Drink a Cup of Kindness Yet

Well this is it for 2006. My final post. This has been an interesting year. So many changes. Lots of new things. Many challenges. But I am real happy right now. One year ago...I was a civilian. Now I am a combat veteran. (ha-ha...well at least a combat "zone" veteran.) December 31st, 2005 I went to G-man's Apartment for a party that was wild and crazy and I can't tell you how much fun. One of the things that we all did was wrote out a "New Year's Wish" that we tied to helium-filled balloons. Right at midnight...we released them all at once and they floated out to space. I watched my balloon...with my wish as it disappeared in to the blackness of the darkened night. My wish? Well my wish was that I would once again have a career in the military. For the previous several weeks I had starved myself in order to lose the weight that I needed to in order to qualify for the military. From mid-November until mid-January I lost 33 pounds. It was the worst time to lose weight with the holidays and the parties and such...by I managed to do it. I remember thinking about volunteering to do something bold...like volunteering to go to Iraq. It was a far-fetched idea...but I knew that if I got a chance to do it I would. And here I am. In Iraq...a day after Saddam was hung for his crimes. Wow. Sometimes you get your wish. I don't know where everyone is spending their New Year...but I hope you all have a wonderful time. Dont drink and drive kids. Baby...I will be kissing you in spirit at mid-night...you do the same. I promise to do my best to spend New Years with you next year. To all my friends back home....my Albany family...thank you for supporting me in this mission I am on. Your unconditional support for me makes me so happy and proud to have you in my life. I don't know what I would do without you all. To my family down in Kentucky and Tennessee....I truly love you all. I miss each and everyone of you. Thank you for loving me as I am. That means everything to me. My wish for 2007? World Peace. Of course. Ha-ha. HAPPY NEW YEAR! See you all next year.

Hell...Table for One

I wonder what Saddam is doing right now in the hereafter? You think he got his 87 virgins? I doubt it. Maybe he has reunited with his sons. I think they all ended up in the same place. He was hung today by his neck until he was dead. Most likely his death was less painful then most of the people who died under his orders. By all accounts...he was a very bad man. The worse ever? Naaaa...but still pretty freakin bad. Now I believe that until the very last moment...he could have reconciled with his "god"...but more then likely he died like he lived....still in denial...still thinking he was President of Iraq. I truly believe we all get what's coming to us...that karma is a bitch....and I believe that this despicable man is now paying the price for his life. Is it right to say God save his soul? I am not sure. But whatever. I will not judge someone who will be judged (if it has not already happened) by someone mightier then I will ever be. The next few days will be a struggle for us. We are expecting bad shit. We are bracing for more violence. More Sunni reprisals against the Shia's and vice versa. And us caught in between. It is cold over here now and we are stressed beyond belief. We hope and pray that the new year will mean real changes and offer some hope. But this is something we don't control. It is not in our hands. Only thing we can do is take cover for a few weeks and hope everything works out.

It was the Day before the Day Before Christmas and all through the Combat Zone

Well there is only two shopping left until Christmas and I know that everyone at home is stressed out about all the shopping they have to do and blah blah blah. But try to relax. It will all be over soon. Over here...Christmas is in the air and we have been getting packages from our family and donations from organizations that are dedicated to supporting the troops (even if they don't support the war.) We have so much stuff right now that we are running out of space. But the excess stuff will not be wasted. We are packing it up and bringing it around to the civilian workers who are here from countries such as India, Guyana, and the Philippines. I met one of these workers from the Philippines at the PX the other day and we met for coffee one evening and talked about his situation. He is about 27 and has a wife and 3 children at home. He has been away from his family for over a year and is not likely to see them for at least another year. He told me that he works for a sub-contractor that provides workers to AAFES (that's the organization that runs the px). According to him, the contractor gets about $3000 per month for each worker it provides AAFES. Out of that $3000...the average worker is given a measly $600 per month! With no benefits. They live in large open-bay tents with heaters and air conditioners that work only half the time. To add insult to this, the workers have to pay the placement agency thousands of dollars just for the privilege of working. The average worker has to pay $500 dollars a month for the first 6 months. Which means he or she is working for about $100 monthly until they are able to pay off what they owe the agent. Pretty outrageous huh? It disturbs me that there is so much disparity between what government pays the contractors and what is actually passed on to the workers. I think that this type of exploitation is horrible and is one of the most offensive things I have seen since I have been here. Don't ask me why I am so offended by this but I guess it's just the bleeding heart liberal in me. Before I go...I am going to do something about this. Mark my words. Some of my fellow soldiers and I are going to visit some of these contractor villages on Christmas to make sure they know that we appreciate what they are doing for us. If I can give them a little cheer...well then it will be a very happy and meaningful Christmas. I hope Christmas is as meaningful for all of you. Merry Christmas!

The Game of Lowered Expectations

A few days back there was a headline in the Stars and Stripes Magazine that said this:

"GENERAL: IRAQ VICTORY NOT IN TROOPS' HANDS"

I posed with my buddy Blucher with the newspaper and didn't realize the irony in this until later. It did not take the comments of a General to remind all of us here in Iraq that "victory was not in our hands." It never has been in our hands. This war was created out of thin air. It was built on a foundation of lies. Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11. There were no weapons of mass destruction. We certainly were not greeted as liberators. Yet the administration until the last few days continued to insist that its civilian and military leaders in the pentagon drink the cool-aide and try to bullshit us all into believing that we could win this thing from a military vantage. We never did get that whole "winning the hearts and minds" thing down. But I guess now even the most optimistic "cool-aide" drinkers are seeing the writing on the wall. We have lost this war. There is, in my humble opinion, no hope for victory in Iraq. So what do we do? The choices are limited...escalate the war...immediate withdrawal...gradual withdrawal. Over the next several weeks we will hear about these choices and the advantages and disadvantages of each of these. I speak for myself...but I know I and alot of my fellow soldiers are prepared to do whatever is necessary to help end this nightmare with a level of honor and dignaty. But rest assured...we are not drinking the "cool-aide". We know we are fighting impossible odds and a losing battle. But we will soldier on. We just have to move the guide post a bit...lower expectations...and salvage what is left of hope. That is all we soldiers can do. Victory is not in our hands...but neither is the loss. We didnt lose Iraq. Bush lost Iraq. In the end...history will not be kind to those who got us here. But I know this....we still love our country...and we have done our best. We will do our duty until the end...whatever that end is. God help us.

Call National Grid - My Power is Out

Actually, almost all the electric on Camp Anaconda has been out for about 24 hours. We have electric in two places-- at the office and at the Gym. We do not have power in our "hooches" though. Even the pumps that control the showers are down, so we all smell a bit. Last night it was about 38 degrees so we all froze. 38 Degrees is a far cry from that 133 degree day in Kuwait let me tell you. They tell us to expect the power on by early tommorow morning. Ah well. It could be worse. Every now and then we do go through these outtages and this is just one of those times. If it happens in the summer heat...well that would be alot worse. I have a bit of a cold. Seems like everyone around me is sick. Its never nice to be sick, but its worse when you are already working 14 hours a day and have the day to day stress we are going through. And of course it is compounded by the additional stress we feel by being away from our families and friends during the holidays. Even over here...we worry about our shopping lists. The attacks continue and recently there were a few casualties. No one I know. Thank God. The days are counting down for us all. I have 65 days and a wake up until I come home on leave. That will be around February 14th. With any luck....I will share a romantic dinner with my S.O. Well, at any rate, I hope the power comes on soon. It is suppose to be even colder tonight and I am smelling like a fat man who spent a week in a sauna. Take care my peeps.

Me and more Me

Here are some recent pics of me. Hope you all enjoy! The pic on the top is a pic of me in the guard tower protecting you all from god knows what. Ha-ha. Second is me posing with the Christmas tree Karin and Warren sent me. Third is me and Mike (one of my soldiers) and bottom is me standing outside Al Faw Palace in Baghdad.

100 days in the "Combat Zone"

Well, its Saturday afternoon and we had kind of a easy day so far. We spent most of the day decorating for the Holidays. I put up my little tree sent to me by Warren and Karin. I got a really neat package from them that had all kinds of goodies including snacks and holiday decorations and a very nice card. Thanks guys! I really appreciate them (including the pictures of me with the boys and Elvis.) Getting emails and packages are the highlight of my days over here. Time is slowly but steadily going buy. Today is the 101st day that I have spent in the combat zone of Kuwait and Iraq. It is hard to believe but I am almost a third of the way through. I also have been counting down the days until I come home for R and R leave. As of today....74 days. We are trying to hard to get into the Christmas spirit over here...but it is very hard. This will be one of the toughest holidays for most of us because of being so far from home and away from those we love. But we do have each other...and thats a comfort. On Tuesday I flew to Baghdad again and spent the day. That was a fun trip. I took my Major and my right-hand man, Blucher. It was their first time down there so I was kind of the tour guide. We flew out very early and were picked up at the Heliport by our counter-parts at MNC-I. (Multinational Corp - Iraq). Thats our higher headquarters. We had breakfast then went to some meetings for a few hours and then walked around Camp Victory for awhile. Why they call this Camp Victory I don't know. Hmmmm...I thought the war was still un-decided at this time. Maybe they ought to call it Camp Stalemate. Anyway, we got a chance to meet some other paralegals and see soldiers from all over the world while we were there. After a long day, we took our return flight back to Anaconda and landed about 945 pm. It was nice to get away from the office for a day. Nice mental break. The rest of the week I have spent doing basic legal work including preparing for a few court martials. Tommorow, Sunday, I am taking the day off. We don't get many of these so I am looking forward to it. The last 100 days have been very interesting. I don't believe I have ever packed so much into such a short time. The time is going pretty fast. I am glad for that. Here is hoping the next hundred days goes as quickly!