DAY 119 / MAR 28

DAY 119 / Mar 28

 

Apparently not a day goes by that I can't talk about this whole Afghan thing that I find so interesting.   The bad news is that this has become a no-win situation for the United States and the Western world in general.  If Afghan caves in and releases this Ex-Muslim, the Arab world views the new Afghanistan as nothing but a puppet government for the United States (and rightly so – we pulled the strings on their president and got what we wanted).   If they don't and eventually execute the Ex-Muslim, the whole point of the United States being in Afghanistan (and Iraq for that matter) go down the drain because we failed in bringing about a free nation.   We just overthrew one tyrannical religious zealot country and installed another.  I think this just goes to show – you can lead a horse to water (hell, you can even throw the damned thing IN the water), but you can't make it drink.   Maybe some of the religious zealot countries need to die of dehydration instead of us giving them the IV.

 

Oh and heres the Ex-Muslim story update.  They released him and he disappeared.   Hmm, I wonder what happened to him?

 

Now, I'm sure that everyone thinks I'm anti-Muslim, I'm not… I'm anti-religious fanatical.  But, heres another Muslim story I ran across recently – and no, I don't just go looking for them.  It just seems like that.  I suppose I could talk about the fundamentalist Christians who let their kids die by not taking them to doctors because they are waiting for God to heal their kids.   Fanatics in every group.  Or is it all one group, and they just don't see it?

 

But, anyway, here's my next "Crazy Fanatic" story.

 

In India recently, a Muslim man said the magic "divorce (taliq)" word three times in his sleep and now, the religious leaders are saying that him and his wife must separate!   Ok, see?  Another crazy religious thing.  The guy was ASLEEP.  Damn.  And to make it worse, its not like they can just go and get remarried – oh, no, that would be too easy – they have to wait 100 days AND the wife has to marry someone else first and stay with him for a night and then that new husband has to divorce her also.   THEN she can remarry her actual husband of 11 years with whom she has 3 kids.  Yeah, so, another crazy ass religious story.   Sorry.  They just keep coming up.

 

So, for the local news:

 

It had been warming up – it was in the 80s-90s earlier this week.  Today it rained.   All that nice baby powder sand turned back to mud.  Good thing I didn't clean it all off my boots from the last time yet.  All quiet here, no mortars or anything for 50 days and no blackouts for 32.

 

I read that the Department of Defense has now said that the Shiite militias are a greater threat to us than the insurgents.   Hmmm, in that case, I think it may be time to pack it up and head home.  If the insurgency isn't the problem anymore, but the local Iraqi militias area – doesn't that mean that the whole civil war we are ignoring is the real problem?   And if it is, should we really be involved in it?  This country will never be stable enough to rebuild a formidable army again for many decades – it will no longer be a military threat to the US.   If the people want something other than what we are offering, can we really make them take it and make it work?  Remember the whole thing about the horse?   It applies here also.

DAY 117 / MAR 26

DAY 117 / MAR 26

 

Ok, back to Afghanistan.  It appears that the Christian Ex-Muslim case has brought to a head the differences between "Western" culture and Muslim culture in a way that no war or political negotiations have.   The President of Afghanistan, Karzai, is caught between a rock and a hard place that is somewhat symbolic of the plight that faces any Arab/Muslim nation that desires a place in the more "civilized" world.   On one hand, under the Shiara law in Afghanistan, the Ex-Muslim should be sentenced to death.  On the other, the country is currently supported by and secured by a nation (the United States) that has brought freedom of religion to it by getting it to agree to follow the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in its constitution.  As it turns out, they can't have both.   Karzai's decision at this time will directly impact whether Afghanistan continues to be supported by us, or not.  If he chooses to release this Ex-Muslim, I'm sure we will continue to support his government.   If he chooses to let the trial continue and the EM is executed, I would expect an outcry from the "western" world and the possible hasty removal of support, including Soldiers, from that country.   I think its interesting that this has become what it has – even the Pope weighed in to influence Karzai to stop the trial.  But more than one of the religious leaders on the ground in Afghanistan seem adamant about killing this EM, one saying, "We don't care if the West drops its support for us. God will look after Afghanistan."

            Maybe we should test his theory.

DAY 116 / MAR 25

DAY 116 / MAR 25

 

            With the weather having warmed, all of the moisture has evaporated into the air and the ground is dry.   The sand is more of just a thick layer of dust.  The density and texture is that of baby powder or powdered sugar.   It is easily kicked up in the air and blows around forever.  Everything gets a nice layer of dust on a daily basis and no amount of canned air keep the electronics clean.

 

            The bugs are different here than back home.  The ants are still ants, and the mosquitoes are still mosquitoes, but they have slight oddities to them.   All of the walking critters seem to have longer legs than those back home, the ants look like they are "lifted."  The flying things are slower and bigger and more aggressive.   I still haven't seen any of the famed "Camel Spiders" or anything that was much bigger than normal – and with any luck, I never will.

DAY 113 / MAR 22

Day 113 / Mar 22

 

The other day, anywhere between 100-200 insurgents attack a jail in the town of Muqdadiyah.  Their attack was well coordinated and had a purpose behind it – to free the insurgents held in the jail.   The level of planning and execution was very high, especially for a group of people who we keep saying can't do things like this.  They managed to free about 30 prisoners and suffered only light casualties and even killed more Iraqi police than they lost themselves.   The Iraqi police ran out of ammo.  The insurgents set up car bombs to block any incoming assistance and escaped relatively unharmed.  

 

Then a couple days later, they attempted another attack on a jail near Baghdad.  This time they weren't so successful.   The attackers failed to break anyone out of the jail and the Iraqis actually captured about 50 of the bad guys.

 

Clearly, the insurgents are not only acting in very small groups of 5-10 and have the capability to mass forces over 100.   This doesn't seem like the scattered groups of insurgents that we keep hearing that we are fighting.  These people are becoming actual fighters with command and control, planning, and the ability to carry out sophisticated attacks.

 

However, all was still quiet here, so I can't complain.

DAY 112 / MAR 21

DAY 112 / MAR 21

 

Please note: When I refer to a Soldier as a "he" I really mean he or she – just so everyone understands that I'm not making any disparaging remarks about female Soldiers.

 

I have been away from home for 112 days.  I have learned that it is harder for the families

back home to live with this time that their Soldiers are away from home than it is for the Soldier.  Yes, the Soldiers suffers physical hardship, danger, loneliness and endless drudgery, but it is truly their families that suffer worse.   The families suffer physical hardship: doing the work of two alone; endless stress from the usual day to day events – school programs, conferences, homework,   every day, without reprieve.  They suffer the loneliness like the Soldier does, but their suffering is compounded by the suffering of their children and neighbors, which they also bear on their shoulders.

 

            The Soldier is in constant danger from mortars, bullets, bombs, terrorists, and a portion of the "civilian" population that works on their base during the day, and launches attacks at night.   He knows when mortars are falling, or bullets flying and only fears them at that time.

            The Family is worse off in that they KNOW their Soldier is in danger, but have no real idea of how dangerous it is at any given time.   The IDEA of someone they love being in danger of mortars, bullets, bombs, etc is worse than the actual reality of them.

            The Soldier is lonely, he misses his family, his wife and children, and his home everyday, but can always remember them as they were when he left.   Time stops for a deployed Soldier – every day is like the last and tomorrow will be the same as today (for the most part).  There are no weekends, no breaks, and no changes.

            The Family misses its Soldier, but time doesn't stop for them.   Every day life goes on, the kids go to school, get report cards, go to classes, etc etc etc – time doesn't stop for them, life goes on with the family.  Living with the time is worse than having it stand still.   The concept of how long their Soldier has been gone weighs greater on them than it does the Soldier who views his world in a stasis.

            The Family must deal with other families going through the same extreme level of stress and must also deal with the equally frustrating fact that NOT everyone else is going through it!   Especially when OTHER families get their Soldiers back!  Regardless of whether or not THAT Soldier has been gone a year, the family that doesn't have their Soldier harbors a quiet jealous hatred for the family that does.

 

There are many more reasons why Families have it worse, and you don't even have to look very hard for them.

 

 

 

***

 

All in all a quiet day.  Nothing happened.  Nothing blew up.   Another success.

           

DAY 111 / MAR 20

DAY 111 / MAR 20

 

            Ok, maybe I'm wrong, but, I thought we went into Afghanistan to get rid of the Taliban because of their involvement in the 9/11 attacks and to stop their oppressive restrictions on women and religion and all that.   And I thought we won and they had free elections and women could run around with their faces showing, etc, etc, etc.   And, in fact, we are STILL there hunting down terrorists, right?   I know I saw something about us having a bunch of Soldiers still in that country.  Ok, with that said – I read this today…

 

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20060320/int/int4.html

 

AFGHANISTAN: Afghan faces death for becoming a Christian

 

This story says that this guy converted from Islam to Christianity 16 years ago.  Well, I guess it is still illegal in Afghanistan (where we have made all these great strides towards freedom and all that) to convert away from Islam.   The punishment for doing so is death.  So, really, it appears that all we have done is stop one form of oppression in that country and are now helping to support another form – where is the sense in that?   I don't care that the guy converted to Christianity – that's not the point.  The point is that this guy couldn't convert FROM Islam at all or he was punishable by death.   In fact, in the article, the judge said, "We are not against any particular religion in the world…" which really translates to "We are against every other religion in the world."   The defendant couldn't convert to Judaism, Catholicism, Hindu, Buddhist, Atheist, Wiccan, Pagan, or anything without being punished with death.  I see that we really did a lot of good there.   I can't say that I would be very proud of our accomplishments there if things like this are still acceptable.

 

***

 

I was awoke from my beauty sleep early this morning by the call to get together a patrol to go somewhere and fix something, again.   Luckily, I didn't have to actually go, I just had to put it all together – which I did.  Then, later on, I went to Brigade to learn some things about my new and upcoming job.   As it turns out, its mostly an OJT kinda job because learning all I would have to learn is like trying to drink a swimming pool with a spoon.

 

Back home, the kids had their first snow day off of school.  Its kind of ironic that it comes on the first day of Spring.

DAY 110 / MAR 19

DAY 110 / MAR 19

 

Still quiet here.  Its been 41 days since the last mortars fell here and 23 days since the last blackout.   I hope it continues to stay quiet.

 

Things are changing here; at least they are for me.  During this last week, I've learned that I will be moving on from where I am now.   I will be moving to another Battalion on another FOB near Ad-Dawr within the next month or so.  The potential for moving has been out there all along (because nothing ever stays the same in the Army) but I had kind of hoped that I would have a little bit longer to prepare the way.  

 

The unit I'm going to is nothing like where I am and the next job I have will be nothing like what I do now.  I have been trying to get some information from the guys there now and its slowly starting to trickle in, but the things I don't know by far outweigh the things I do.  The big things aren't going to an issue – I know that I will still redeploy back home at the same time as the rest of the Brigade because the unit I'm in is still in the Brigade (although it is detached from the Brigade and is attached to another Division).

 

I'm still trying to get info on the recent enemy activity in the area, but because its out of our Brigade's area of operations, it takes a little longer to get.   I do know, from some things my wife discovered and sent me, that the area I'm heading into is the same area where Saddaam was captured in 2003.  As for its current situation – I don't know.

 

Back home, the gas prices are still going up despite all the oil we are supposedly stealing here.  None of my cars has less than eight cylinders.   As it turns out, my wife and I loaned a nice, reliable four-cylinder Mazda to my brother for a couple months – that was about 2 ½  years ago.   And, we're still trying to get it back – or have him buy it.  The car is worth well over $15k, but just to be done with the deal, we'd take $3k.   The problem comes in the fact that my brother left the car with his girlfriend in Florida who is subsequently NOT his girlfriend and in fact, has ANOTHER boyfriend.   Convincing him to go get it hasn't been easy although we have been promised numerous times that he will be going to get it soon, or that they will start paying for it soon, or that she will be bringing it up soon.   Moral of the story is: don't loan stuff to your family.

Day 105 / Mar 14

Day 105 / Mar 14

            It was a mostly quiet day, nothing big going on.

Something happened down the street (outside the FOB).  It was a very fast series of decent sized explosions one right after another.  My first thought was that it was mortars landing someone outside the wire, but in order to have been mortars, there would have had to have been at least 6 mortar tube firing all about the same time – which is highly unlikely.   I suspect that on the Iraqi FOB down the street, someone did something stupid with a box of explosives, grenades maybe and set them all off at about the same time – or set one off and caused a series of secondary explosions.

Day 104 / Mar 13

Day 104 / Mar 13

 

As it turns out, we were apparently too hard on the poor signal people we played football with and their mommy (Commander) said they couldn't play with us anymore.   Wah.  So, if something is dangerous and could get people hurt, we can't do it?  Then why the hell are we here!?   Lets all go home!  I mean, it IS dangerous here, and people DO get hurt, so clearly we must go now.

 

Ok, so, I've had some dolls sitting around that I couldn't give to Iraqi children because its against the rules.   Luckily, I have just found someone willing to launch them from the turret of our trucks as they fly through the villages.  Whoo hoo!  But, it's a secret and they probably can't do it very often.  So don't tell anyone.

 

Another quiet day means no bombs and no explosions and no one died (here, at least).  So, I can't ask for much more than that, can I?   Well, I suppose I could hope for a full shower tomorrow.  My one this morning was really only a ¾ shower because during the "rinse" phase, the power went out.   No power means no water pump which means, of course, no water.  I guess it could have been worse, it could have happened during the shampoo phase… that would have been ugly.   So, if the worse thing going on is an intermittent power problem… I suppose I can live with that. 

Day 103 / Mar 12

Day 103 /  Mar 12

 

Today we reached a total of 34 days without a mortar attack (a new ongoing record), and 16 days without a blackout (tied for the old record).

 

We also managed to play a short game of football with the other signal platoon on the FOB.  They won, but it was close.   They had been practicing and actually had a plan – we just kinda went out and hoped for the best.  Next time, we will be ready.

Day 102 / Mar 11

DAY 102 / MAR 11

 

Weapons of peace.  Is there such a thing?  Someone said, "if you want peace, prepare for war," and he was right.   But it is not the peaceful aspect of an Army that provides peace, it is the willingness and ability to do great violence and harm that deters others from doing things to bring it upon themselves.   That is where we have gone wrong.  The United States government has taken an Army (actually, the whole military) and tried to play it on both sides of the fence.   We go kick ass - which we do very well and there is virtually no one who can oppose us in a conventional war; then we try to be all goody-goody nice guy and make things all better.   That's bullshit.  Armies don't keep peace, the whole purpose of an Army is to destroy, not to build.  The government that invokes the power of their military does it for one purpose, to destroy the enemy.  Not help them, not rebuild their cities.  We bomb the hell out of them, kill them – and their families is they happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and we do it without remorse for the "innocent" civilians and soldiers who may not have wanted to fight.   I'm sorry, but that is the purpose of the military.  We are not, contrary to the popular opinion of the government, peacekeepers.   The UN has "Peacekeepers," use them.  We are hurting the military might of our country by using the military as anything but what it is – a deadly fighting force.   You can't build a house with a sword.

 

Am I rambling?  Maybe.  But, I know that somewhere, deep within all of the rantings is a grain of truth.   The bottom line is, we should be using the military to kill people and destroy stuff that needs to be killed and destroyed.  Then, we should take our military and go home until the next guy needs to be killed or destroyed.   We don't go to help people, we go to kill them.  We fought WWII to stop the Germans from taking over the world.   We didn't do it by trying to play nice, we did it by carpet bombing their cities and using the military to kill and destroy them.  Did we stick around for a bit to rebuild?   Sure, we did.  But, we didn't have to.  Our military philosophy should be to go in, eliminate the threat to us, and leave.   If the world, or even the US wants to rebuild the country we just rolled over, then send in the right people to do it.  If that country attacks the people there to help, the UN, the engineers, the volunteers, too bad for them – those do-gooders will leave and the country will either recover on its own under decent leadership or it won't.   Either way, we protected ourselves.  Take it for what its worth.

 

 

On another note, it's a bit odd the things you can get used to and accept if they happen enough and you have absolutely no control over it.  Our office is right next to our helipad where helicopters of all shapes and sizes (Apaches, Blackhawk, Chinooks, Kiowas) land and take off, usually at night.   Here I am, yelling into the phone to be heard by my wife who is back home at a parade where she is also yelling into the phone to be heard.  But, for her its unusual to be yelling into a phone, for me, its commonplace.  We grow to accept the things we deal with day in and day out and eventually even the craziest things become routine.   Take for instance the generator that sits outside my CHU – it provides the whole area (our pad, the offices, etc) with power – so it makes a lot of noise.   Its somewhat like sleeping by a running semi-truck.  The odd thing is that I've gotten used to it, my roommate and I really don't talk much in the room, because we almost have to yell, but we have accepted that and its no big deal.   The other odd thing is that when its NOT going in the middle of the night, I wake up and wonder whats wrong.  Its not that the lights go out, because there are none on.   Its just the sound and vibration that I've become accustomed to.  When they go away, it triggers something inside that says something is not as it usually is.   It must be a instinctive survival reflex that kept our cave dwelling forefathers safe from critters coming into their caves, or bears, waking up from hibernation and coming out.

DAY 101 / MAR 10

DAY 101 / MAR 10

 

Today was plagued by power generation issues.  In the morning, the generator that sits outside of our CHU sputtered, wheezed and sounded like it was dying before it shut off.   The CHU slowly got cold and even a warm shower was out of the question because the water pumps run off the same generator.

 

And then tonight, the same generator went off again, cutting power to the office as well as the CHU.  It wheezed and sputtered and crashed again.   The mechanics say that the problem could be in the oil that they are using, that is mixing with the gas wrong and clogging the fuel injectors.

 

It was a quiet day, and I have no complaints except for the usual.

DAY 100 / MAR 09

DAY 100 / MAR 09

27% and counting.

 

Happy Birthday to my brother.  He made it another year.  How very surprising!   I sent a card about 3 weeks ago.  Hope he gets it, but you never can tell.  I sent a Valentine's Card to my wife about 4 weeks ago – and its still not there.   However, the carpet I sent 2 weeks ago got there.  I should have just waited until I sent the carpet to send the card!

 

Anyway, the big 100 was just another quiet day.  Which is still a good thing.   I managed to avert having to send my Soldiers on a dangerous run up north by sheer luck, so that's good, at least I have luck going for me

 

We downgraded the uniform today to soft caps instead of Kevlar.  That was a big step that I personally never thought we'd make.   The reason for the change was because it was directed by a two-star General who pretty much told the guy in charge to "get with the program."  I'm kinda split on the issue.  Yeah, the Kevlar doesn't provide MUCH protection, but it does provide a whole bunch more than the softcap.  The sand blew around all day, pretty much giving everything a sand blasting and covering everything in a nice fine layer of it.   It is supposed to rain soon, so it'll be less sandy, but more muddy.  Can't win for losing I suppose. 

 

Not much else to say.  Everything is well, the Soliders are doing good and the bombs and bullets aren't doing any damage inside the fence.  We did have an IED go off on a vehicle that was transporting some of Saddaam's sister's furniture to a museum.   No one was hurt, and I think the furniture was also unharmed.  Good thing, some of it is gold plated.

Day 99 / Mar 08

Fallen soldier's wife wants Wiccan symbol on headstone

http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1584012.php

 

I just ran across this story on the Army Times website.   The gist of the story is that a Soldier was killed in Afghanistan.   He is to be remembered on a memorial wall in a cemetery.  So far so good.   The problem comes when it turns out that the Department Of Defense does not recognize the Wiccan religious symbol (a pentagram in a circle), and therefore cannot have it put on the wall.   There are about 30 symbols recognized by the DoD, even including an atheist symbol. 

 

Really this seems like a non-issue.  The DoD should simply say, "You're right, we missed that one," and immediately authorize it for display on the wall along with everyone else's religious symbol.   In the story, I can't even find anyone who opposes the addition.  So, I'm curious as to why it has taken so long to recognize this religion.   Since I've been in the Army, I've personally known more than one Soldier who has claimed Wiccan as their religion, so I know its not some extremely isolated cases, there are a decent number of people out there with this.

 

This is really something that should have been addressed and taken care of years ago and the process for adding new religious symbols to the system should be a simple process.   The DoD really has no place to deny anyone's religious symbol for use on their grave.  Regardless of what anyone thinks, these Soldiers fought and died for the religious freedom that they are being denied and it needs to be fixed now.

 

 

 

It was a quiet day here… nothing new and exciting.  The wind has come again and without the rain, its getting dusty.   The sand is blowing around pretty good and has grounded our helicopters except for emergencies.   Visibility is poor (maybe 100 meters).  The good news is that high winds make it hard to accurately fire a mortar in at us.

 

When I read the news, I feel that I should be scared of the city of Baqubah, which we sit on the edge of.   But, aside from one of two explosions a week, usually from our EOD teams blowing stuff up, I haven't seen what the big deal is.  Sure, people get killed in shootings – but people get killed in shootings in New York or LA every day too.

 

It is becoming time for the Iraqis to start taking care of themselves (which they are beginning to).   We have to now give them the chance to take care of their country.   We have come to the sink or swim portion of this rebuilding, its time to take off the floaties.

Phelps vs Patriot Guard Rider vs Constitutional Freedoms

The Phelps family has long been protesting funerals of Soldiers because they believe that the Soldiers who are dying are fighting for a country that allows homosexuality and because homosexuality is against God, somehow all of the Soldiers are also against God. The flaw with this twisted logic is that the Phelps family is protesting the funerals using the rights granted by that same “godless” country – the United States of America. The Soldiers whose funerals they protest are the reason that they have the right to protest – almost a paradox. If the Phelps family believes so strongly that our country is so wrong, I’m thinking that by using its laws as a shield, they are also supporting it – and thereby are also the object of their own hate.
Then comes the real story of the “Patriot Guard Riders” who also go to these funerals to protest; but they protest FOR the Soldiers and FOR the country they died for. The sheer numbers of Riders – on their motorcycles – is overwhelming in comparison to the Phelps family they oppose. Their message is louder and stronger and their composure is remarkable. Even in the face of the unabashed hate of the Phelps’, the Riders have not resorted to the physical violence – which would seem to be a viable, if not legal, alternative to the peaceful protests that have thus far taken place. I don’t know if I could be so retrained.
But, another story emerging that could overshadow both the evil of the Phelps and the good of the Riders is the notion that some states are considering laws to make it illegal to protest a funeral. That would be the ultimate victory for the Phelps. By demonstrating that we can take away freedom of speech on account of some zealots only goes to further shame the Soldiers who died to give them that freedom – past, present and future. I hope that someone sees beyond the “feel-good” solution of restricting free speech in the name of decency and understands that in the Land of Free, we must allow everyone to be free, not just those we agree with. That has always been the rub with free speech, religion and everything else – its always good when we agree with it, but it becomes much harder to believe in when you must support the rights of those who hate you. But that’s where the true test of your convictions come into play. The hard right over the easy wrong.

DAy 96 / MAR 5

DAY 96 / MAR 5

            One more drop in the bucket.  I'll take as many as I can get.   Really a very quiet day.  I took care of some supply issues.

            This week we will crest the 100 day mark!  Whoo hoo! Just another day, but still its nice to get into the triple digits.

            The highlight of my day was dropping off laundry.  How exciting.

 

            So, apparently this whole issue with Hamas being elected into power by the Palestinians.  Very interesting.   They are a terror group that is now an actual political entity.  I think that the United States should definitely not alienate them.  The fact that they are an elected group should give them some legitimacy until they show that they are still just a terrorist group – albeit an ELECTED terrorist group.  You still have to give them the benefit of the doubt.

DAy 96 / MAR 5

DAY 96 / MAR 5

            One more drop in the bucket.  I'll take as many as I can get.   Really a very quiet day.  I took care of some supply issues.

            This week we will crest the 100 day mark!  Whoo hoo! Just another day, but still its nice to get into the triple digits.

            The highlight of my day was dropping off laundry.  How exciting.

 

            So, apparently this whole issue with Hamas being elected into power by the Palestinians.  Very interesting.   They are a terror group that is now an actual political entity.  I think that the United States should definitely not alienate them.  The fact that they are an elected group should give them some legitimacy until they show that they are still just a terrorist group – albeit an ELECTED terrorist group.  You still have to give them the benefit of the doubt.

DAY 95 / MAR 04

DAY 95 / MAR 04

            We started the morning off bright and early (0530) – ok, maybe not so bright, but definitely early.   We (our company) had a date with Dodgeball Destiny.  We took the court with our ally, the HHT Hurricanes, against the dreaded Argonauts and Hawks.

            Across the court from our opponents, we Knights prepared for battle, stretched our bodies and took off like a shot from the whistle.   Our fully trained warriors raced to the center to secure the weapons of our trade – red rubber balls, some fully inflated, some partially inflated, and some not quite empty and leaking.   Securing our half of the court, we proceeded to advance on the enemy.  Our first strikes drew first blood, sending an Argonaut to the floor.   Their retaliation also resulted in the loss of many fine and gallant Knights.  With our red rubber weapons of war we battled to a stalemate; our opponents after the weaker fodder were destroyed and killed we were equally matched.   Upon a general consensus we agreed to throw out the borders and went into a battle-rage.  We charged across the established lines and met our foes head to head, our blazing eyes meeting theirs in close combat as red rubber flew and more enemy fell.   Some took balls to the head, others to the legs and arms, all were mortally wounded.

            For my own moment of glory, the story goes like this:  I charged into the midst of battle with one red sphere of death.  I focused on the enemy and hurled with all my might, using the momentum of my body to further accelerate my projection of the ball.   It struck home, the force obliterating my enemy's hold on his own weapon as he was knocked backwards, falling to the floor.  My own balance was lost in the force of the throw and I slid on my back across the field of battle.   When I stopped, I was at the feet of an enemy Soldier.  I knew my time had come and I steeled myself for one final blow.   I watched in slow motion as the red ball was projected straight down towards me – my opponent's face already rejoicing in my sure defeat.  I felt the ball impact against me and, to my surprise, discovered it was a mostly deflated ball.   With the skill and mettle of my forefathers flowing through me, I captured the ball and held on against its driving force.  Cheers erupted from my comrades (both alive and dead) as I regained my feet holding the enemy weapon.   The vanquished enemy fell by the wayside and I rejoined the battle.  But the tide had turned and the will of the enemy was broken.   Those who did not surrender were destroyed (that was all of them).  We emerged from the field victorious.  Another foe vanquished.

 

            Ok, so, we just played dodgeball.  Yes we won.   And that was just a little creative license.  Sheesh.  But, I did fall down and catch a ball while on my back.   But, it was from a girl who couldn't throw very hard.  I think the first story was more exciting.  The other team had a tendency to bring in extra people or just simply refused to go out.   Still, we won.  It just made it harder.

            Then we had a BN level class and that was about the day.  Aside from all the usual stuff.  No meeting today, but no sleeping in.

DAY 94 / MAR 03

Day 94 / Mar 03

            Here we are, one step closer to the big 100.  It isn't even 1/3 of the way there, but it's a whole hell of a lot better than anything under it.   Its just another milestone, a marker on the way that indicates we are on the right path.

            As usual, the rumors fly about when we're going home – so far I've heard everything from September 2006 to February 2007.   I've heard that we're invading Iran and that we're all consolidating somewhere else.  So far, we haven't done any of it.   And really, even if someone, somewhere did say any of those things at one point in time – they probably already changed it.

            Nothing new around here, the weather gets better and the bugs get worse.   Showers are still warm and the meetings continue as usual in the mornings.  Normally tomorrow would be a day to sleep in, but instead I have to get up for a rousing game of Dodgeball with the Battalion Leadership.   After we give them a good spanking, we have a leaders teach where we learn how to operate some of the equipment we've been using since we got here – I guess practical experience doesn't count when it comes to Army logic.

            I read recently that someone polled the troops and discovered that almost ¾ of them (us) think we should pull out of Iraq and go home.   Somehow, I don't see what the purpose of this poll really was.  Its great to know what the troops think, I suppose, but it really doesn't matter.   If you polled the Soldiers under me, I'm sure the majority would tell you that they didn't think they should be doing whatever it is they were doing (regardless of what it was).   Soldiers don't make those decisions because they are too close to the situation to make a logical choice.  All the Soldier sees is whats right in front of him, the smallest of localized pictures.   Even the Commander of all the US forces in Iraq doesn't see the whole picture (but he sees a whole lot more than I do, or my Soldiers).  That's why there are people up there making decisions based on all or at least most of the information available, because they can.   We, as Soldiers, can bitch and complain about how we should leave, how we aren't doing anything, blah blah blah.  But, in the end, we should realize and accept that there IS a reason for being here, even if we don't see it in our extremely localized perceptions.

DAY 93 / MAR 02

DAY 93 / MAR 02

            Started off the morning with the usual meeting and paperwork.   After that was done, we trained our hands to work in harmony with our mind and eyes in a rigorous competition of 501 darts.  After working some more patrol issues we had a rehearsal of what to do if ever caught up in a game of dodgeball.   We trained hard (Officers against Enlisted) and the Officers emerged victorious.  Saturday is a Battalion PT day and we intend, as a company, to annihilate the other companies in the battalion.

            During our Dodgeball exercise, our Commander took a very hard shot from one of our OPS NCOs to a "sensitive region."   He laid on the group for awhile before recovering enough to stand again.  Everyone stood around and lamented his injury while they laughed – and laughed, and laughed some more.

            It has begun to warm up and the mosquitos are getting pretty annoying.  I'm going to see if I can't find a citronella candle to keep them away.

Day 92 /Mar 01

DAY 92 / MAR 01

            Another month down the drain.  All quiet.   Its been almost a month since the last mortars fell.  But they are always on our minds.  The Sunnis and Shias killing each other continues.

            We got a new BN XO in today.  Our meeting was short because he doesn't really know whats going on what he needs to be asking.   We hope he doesn't figure it out.  We are going to suggest that we move the meeting to the coffee shop and make it later in the day.

            Our internet is running slooooow… but we don't know why.  Its taking about 5 minutes to load a page.

 

            Saturday is another BN level PT day.  This time we are playing Dodgeball.  It will be two companies against the other two and should be an interesting event.   Today we practiced a little against some of the enlisted Soldiers and are developing a plan to crush the other companies!  Our quest for world domination begins with Dodgeball.   In fact, we intend to propose that everyone stop killing each other and decide conflicts through the use of Dodgeball.  Wouldn't it be great if the Sunnis and Shiites could get together, throw some red balls around and be too tired to pick up an AK-47 to kill each other with?   I suspect that will not happen.