Jerhad!com

News From Iraq VIII

Iraq Update 8.28.05

Greetings all.  Wow did I crash and burn earlier this week?  I got some sort of stomach thing that just knocked me on my duff.  It took me a full 3 days to get back up to speed.  However, I think I’m better now.  I worked out hard today and survived so that was a good thing

I’ve spent some time trying to re-schedule some training and travel back home but they (the illustrious and all knowing Headquarters) keep changing the damn rules and policy.  I just hope I can get ‘er done.  Hopefully I will be out of here either next week or the week after.  I am definitely ready for a change in scenery.  Although I’m really thinking when I rebuild the back yard fence, I might just do it with T Walls.  They’re not real pretty but they sure are durable.  Of course it’s probably a little overkill in that the neighborhood hasn’t experienced any rocket or mortar attacks probably since John C. Fremont made his ride from Sacramento to Monterey.  I actually do think a canon or two was fired around Alviso but it wasn’t much of a battle.  Gee, how did I get off on that tangent! 

We finally moved into our new office space.  This space used to be the king’s bedroom when Iraq had a king.  It’s unbelievable that there are 63 palaces in this country.  It’s just amazing how the luxury is placed into these edifices but the outsides look very similar and have a limestone brown appearance to them.  We moved all of our files, computer systems, guns, equipment, etc.  There’s a little more space for Investigations so we are happy with the move.  It also gets us away from the upper agency echelon which is just fine with me. 

We were having a philosophical discussion concerning the Iraqis and the dilemma in this country.  Here they are authorized to have an AK-47 in their residence but they are forbidden to take it outdoors.  They have insurgents and street thugs controlling the streets as they care less about running around with AK-47’s, explosives, or whatever else they want to carry.  If the citizenry try to take action against these street hoodlums from their residence, the bad guys just locate their residences and put a RPG in it.  We feel that there is a lot of similarity between this scenario and when the mafia was controlling the streets of Chicago and Cicero and they controlled the local authorities.  Either the police or the military is going to take control of this country or the people will get fed up and you’ll see vigilante action.  I think it’s only a matter of time.  Of course with vigilante action, innocent people can be hurt or killed. 

It’s amazing to watch the news media continually provide nothing but negative stories about this country.  I would be naпve to say there aren’t some major hot spots but there are also parts that are running fairly smoothly.  Of course those smooth running places are the same spots where people are very alert about anyone new or strange coming into their area and, when they do, the authorities are contacted and they do something about it.  I’m primarily referencing the Kurdish areas which seem to have little trouble. 

I’m convinced that the newsies don’t want to see the big picture of what can happen here.  If Iraq falls into civil war and the Sunni’s start getting whacked, you need to remember that there is a lot of this tribe in the neighboring countries who may be inclined to step in.  Another thing to consider is Iran.  Iran is a major exporter of oil and Iraq has about the third largest oil reserves in the world.  Can you see the pattern on that one?  Yet another thing to consider is the insurgency movement.  If the coalition forces moved out tomorrow, do you really think that Al Qaeda or other factions would be satisfied, go home, and leave the rest of the world alone?  Not hardly.  It would just give them a firmer base.  Now let me throw another spin into this.  If any of the above were to happen, do you think Israel is just going to sit by and just let this thing grow and grow?  I think not and I don’t think Israel will be compassionate and/or selective.  Of course after what the Jewish people have been through in the past, I can understand why they have a harsh view of things. 

Please excuse me for being on a political tirade.  I was talking with a few of the workers here.  One of the young janitors speaks English.  He was talking about some Saddam supporters in Fallajuh that were featured protesting claiming to want Saddam back.  He was pointing out these people and asking why they supported Saddam so much.  I answered him with the question, were these people wealthy and enjoyed a lot under Saddam.  He replied that they did.  I then asked are they still enjoying those benefits.  He said no.  I said then you can understand why they want him back.  His eyes grew in understanding.  The more I’m around the common Iraqi the more I see a populous that just wants to be free, be able to earn a living, and live. 

We are having our emergency drill sometime tomorrow.  That’ll be a lot of fun.  I have to check on my trailer mate.  I came in with this guy and he’s been a great person to share the trailer and common bathroom.  He was running today and got a hernia.  Now understand we have a great trauma center but that’s about it.  They showed him how to pop it back in and said he needs to get back to the states and get it taken care of.  Consequently, he’ll be leaving soon. 

I’ve sure been thinking a lot about hunting.  Hopefully I’ll be able to get in the woods a little bit on my return trip but it’ll be luck if it happens.  We seem to be over the dust season.  There hasn’t been a dust storm in weeks and I hope it stays that way.  The nights are getting a little cooler.  Understand I didn’t say cold, I said cooler.  It’s still in the mid 110’s during the day time.  I can break a sweat going from the palace back to my hootch every time.  The bathroom is still hot as ever.  When you go to shower, the water that comes out of the cold tap is hot enough to bathe immediately. 

I cleaned out my hootch on Friday.  You would not believe the dirt on the floor.  I mean it looks like I took a shovel full of fine dirt and threw it in there. 

I met up with a family friend here in Iraq.  We are good friends and the husband is a retired Marine Corp Colonel.  He was here in Desert Storm and now he’s a consultant.  It was great meeting up with him today.  I’m hoping that we can have dinner a few times before he departs.  He’s part of a team assigned to a general performing military reviews.  That’s a real good thing as he can get a helicopter ride wherever he needs to go.  We can get on one for official business but we need to jump through hoops to get on it. 

Well, that’s all for this letter.  Hopefully next time I’ll have more news on the return trip.  Thank you all for your good thoughts and prayers and thank you for those who send e- mails.  It’s always nice to hear from home.  Best regards.  Bob

Germany Blames Katrina and Holocaust on Bush and Global Warming

GERMANY --- German Environazi Minister, Jurgen Trittin, blamed hurricane Katrina and the deaths caused by the storm on George Bush and his decision not to override the US Congress and destroy the world economy by implementing the Kyoto Treaty.  Trittin then added that in fact the entire Holocaust was actually caused by Bush and global warming and not Nazi death camps.

"Zese idiot Americans do not undershtand zat all of da verlds natural disasters are caused by global varming und George Bush," said Trittin.  "Zee Holocaust vas actually a global varming disaster and not zee lies about death camps made up by zee Jews and Americans.  Let zee shtupid Americans die from zere own pollution vit hurricanes und terrorist attacks."

Bush was not concerned by the comments.  "Germany has double-digit unemployment due to its socialist anti-business policies, so the government is forced to hiring as many unemployed people as possible to stick into these made up jobs," said Bush.  "This guy obviously knows as much about science as the French know about deodorant, and he probably got appointed to his current position after three years of unemployment."

On Vacation

  Vacationing down in Manhattan Beach last week, so this week's newsletter is a short one.  More next time!

Jeremy

News From Iraq VII

Iraq Update 8/21/05

Greetings to all from the IZ in Iraq. Wow! What a week this has been.  The last time I wrote I thought at this time I would be winging my way home for some training and some much needed rest.  I was preparing all of my work to be up to date, my laundry all cleaned, and my hootch looking….. well, about as good as a hootch can look under the circumstances.  I had all of my plane reservations booked, my MilAir arrangements made (that’s Military Air but I’m sure you all figured that one out), and I was set to be on the Rino (the up armored bus) out of here on Friday night.  Well, we had a briefing with The Inspector General who is in town.  He decided that there was an insufficient number of special agents in theater and my training and leave were summarily cancelled.  Needless to say I wasn’t real pleased.  This training is being offered only once this year and I really had my hopes up to see my family again and sleep in a real bed with a real mattress --- not just a 6 inch piece of foam mattress. 

As it turned out, I’m still here although my supervisor and his boss have said I can re-schedule training.  On the bright side, I was able to attend our monthly firearms training which was held at the Baghdad Police Academy.  There is a tremendous range there but you have to go through the Red Zone to get there.  The ride is always interesting.  Once I figure out how to turn my camera to video, I’ll try and tape the ride.  The stills don’t do it justice.  I have to admit my mind wasn’t totally focused on my shooting so I didn’t hold the tight groups that I normally achieve.  I did get some practice in with my M-4 and feel much more comfortable with it than when it was first issued to me.  One of the fellows that I know who is with Department of State International Narcotic Liaison (and who is instrumental in getting us access to the range) brought out an old Russian AK-47 and a English Sterling which is a 9mm submachine gun.  Our boss was having a ball with the AK. The Sterling is an interesting piece and is the successor of the British Sten Gun that was assigned to British Commandos during WW II.  This acquaintance is quite a guy.  He was raised in Kenya, presently resides in Florida, is a certified public accountant, and worked for Price WaterHouse Coopers before taking the position that he has.  He is as comfortable discussing audit issues as he is discussing any type of firearms.  Quite a combination wouldn’t you say?

One of my counterpart special agents came up with a great line after seeing more of Baghdad’s finest spots and talking with some of the Pakistani employees that are here.  He said “when we were born in the United States, we hit the lotto.”  No truer words were ever spoken and I discovered more this week that corroborates that statement so well.  I think a few updates back I mentioned that one of our guys, Chris, is about 6’8” and tips the scale at close to 400 lbs.  The Pakistani cooks and waiters were calling him Big Show after a professional wrestler.  We were talking with one Pakistani gentleman who was just elated to have his picture taken with Big Show.  We learned that this fellow is a college graduate and is also a school teacher.  Now I know he is literate in at least two languages, one being English.  Here he is waiting on tables and serving food with a college degree as he can make more money for his family.  His father died when he was two years old.  I know school teachers in the U.S. don’t make much but I just can’t imagine someone with that much education having to wait tables.  We also met some Iraqi construction workers that are paid $10 per day.  We were informed that certain contractors promise these Iraqis $10 per day and then only pay them $6 per day.  People like that just make me sick especially if they are from the U.S.  These workers don’t have much and to take anything away from them that means so much to them and their families is just a crime.  I look forward to hammering someone for doing that.  Also, it’s amazing that even in the better parts of Baghdad, it is still very harsh looking.  All of the houses look the same no matter how well maintained they may be.  They all look like tiny fortresses with T walls or sand bags.  To think that someone would have to spend an entire lifetime here putting up with that is enough to get one really depressed.  All I can say is thank God I was born in the USA and I can go back.  There is no place better.

The reason why I got more insight into Baghdad was that I got my first opportunity to ride on a Blackhawk Helicopter.  The ride was really smooth.  Of course, no one was throwing any metal debris at us so evasive actions were not taken.  I tried to get some pictures from the air but it’s a little tougher when opportunities are flying past you quickly.  The Blackhawk flies only about 250-300 feet off the ground.  They fly fast and low which makes them a really tough target.  It’s really great because the windows are removed due to the hot weather.  There’s only one problem with taking the Helo.  Once you get where you are going, you don’t have transportation except walking.  When you have a flak vest, a helmet, a pack, a gun (and sometimes two) plus ammo, and case documents, that can really be a load especially when the temperature hovers around 115+.  Fortunately everything in the IZ is really close together but in the forward operating bases (FOB), things are really spread out.  It’s a bit of a challenge but nothing that can’t be overcome.

I had to go to a FOB for an interview of a contractor.  The contractor was a great guy.  He’s a special forces 3rd class warrant officer who is still in the reserves but he’s managing construction operations over here with a company comprised of former special forces personnel. I’ve met an associate of his who is equally as nice.  This contractor has his 19 year old son here with him who is working beside him.  His son had a full ride scholarship to a well known Southern university as a field goal kicker.  Apparently, this kid has one heck of a toe.  However, during his first semester, he falls in love (or should I say lust) with a Miss Southern States Hooters or some derivation.  Needless to say he flunks out of school and there goes his scholarship.  Well, his father decides a little Iraqi therapy wouldn’t hurt him.  Of course, his mother wasn’t too keen but finally acquiesced.  I spent about 30 minutes talking with this young man.  To say his eyes have been opened is an understatement.  He has seen what the Iraqis are going through just to try to make a living, to put food on the table, and care for their families let alone try to bring some freedom and order to their country.  He has been here six weeks and has probably matured 4 years.  He is talking about returning home and picking up his football career again and doing some real studying this time.  You can tell that working and living closely with his Dad (they share a hootch) has been rewarding for both of them.   One of the instances that just happened with this young man right before I arrived at the construction sight to meet him is that they were digging a trench to install a septic tank.  He uncovered about 4 Iraqi military identification tags and what was left of a gas mask.  He was fairly sure if he dug further he would find what remained of these soldiers.  Given the condition of the items found, they had been in the ground substantially longer than a few years.  They may have related to the Iran Iraq War or they could have been victims of punishment in Saddam’s Army.  We’ll never know but you could tell the young man wasn’t pleased at uncovering these items.  There is a lot of brutality in this part of the world and as my Dad has always said “life is cheap there.”

I met several new Italian soldiers this week.  While I was on the FOB, I sat down to lunch with one Italian soldier.  I spoke to him in Italian and he responded right away.  Then he looked at my identification and I could see the puzzling look on his face.  His next question was where in Italy was I born.  I felt pleased that my Italian was good enough for him to ask that question.  Also I rode the Blackhawk back with an Italian General and his bodyguard.  I should have spoken to him more but he seemed too busy in his conversation with some U.S. Army “Brass.”  I didn’t want to interrupt just to say Boun Giorno!   

We are losing yet another member of our beloved choir.  He is a guitar player and he is returning home to be with his young family and to take a new job where he will be assisting soldiers re-adjusting to civilian life.  Our choir is losing people rapidly.  We did get one new singer but we will definitely need more. 

Well, it’s about time that I wrap this up.  It’s getting late and I’m beat.  We’ll see if next week, I’ll be able to get some training approved and re-schedule everything.  Until then, thank you for your thoughts and prayers. 

Oh by the way, I know that some of you have been asking what can be done to help here with the orphanages.  One lady that I’ve met is Noha Al-Agha.  She assists with an orphanage.  Although they can always use money, it is very difficult for them to negotiate checks and I would not recommend sending cash under any circumstances.  The checks have to be delivered to Jordan for processing.  The best thing to do is to send materials.  These could be blankets, jackets, school supplies, girls and boys clothing, children’s aspirin, toiletries, etc.  They have children from infants all the way up to mid teens.  Although the summers are very hot here (they are down right sweltering), the winters are cold, i.e. it does get down to freezing at night.  Also, the Chaplains Office here coordinates with several different orphanages so there are several ways of distributing goods.  You can send anything you may wish to contribute to

Special Agent Robert Gorini

Office of Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction

Embassy Annex, Room M202,

APO AE 09316.

PS:  Sorry this is late but on Sunday night I really got sick.  I was in no condition to edit this or do any other work.  I think I’m on the mend but I know I’m not 100% yet.  Hopefully I’ll get better soon.   

Hagel Admits Being Stoned When He Said Iraq Was Like Vietnam

LINCOLN, Nebraska --- Republican Senator, Chuck Hagel, admitted today that he was stoned when he claimed that Iraq was looking like Vietnam last week.  He held an official press conference to explain his statements.

"Dude, I was totally baked when I said that," said Hagel.  "I thought the number said 58,000 casualties, not 1,800.  And I totally forgot about that whole voting thing that happened.  I miscounted the number of freakin' al Qaeda terrorist mercenaries too, man.  I thought it was like, you know, half the country or something.  And some dude told me that the Chinese were arming the terrorists in Iraq with like powerful weapons and stuff.  And when the papers like reported how there might be a draft when the election was happening because Bush was a lying scum of a baby killer, I kind of thought that really happened.  And I was like getting ready to move to Canada and stuff.  So you can probably ignore those statements I made.  Cuz I'm like totally in favor of like that freedom thing.  Whatever might help me get elected Emperor or whatever."

Bin Laden and Zarqawi Hold Worldwide Candlelight Vigil for Cindy Sheehan

WORLDWIDE --- Osama bin Laden and al Zarqawi announced in a joint press conference today that they will launch a worldwide candlelight vigil in support of Cindy Sheehan.  After the vigil, OBL and Zarqawi will behead 100 infidels in her honor and hold a worldwide day for female repression and abuse.

"We support Miss Sheehan 100%," said an al Qaeda spokesperson.  "She has done more for our cause than we have been able to do for the past several months thanks to American soldiers chasing us around the world.  We would encourage Cindy to blow herself up at Bush's home in Crawford in a sign of solidarity with her al Qaeda brothers.  She will be rewarded by being reborn a virgin in paradise and belong to one of the many suicide bombers who have gone before her.  We are anxious to slaughter more infidels in her honor in thanks for her support."

Most of Cindy's supporters were excited to hear about the news from al Qaeda, except that many of the followers were concerned that such a massive candlelight vigil would cause too much damage to the environment.  They suggested merely flashing the "peace" sign instead.

"This is very exciting to see," said on al Qaeda terrorist who managed to sneak across the porous US border to protest alongside Cindy in Crawford.  "Miss Cindy talks about how America is not worth dying for, and how America murders people around the world, and how America is a shameful place.  These are all of the things we want to say, but she actually gets the support of major Democrat politicians who claim to really be patriots.  I could not be more proud at this very moment.  The Democrats hate Bush so much that they will actually support an America hater just to try and make him look bad."

*Credit idea to an anonymous reader

Eco-Terrorist Suicide Bomber Blows Up Sewer in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO, California --- Initially thought to be a blown transformer, investigators have now confirmed that the explosion in San Francisco this week was caused by a suicide eco-terrorist bomber who wanted to rid the world of sewer systems.  Commie Greenstein, a known eco-terrorist, is thought to be the dead suicide bomber.

"We believe that Mr. Greenstein wanted to make a point by blowing up the sewer system," said an investigator.  "He was very vocal about the fact that people should live in the wild and relieve themselves amongst nature like all other animals.  He was very adamantly opposed to sewer systems and bathrooms along with all man-made comforts.  When the socialist board of supervisors in San Francisco actually caved and outlawed public urination last year, Mr. Greenstein went over the edge.  He's apparently been planning this for months."

Palestinians Use Eminent Domain Clause to Reclaim Gaza

GAZA --- Palestinians, emboldened by the recent eminent domain ruling in the United States, reclaimed Gaza under the eminent domain statute.  Claiming that the Gaza Strip would be better served as a body-generating bomb factory than housing for Jewish settlers after a failed invasion of Israel, the case was heard by a guilt-ridden Israeli court and enforced this week.

"If only we knew eminent domain could have been used all along to get rid of the infidels," said one Palestinian terrorist.  "Now we can focus on more bomb factories in order to claim all of Israel from the devils who occupy it.  We're planning to hire the famous American lawyer, John Edwards, to first attempt to take over all of Israel using eminent domain.  In the meantime, we will continue to stay the course and kill the evil women and children living there."

Israel's government officials were shocked to hear that so many Palestinians were not satisfied with the ruling and wanted all Jews dead and out of Israel.  "I thought they just wanted the land back that we occupied after their attempt to destroy us all those years ago," said one official.  "They don't really want all of us dead, do they?  I thought this was just about a little bit of land."

Clinton and McCain Agree to Send a Billion to Die to Fight Global Warming

ANCHORAGE, Alaska --- Hillary Clinton and John McCain witnessed melting snow in the summertime in Alaska and immediately declared a global emergency for global warming disaster this week.  The two resident scientists in the senate vowed to do whatever it takes to prevent the earth's atmosphere from heating up by 1-degree Celsius over the next 100 years.  Including the extermination of at least one billion human beings.

"I like snow," said Senator McCain.  "It's refreshing and cold.  When I see melted snow in Alaska in August, it clearly indicates that we are personally responsible for destroying the environment.  We can't cut back emissions enough to reverse course in my expert scientific opinion, so we'll need to start killing humans to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide they create.  This will destroy the economy for the world as well, but at least we won't have melted snow in August up in Alaska.  I can't even sleep at night knowing that the snow might melt."

When asked how they planned to kill almost a billion people, Hillary Clinton responded "socialized medicine."  She continued, "I will finally get the approval to institute government healthcare in order to kill at least half of America.  Most other countries are already doing their part to reduce populations by sponsoring socialized medicine, so we might have to relocate Michael Moore to South America or Africa in order to consume their food supplies and starve more people to death.  If we can save just one penguin, it will be worth it."

News From Iraq VI

Iraq Update 8/13/05

Greetings all and I hope all are doing well. 

I know that some of you reading this are aware of several close friends who have passed on during this past week.  Even though the deceased lived good fulfilling lives, it’s still never a good time to lose someone.  My prayers are with them. 

Well, this week was something else weather wise.  We experienced a dust storm that kept our boss grounded in Amman, Jordan for almost the entire week.  The airport was literally shut down and the helo’s weren’t flying at all.  At 9:30 A.M. the sky was orange colored and the visibility was about 50 feet.  It was so bad you couldn’t see across the street and the shuttle busses were even grounded due to poor visibility.  Anytime I went out, I had to have a kerchief around my mouth and nose.  Everyone was wearing something of that nature.  I sent a picture to Rachel and maybe she’ll forward on with the message.  I’ll ask her to do it.  Quite frankly, I don’t see how these computers continue to operate under these conditions.  This palace is definitely not air tight and the dust is just horrendous.  Actually the dust storm was almost like a snow storm only dirty and hot.  You leave foot prints when you walked and tires tracks where the vehicles drove on the road.  The dust is so bad you can actually taste it and it just doesn’t go away.

We lost one of our choir members who returned to the States on Tuesday.  He was great as he writes his own songs.  Some people are just that talented.  He knows chords but can’t read a note of music although he plays both guitar and piano.  Some of his church songs are really good so we continue to use them in mass and before mass.  We are losing one of our female singers who is transferring to London with the State Department.  I told her she’s probably safer here.  However, she’s been here for almost two years and I think the confinement is getting to her.  It’s amazing how that impacts you.  Five square miles sounds like a lot of but it isn’t.  We are also losing one of our guitar players and our flutist in October.  However both of these soldiers have little ones at home and they’ve done their duty and need to raise their families. 

You know last week I spoke of the issue of the bad guys being able to penetrate the security of the Iraqi ministers and that we were wondering how that could happen.  Well, this week the Inspector General for the Iraqi Ministry of Defense was accidentally shot by one of her own security personnel.  We can only imagine what is going on.  It reminds me of a trip to the Red Zone where we passed an Iraqi manned check point and one of the sentry’s has his AK-47 apart cleaning it.  Now if anything goes wrong, he’s only got pieces of metal and wood to throw at somebody.  Now I know they are really trying hard to train these guys but I was told they had trouble disciplining these guys not to leave their posts just because a street vendor came by with articles they wanted to acquire.  I understand a little better what we are dealing with at times.

Oh I forgot to mention one of the other female choir members was in a convoy that took a hit.  I had heard that a convoy had been attacked and that one of the escort humvees noticed a suicide bomber aiming for one of the SUV’s.  The soldiers intercepted the guy but not before he detonated the explosives.  I saw our choir member, Mary, that afternoon.  I could tell she looked different.  She came up to me and hugged me and then told me what had happened.  It really hits home when you come in contact with someone who experiences something like that upfront and not 100 yards + away.  I also learned that another acquaintance of mine was in the convoy as well.  The machine gunner on the humvee didn’t survive the blast.  Then I learned that his brother was riding in one of the other vehicles behind the humvee.  It took some time to get him to the point where they could continue because they have to get the convoy out of the kill zone because another bomber could be waiting.  Made me think of Ben Stein’s article all over again.  Then today after mass I learned from one of my military friends on the choir that the machine gun on the humvee that was bombed was not in a cocked and locked position.  I was just sick to hear about that.  Such an error can be so egregious at the wrong time.  I’m sure the training is to travel cocked and locked and so when things turn upside down one reverts to training, aims in, and fires.  It would be at least a few seconds before the gunner could react and charge the weapon.  Unfortunately those few seconds may have made the difference between whacking the bomber and taking a hit.  I understand the “brass” is considering putting the soldiers in the intercepting humvee in for silver stars.  I couldn’t agree more when they place themselves directly in harms way to save others. 

The other thing that happened this week that kind of made me mad was when a Personal Security Team entered into the palace grounds driving like maniacs.  Now you need to understand that to get onto the palace grounds with a vehicle, you must pass through three check points including one where a bomb sniffing dog goes through your stuff.  The last check point has huge metal gates that a tank couldn’t get through.  Once they get in, there really isn’t too far to go.  Well, this team comes in with their wigwag lights going, blue lights going, and driving up to the palace like a bunch of cowboys being chased by the Indians (Native Americans for the PC people) into a fort.  We are walking out at the same time and they get so close to us, they bumped me and another agent with the vehicles rear view mirror.  Like I’ve said before, our agents are all retired federal law enforcement and several have served on SWAT teams and we all got pretty vocal about these guys and their conduct.  We didn’t hear a lot of back talk.  These guys are primarily former military, both US and foreign, who are working for private security firms.  They have little accountability and no oversight.  It’s just rather obvious that some of them really think they are the true Rambo’s of the world.  I just wish they’d take it elsewhere.  The real good security personnel do not conduct themselves in this manner. 

I had a real comical incident happen this week as well.  The new dining facility opened (called a DFAC, you can figure out the acronym).  It’s small, hot, and noisy.  We all preferred dining in the palace but somebody had other plans for the room.  Anyway, I’m seated in one of these new aluminum chairs and this Australian soldier about my age or just a little younger is sitting in back of me.  I went to get up about the same time he did.  I don’t know if his holster got caught on the chair or what but one second his thigh holster is connected and the next second the whole thing (holster, belt, magazine holders) is falling off.  I barely grabbed the belt before everything fell to the floor and tripped him.  He didn’t even realize it happened until I said something.  It almost looked like it was planned sort of like when a clown pulls on a flower and his trousers drop.  His friends (mates) were laughing uncontrollably as it really looked pretty funny. 

Well, I’m closing for the evening.  It’s almost 9:30 P.M. or 21:30 and I like to unwind a little before falling asleep.  I am still on schedule to return state side towards the end of next week.  I will try to get another letter out before hand but no promises.  It may have to wait until I actually get state side.  Getting out of Baghdad is a minimum three day process and it is not fun at all. 

Take care and my best to all.  Bob