posted @ 22:04...

Happy New Year!
My resolutions: as yet undetermined...

What are yours?

posted @ 07:59...

Yesterday I went with some guys on a convoy to two different little suburbs of Baghdad to pick up and drop off paperwork. It was actually kind of fun. The Iraqi people who work at these particular offices are very nice, giving us tea/coffee/soda. They speak excellent English. One lady apologized for her bad English, explaining that she wasn't herself lately because her life and the lives her children had recently been threatened. (This is a whole different set of priorities and concerns than what the average American deals with. Try to remember this woman the next time you're stuck in traffic, or your latte doesn't have the right amount of cinnamon.)

The attorney that I go with is learning a little Arabic from them, and when we left, they said things like “Happy Christmas” and "Have a good New Year." They also thanked us for what we do, and told us to be careful, which meant a lot considering their citizenship.

One guy who works at one of these places has a fascinating story. (Of course, I won’t use his name, or say where in Iraq he lives.) He left Iraq in the early 1960's to get an education in England . He ended up with 4 degrees, including a master's, and he set up a pretty nice life. Meanwhile back in Iraq, Saddam Hussein executed his father, and confiscated his father's very prosperous business. So the guy returned home, intending to set his father's affairs in order... and got stuck here. Saddam wouldn't let him leave, and he’s been here ever since. So, there’s at least one person who's glad we're here.

This man also told a story about a certain village of 20,000 people. A few men from the village conspired to kill Saddam Hussein. The assassination attempt failed, and the men were, of course, dealt with. But Saddam went two steps further. He had half of the village's residents killed. That's 10,000 people put to death. He then had chemicals sprayed all over the village's surrounding farmland to keep the crops from growing. I'm convinced that Saddam Hussein is/was mentally ill. As sick as this is, hearing about it boosted my morale. Sometimes I get to thinking about how pointless this war is… And then I think about my wife and son, and I get lonely. But hearing stuff like this, and knowing that I'm a part of making it better, helps a lot.

posted @ 06:00...

Help Tsunami Victims

posted @ 22:04...

It's right around one o'clock in the A.M. (4:00 PM Texas time), and I await my guard shift, which doesn't actually start for another two hours. I couldn't sleep though, knowing that I'd have to get right back up and come down to work. Aside from my brief stint watching Iraqis paint, last night was my first guard duty experience since the deployment began. The suicide bomber at the Mosul DFAC caused everyone's security to assume a grand thickness. To keep guard duty types from being spread too thin, they're even having us legal guys do it. Unfortunately, they're not giving me the most convenient of shifts. I shouldn't complain though: there are guys living in a lot worse conditions than I am.

Speaking of conditions... Last night was cold. Not as cold as Northern New York cold, but colder than Texas cold. My coffee, GameBoy, Matt Braun book, and Wigwam socks brought me through a long three hours. Yahoo Weather says it's currently 23 degrees (F) in Baghdad.

But this is supposed to be the desert, you say! Yep, the desert in winter. Reminds me of a story my dad used to tell about camping in the Arizona desert somewhere near Tempe, and how he set a boiling cup of coffee down, and within minutes the liquid was turning to ice. I'd like to hear that story again, just to hear my dad tell it.

posted @ 17:07...

My Claims duties are pretty easy, but time consuming. I may have described them in the past, but I'm too lazy to go back and look through the archives. Reimbursing Iraqi Nationals for damages, deaths, and injuries caused by the negligence of Coalition Forces seems like a good idea. It helps with the whole "winning hearts and minds" thing.

Unfortunately, there is no way to really determine who is going to end up with the money we give them. If someone dies as a result of a Bradley squashing their car, and the family can prove it was one of our vehicles that did it, we'll pay the family a good pile of cash. But who's to say that family won't turn over (or be "persuaded" to turn over) some or all of the cash? The same question applies to a simple fender-bender. Who's to say there aren't insurgents submitting claims (legit or not), and trying to kill us with money we gave them? Sick irony.

The key to getting a claim paid by the U.S. Government is evidence. Some folks have statements by military units acknowleging the mistake. Good. That's evidence that proves the U.S. military is at fault and should pay the claim. But when somebody brings in a picture of a guy in a cast, a house that was broken into, or a vehicle riddled with bullet holes, what does that prove? The injuries and damages are clear, but they don't realize that the evidence needs to show that we were at fault. That guy hurt his arm, the house got trashed, and the car got shot up. But it may not have been us.

Some claims are ridiculous: Several different guys have tried to drive right through U.S. checkpoints, ignoring signs, hand signals, and verbal warnings -- all telling drivers to stop or they will be shot. And then they submit claims to be reimbursed for the bullet holes and hospital visits after their cars perforated from machine gun fire. Some are downright sad: One woman had three daughters who were riding with several other people in the back of a minivan. When they drove inadvertently into a fire fight between insurgents and Coalition Forces, the van caught fire and everyone in it burned to death. We couldn't pay the claim, because the claimant (mother) couldn't remember what day it happened, she had no evidence as to who was responsible, and besides that, U.S. law prohibits paying claims that arise from "combat-related incidents."

Speaking of the checkpoints, I have a buddy from the volunteer fire dept back home who is a Marine somewhere over here now. He wrote the following about his recent experience manning a checkpoint (oh, and it helps to imagine it all being spoken with an Irish accent):

I set my vehicle up to block inbound traffic on a main road... I've got my gun trained on the road, i've got barbed wire on the road, i've got reflective triangles on the road, i've got two Marines dismounted on the road and then i've gotsome very stupid individuals ... One guy ignored our shouts and arm signals to stop and turn around (just like the other cars were doing w/o a problem) and just kept going. I popped a signal flare at his car which landed right in front of him and glows a 20 foot circle brght red: still no reaction. I fire 8-10 rounds of 7.62mm right in front of his approaching vehicle which bounced up into his engine block and only manages to slow down a little. Believe me, I am playing by the rules here but this guy is getting really close. We are all ready to rip him to little pieces right as he appraches the wire and he then stops, waves at us as if we were all best buddies and turns around.

Ding dong #2 stops when i fire a flare at him and backs up frantically and crashes into a second car and the two parties get into a war of words with each other for 30 minutes while we watch from afar...

posted @ 15:55...

Mine is one of many military blogs, and also just one of many that are written by Soldiers in Iraq... A few of 'em link to mine. Recently, I've noticed a lot of visitors coming from MudvilleGazette.com. I appreciate the visits, and I appreciate them linking to me. They're read by tons of folks. They've got a really good entry about the Mosul bombing.

posted @ 08:05...

It was rainy last night, but more of a cold mist. Everything is soaked and muddy, gravel sticking to the boots once again making us a half-inch taller. The mist, coupled with the heat coming off my face fogged up my glasses to the point where I had to gaze over the top of them to see where I was going. I spied the outline of the road in the occasional glow of Humvee lights. Trudging through a mile or so of that gunk just to get something to eat was quite exhausting. But about half way to the DFAC I smelled barbecue. This amazing scent cut through the mist and mud right into my nostrils, reminding me of summer time. It was then I realized just how hungry I was. I had stayed away from the dining facility for at least a day, because of the weather and the security hassle.

I finally arrived. They had gone all out: the place was fully decorated, there was a band playing Christmas carols. Commanders, sergeants major, and first sergeants of different units were serving the food. Those from the 1st Cavalry all wore their blue cavalry Stetsons, which they only bring out on special occasions. The prime rib was amazing. I got mine to go, since I didn't want to be around people, and headed back to my room.

posted @ 09:28...

And so, it's Christmas. I spent the first part of the day opening my box full of presents. I was excited to receive a Gameboy Advance and an mp3/Cd player, among lots of other great stuff. How exciting. Of course, I wish I was in Texas. That goes without saying, I suppose.

I think I'll wander over and get something to eat.

posted @ 10:49...

Plenty has been discussed about uparmored vehicles. Pretty much all the vehicles we use nowadays are uparmored. It's the Soldiers coming north from Kuwait who don't always have uparmored HMWWV's.

The newest trend here is... uparmored people! Actually many Soldiers & Marines in Iraq already routinely wear kevlar helmets & IBA (body armor) everywhere they go. But in light of the events at the dining facility (DFAC) in Mosul, and considering the significant American holiday coming up... We're now wearing our kevlars & IBA. They routinely check ID's at the dining facility, but after the Mosul attack the other day, they're putting on an extra vigilant layer of security on everything... even going so far as to make sure we have our armor plates installed in the IBA. They're also using one of those metal detection wands, like you see in the airport.

I heard someone complain about having to wear the body armor and the hassle of security at the DFAC, saying something like, "This is great, Merry Christmas to us! What a gift: we get to wear this crap..." yadda yadda, etc.

Okay, call it a gift from Uncle Sam. Regarding the kevlar & body armor: The gift here is that you don't die if something blows up. Regarding security at the DFAC: The gift is that maybe we'll catch someone who's trying to blow us up before they get to do it.

posted @ 10:25...

Feeling a little like Bob Cratchet and/or Tiny Tim... Just found out that I don't have to work on Christmas after all! God bless us, everyone!

That'll be nice, but I'm not sure what I will be doing. My roommate's got "It's a Wonderful Life" on DVD, so maybe we'll watch that. Just wish I could have found "A Christmas Story" somewhere. We have a tradition at our house to watch both those movies on Christmas day.

So in case I don't get a chance to post tomorrow, Merry Christmas to my previously nonexistent readership.

In the interest of reminiscing, here are some selected movie quotes:

• "Fa ra ra ra ra... ra ra, ra raaahhh!"
• "You'll shoot your eye out!"

posted @ 08:12...

Wrong John Kerry Gets NY Electoral Votes

Turns out, New York's xenophobic educational system isn't all they think it is. The sad thing is, I predict somebody will try to use this error to claim victory for Kerry.

posted @ 05:58...

This is crazy... Montgomery's Husband: "I had no idea."

Here's a quote from the story...

Montgomery's husband, Kevin, said Monday that when he was presented with a newborn child, he believed his wife's story — that the girl was theirs...

Sorry Kevin, but that's dreadfully unlikely. If you're wife had been pregnant for the past eight or nine months, believe me, you'd have known it. Arrest this idiot too.

posted @ 14:20...

My favorite band is Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers, and I promise I’m not being paid to write about them. In fact, I’m sure they don’t know I exist. They’re country, but nothing like you’d hear from Nashville. They’re rock, but not something tired and contrived like "country rock" or "Southern rock." Most of their stuff brings to mind my fantasies of being an outlaw in the desert southwest.

Some examples of their stuff might be the theme from the TV show "King of the Hill," but that was back when they were called the Refreshments. Same with the popular song "Banditos." ("Everybody knows that the world is full of stupid people / I got the pistol so I’ll keep the pesos; Yeah that seems fair.") But Peacemakers’ newest stuff is so much better.

Once, when my wife was still my girlfriend, we celebrated our anniversary of being a couple in a little town West of San Antonio, even though we knew the band was playing back up in Austin. My wife revealed to me, however, that my anniversary gift was that we would drive back to Austin to see the show, and return to the little town that night. What a great gift! So when we got back that night, I proposed. Well, I was gonna propose anyway, but that was sort of a nice confirmation that this was indeed the right woman.

posted @ 14:02...

Should post this right now: I'm okay... nowhere near Mosul. God bless the folks who are.

posted @ 09:35...

Today's tear-jerker: Return of the Soldier's Ring

posted @ 19:31...

I've been thinking about writing this post for a while now, but I didn't think it would be relevant here. But then I decided that if it's in my brain, it's relavant to my blog. I saw something the other day about homophobia, and how many people sort of assume that conservatives (like me) hate homosexuals. What I hate are misconceptions, and I try to clear them up whenever I have the opportunity, so here goes...

Homophobia is real, especially in the military. Granted, there aren't many gays here that I know of, but one can't escape hearing comments, even comments delivered in jest, that something is "gay," or that somebody looks/acts "like a fag." And yes, many conservatives harbor an unnecessarily strong aversion to homosexuals. Me? I like them. In the limited amount of time I have spent with gay people, I have enjoyed being around them. (Sorry to generalize, but they are typically very funny and intelligent.)

On one hand, according to my beliefs, homosexual behavior is a sin. However, there a lot of things that qualify someone as a "sinner," and I believe all sins are equal. Many might disagree with this, but the way I see it is as follows: one guy sleeps with men, another cheats on his taxes, another cheats on his wife, another tells a white lie to his boss, and yet another exceeds the speed limit while driving (gasp!). Simply put, we're all sinners.

I cannot judge, or otherwise look down on, a gay person. I would be doing a disservice to my faith if I looked at a homosexual with less respect than any other human. Next time you hear some holier-than-thou person who claims to be a Christian going off about what a repulsive sin homosexuality is, remind them that Jesus hung out with people that polite society considered unclean and disgusting. Ask them what they're doing to show Jesus' love to that community?

Why do we like to only deliver our message to people who already agree with us? Because it's safer. We can spout our anti-gay feelings without fear that someone will throw common sense back in our face. The audience will just say "Amen," and move on. Well, this blog is read by conservatives & liberals, Christians & atheists, straight people, and maybe even gay people... You may disagree with me, but this is America; you have that right. Actually, 16% of you are seeing this from other countries, and I'm not even in America right now, so that's kinda irrelevant. Um, this is the Internet; you have the right to disagree. My point is, how cool would it be if Christians actually tried to respond to situations the same way Jesus would?

posted @ 08:35...

Retired Army Colonel, Age 70, sent to Afghanistan

posted @ 09:53...

Now that this trial is over & done with, here's what we've been working on lately:

U.S. Soldier Jailed for Murdering Iraqi

posted @ 16:37...

Several aged copies of Time, Newsweek, and Allure have been read and reread. The crossword puzzles in People have been completed, and we're all sick of reading about the Federlines. A Leiutenant Colonel snores softly in his chair as he and several other Soldiers wait to testify.

This is a military court house waiting room. The court-martial is one in which the accused is on trial for murder. I won't give details, but it's a long process. For the witnesses, anticipation turns quickly to boredom, which gives way to fatigue. Most are "eleven bravos," which is Army-speak for "infantrymen." They're not used to sitting in a waiting room for hours and hours. They're accustomed to going out on patrol, getting shot at, and staying alert. Perhaps they're suffering from adrenaline withdrawal right now.

posted @ 05:21...

One more sign that the world is coming to an end:

Dick Clark Hospitalized for Stroke

posted @ 05:14...

Rumsfeld Hears Gripes From GIs in Kuwait
Some Soldiers finally got to ask Rumsfeld in person about the substandard equipment and long deployments. And even in front of the Soldiers, the secretary sounded as much like a politician as he ever has. One guy asked why they've had to dig through landfills for scrap metal to uparmor their HMMVW's (Humvees).

"You can have all the armor in the world on a tank and a tank can (still) be blown up," Rumsfeld answered. He also mentioned that the government is "sparing no expense or effort to acquire as many Humvees and other vehicles with extra armor as it can."

Meanwhile, for these Soldiers about to drive up here, they're probably wishing they could see some of that expense not being spared. During my three-day drive up here, the HMMWV I was in only had doors on it for the final day, as we headed into potentially hostile territory. The doors wouldn't have stayed on the thing if we'd put them on at the beginning of the trip. The hinges were simply not designed for the heavy steel doors, and we knew we wouldn't be able to get a full three days' service out of the hinges. So we we attached the doors on the morning of day three.

Obviously, a "soft-skinned" HMMWV that's been up-armored is not as safe as one that comes armored from the factory. The factory-armored vehicle will sustain damage from an IED (as in, the front end is blown off), but the passenger compartment is generally untouched. Bolting thick steel doors onto flimsy hinges, and adding a "ballistic windshield" to a soft-skinned vehicle are not sufficient modifications.

Meanwhile (toward the end of the article), the politicians continue to trade sound bites as Soldiers prepare to come north.

posted @ 16:05...

Here's a neat quote:

"The difference between Ordeal and Adventure is Attitude."

(widely attributed to Latitudes & Attitudes magazine)

posted @ 05:31...

A very good friend sent the following link via the comments thingy on my blog, but it was on a post that doesn't appear on my front page. Plus, I thought it was interesting enough to stick on it's very own post:

"The Return of Psyops"
http://www.fair.org/press-releases/cnn-psyops-fallujah.html

No, it's not a mythical one-eyed creature. (That would be "Cyclops.") Psyops (psychological operations) is defined as the "planned use of communications to influence human attitudes and behavior ... to create in target groups behavior, emotions, and attitudes that support the attainment of national objectives. The form of communication can be as simple as spreading information covertly by word of mouth or through any means of multimedia."

It's certainly no secret that Psyops is part of modern warfare, so calling the article The Return of Psyops is a misnomer. It never left. There's a Psyops office practically right next door to me.

Personally, I don't advocate outright lying, but on the other hand, as a conservative, I've known for years not to believe everything I hear on CNN. (Just like, as an American citizen, I know not to believe everything the government says.) Why now would liberals, of all people, be upset about someone manipulating the media? Perhaps because for once it's not them doing the manipulating. The simple, long standing rule of thumb is, if it's in the media it must be taken with a grain of salt. That's common knowledge. Same with the Internet. In fact, this here blog may just be a tool of the vast right wing conspiracy! Not really... but maybe. Ooh, now you're nervous! Me too. Are they using me? Are they using you? Aaaahhhhh!!!!!!

Okay, I've wandered from the point... Seriously, the Fallujah offensive was a great (if not routine), psyops tactic. I honestly didn't know why we would advertise for weeks that we were going to attack. It gave the insurgents plenty of time to move out. But now, thanks to the Fair Media Advisory, we've learned that it was a clever plan by our side to learn how & where they would move. Like I said in another entry that posted around the time of the assault, the enemy uses CNN (and other news outlets) as an intelligence device. Even the Pauly Shore movie "In the Army Now" made fun of this, as they showed the enemy dictator using satellite TV to track American troop movements. All we did in this real live war was to make use of the enemy's own intelligence mechanism to learn more about them.

I feel that journalism, ideally, should be the reporting of events as they happen or shortly thereafter. Journalism was not designed to be a crystal ball. Personally, I think it's pretty darn funny that the media jumped on the reports of the "future assault on Fallujah," because they didn't have the self-control to wait until the news was actually happening before they started reporting on it. One comparison might be the a parent who knows his child will prematurely unwrap the presents under the tree. So the parent wraps up rocks in Christmas paper and places 'em there two weeks before Christmas. The child who tears into the presents before he/she is supposed to will get what they deserve. Lest you doubt my compassion as a father, I promise that I would never do this without actually giving the real presents on Christmas morning.

The article also lets us know that an LA Times "scoop" revealed that it was (gasp!) the Americans who were behind the toppling of the Saddam statue on 9 April 2003. I thought everyone knew it was us who pulled down the statue. But apparently Fair Media Advisory thought it was Iraqi civilians who, in full view of the world, chained it to an American tank and drove that American tank away, pulling the statue down. The Iraqis were happy about it, sure. In fact, they still are. But it was U.S. Marines who climbed on the thing, and a U.S. Marine vehicle that pulled it down. A young Marine, if you'll remember, made the PR mistake of putting an American flag on the statue's head, before replacing it with the more appropriate Iraqi flag. The only thing the Iraqis did was cheer loudly and smack the statue's head with their shoes.

posted @ 15:53...

Here I sit, back at work at nearly 7:00 pm on a Sunday evening. Why? Because I'm locked out of my room. My roommate was asleep when I left this morning, and there was no way he could have known I'd taken off without my key. He's a combat medic, and is out on patrol tonight until who knows when... So since I could not locate the company First Sergeant, I came back to the "shop." At least I've got my Okaki that somebody sent. They're Japanese rice nuggets w/ peanuts baked inside. Sounds disgusting, but actually not bad.

In other news, my son said "dada" the other day. He's forced to look at pictures of me much like Iraqis had no choice but to see images of Saddam everywhere they looked. Just kidding. My wife is doing her part to make sure my son knows me when I get home - and that's very much appreciated. Besides the photos, she plays CD's of my voice reading kids' stories and singing some songs. (Those recordings will not be released to the public, by the way.) She reads books about daddies... and so on. When she was reading one the other night, he said "dada" after a certain line of the book. My wife wanted to make sure that's what he was really saying, so she read the line from the book again. "Dada," he said again. I'm sure he doesn't know the significance of this new sound he's making, but it's one more step toward him knowing me.

posted @ 10:12...

A while back, the unit to which I am assigned moved to an installation about a 30-minute HMMWV drive away. I didn't go with them, since I am essentially part of a "brigade legal team." In fact, I've since been attached to the brigade, which just means they're now accountable for me instead of my unit.

For some reason, the powers-that-be decided that the legal guy (me) needed to come up to this other place and spend the night. Of course, they didn't actually have any work for me to do, so I've been sitting around visiting and watching TV for the past five hours. The convoy up here wasn't too bad. It was weird venturing into "enemy territory." Iraqis are everywhere, and they all stare like crazy. While I was growing up, I was taught that staring at people was rude. But then I just turned down the cigarette a few days ago, so who was I to judge? But anyway, I guess if I was going about my business in my hometown, and some foreign military was constantly rolling through the streets, I'd probably stare too - even if they were there to make the community a better place. The stares are hard to read. The children smile, and so do some of the adults. But most adult males simply stare with a blank expression or an obvious frown. There's no way to tell if these guys are the enemy, or if they simply disapprove of our being here... or even if they're aware of how their facial expressions are perceived by us. We wear no expression as we stare right back at them. But for us, it's scanning the streets. Noting each face as a potential threat, but trying to remember that most are just peaceful citizens.

The building where my unit is located is sort of a high-rise office building by local standards. It's at least 5 floors. I'll be sleeping in the basement tonight, which is really not as bad as it sounds. It's actually a lot nicer than I expected. The whole building is in a perpetual state of disrepair. Things appear to be fixed only for their present use, just long enough to be usable for another few months since they're supposedly closing down this place in February. It must be understood, though, that the military changes its mind about one thing or another every day. So the funny thing is, coalition units could be occupying this delapidated structure for another year.

I thought parts of northern Baghdad that we drove through were pretty interesting, like they might be fun to explore as a visitor. But there's no way I'd want to be standing around there during a war. Even in peacetime, I'd be foolish to simply be there as an American. I'd be better of exploring Europe, since that's still very foreign to me... but I hear they hate us there too.