, didn't have a "face" until recently. I guess if I had to describe the "face of war" now to anyone that asked I'd describe the look on the face of the soldier that has to announce "we've had another one killed..."

Something to think about, anyway.

Cat on a hot tin roof

This dude has been hanging around the MOC lately. His favorite thing to do is jump from the roof of the building on to the roof of the break area...bizarre.

The natives are getting restless...

Ramadan is basically over so the small arms fire is back...

Top 10 at 10...

Not bad to work into work and have BFBS Radio playing a block of old school Metallica and GnR.

Blowing Dust...

Dodge City South

My hooch is in an area of Camp Victory called Dodge City South. All of these pictures were taken the other day as I was walking back from chow.

On the map this area is referred to as "Central Park." At night it is used as a parking lot but during the day sometimes you'll see soccer or rugby played...it is basically one giant dust bowl.

Lookin at DCS from Central Park

This box is one of the many bunkers / shelters that they have around VBC. When "incoming" is sounded one is advised to find one most riki tik...

Looking down the "road" that I walk back to my hooch; I'm at the far end on the left

My hooch. My bed is on the right. I'm not sure if I'm going to stay here or put in for a transfer...hence my lack of unpacking. The guy that I live with is some old dude that has been here on his own for a while...he's taken up all the plugs, the cable drop etc. Plus he is always sleeping and gets up everyday around 0400. I'll see what happens, I guess.

Where is Matt?

Just in case anyone wants to know....


The blue box is Baghdad International Airport, the Yellow Box is Camp Victory and the Green Box is the Green / International Zone (click on the picture to see a larger size)

The Yellow Box is Dodge City South...where my hooch is

My home away from home

Google Earth has quite a few pictures of the area in and around BIAP, VBC etc

Eid at-Fitr food

Tonight, the end of Ramadan, begins Eid al-Fitr. The long and short of it is that Muslims break the fast of Ramadan.

To celebrate, and to ensure that we understand the appropriate cultural bits, they had an Eid celebration tonight at the MWR. It was basically a small presentation about Eid plus a bunch of food (I love Middle Eastern food). The double-bonus was the fact that it meant that I could avoid the DFAC tonite...even though it was chicken cordon bleu night (not to be missed from what I hear).

Briefly, my review of the food...

Chickpea samaosa: awesome
Meat samosa: awesome
Lamb kabab: awesome
Chicken kabob: awesome
Stuffed grape leaves: awesome
Salad-type dish with spicy dressing: awesome
Dates: awesome
Various Middle Eastern sweets: awesome

Very good end to the day.

First IDF attack

Had the first confirmed incoming IDF (indirect fire...artillery, mortar, rocket etc) today. All in all it was rather lame. The "All Clear" came pretty quickly.

I think that in my head I had planned to some sort of profound post but the fact of the matter is that I was more entertained hearing the C-RAM light up...these things just jumped up near the top of my "most awesome" list.

Good weekend

The last few days have been pretty good...no doubt due to the fact that we get Sunday off. As I was rehasing with my friend Amanda (who spent some time here herself) I'm counting the weeks in steaks.

I generally have no idea what day it is since we're in the office all the time. Every Friday the chow hall serves steak...the only way that we know it is Friday is the fact that there is steak. I have one steak down...43 steaks to go until I get out of here.

Went for a run yesterday...probably about 3 miles. To be technical, I went hashing...though with NA beer (Lowenbrau is not too bad, Coors tastes like water that someone put their cigarette out in...). All in all it was good times and nice to meet folks that I didn't know in order to get a little mental space from the office.

Probably about 85 degrees this AM. Not too bad. I have several pictures of the area where I live ("Dodge City South"). Of course I forgot to bring my camera to the office today...ugh.

Ran into some folks yesterday that I was at CRC with...good to seem them here. Their orders were all jacked up so they had to spend a week in Kuwait...not fun. They're a mix of Human Terrain, PSYOPS and other "non-lethal effects" folks. Interesting crew. Saw one of the girls, Leslie, last night while I was reading a book and having coffee at Green Beans. Cute girl, ex-OGA type...one of the guys that I work with has declared her "his project" for this deployment. We'll see how that goes.

Walked in Al Faw palace yesterday (forgot my camera, of course). It was built by Saddam to celebrate the "victory over Iran." Talk about a waste of money - though it is very pretty inside. Out near BIAP there is also the "Victory over America" palace (from the Gulf War)...in a twist of fate it is unfinished. Apparently the MWR folks give tours on Sunday. Will have to check that out at some point. Since all things come in threes...apparently Saddam also had money printed to celebrate the "Victory over the Jews" (1968 war) which can be purchased at the Hajji market. Seems to me that brother is batting about 0.000...

Missed all of the football yesterday...grumble. Luckily the Pats can't lose if they don't play...

I keep forgetting how to log into this thing...

Our satellite for commercial internet runs through Austria...even though I've managed to force Google to show an English page all the rest of the stuff (blogger, gmail etc) comes up in German. Very annoying.

Philosophy and Cigar Friday

Friday night is apparently Cigar Night here in The 'Dad (if you can call Swisher Sweets cigars...). It was nice as we basically took time off of work (2200-2330) to sit around and bullshit.

The question on the table:

We've spent a trillion dollars in Iraq, have killed about 95% of the bad dudes and psychos, and are rebuilding the country from the ground up. Iraq, as a country, has been given an opportunity that no other country in the region has had since the League of Nations Mandates expired (and the Europeans left and simply drew borders on a map...they're good like that).

Is there any real hope that Iraq simply won't turn into a mess like the rest of the countries in the region (Iran, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria etc...)?

Dunno. Food for thought, I guess.

About all the pictures...

I was going to put all of them in earlier posts but I'm stuck on stupid when it comes to blogger (read: too lazy to go edit the old posts).

Plus most of the earlier parts of this blog were written in Word and copied over since I was bingo Internet for many days...

Proof that I'm actually here

Mocked by Irish trash bins...

Related post:

Stuck in Shannon

GENERAL ORDER #1

[A primer for the personal conduct of U.S. Troops, including restrictions of Islamic Law and Arabic customs]

Relevant bit:

2. Prohibited Activities:

c. Introduction, possession, use, sale, transfer, manufacture, or consumption of any alcoholic beverage.

Good Times in Columbus, GA

Related post:

Heading off Post

Random pictures from CRC

Related Posts:

Thoughts on CRC

Further thoughts on CRC

Looking towards my hooch


Looking towards the DFAC

My building

Bed...

Redneck Cooler