A Day Without Sunshine ...

What's going on Sports Fans? Just another beautiful day in the 'Land of Milk and Honey'. Actually it's raining here, which is a refreshing change from the dust filled days we've had lately. Iraq has got to be the dustiest place on the planet. Every morning when I leave my CHU there is a fine layer of dust on the steps, barriers, and sandbags. Even the palm trees are gray from the dust in the air. It is extremely weird to be in a place w/ so many palm trees and not a drop of water to be found. Oh sure we have the Tigris River just outside the IZ, but from what I've heard the heavy metal content and oil derivatives are way too high for water sports.

Things here are really heating up ... and I am talking about the weather. By the middle of next week we should be eclipsing the 90 degree barrier, and that's when the real fun starts. It's not too unbearable right now walking around in full battle rattle, but come the end of the month it'll be a different story. I'm seriously dreading this summer. And I thought riding around in the BITC (Base Information Transfer Center) MDV (Mobile Distribution Vehicle) in the summer while stationed in Austin, TX was hot! Already have a set of ABUs and extra t-shirts at work to change into. Not just a hat rack. And I foresee several trips to Liberty Pool throughout the week to cool off. At least I have that going for me right now.

For those in the viewing audience yearning to know what the IZ (Green Zone) is like, here you go ... have you ever been to a border town along Texas and Mexico ... on the Mexico side? It's a lot like that, w/out the cheap cerveza and tequila. Burned out buildings and cars ... trash everywhere ... Iraqi militia lurking about looking for their next bribe ... zero enforcement of traffic laws ... college coeds being kidnapped for organ harvest. Ok, maybe not that last one, but there have been a couple of kidnapping attempts on civilians w/in the IZ (more on that later). It blows me away that buildings that we evaporated back in '91 haven't been touched. They still sit in ruin. Guess they figured ole Uncle Sam would be back eventually to rebuild. And for some reason Iraqi's have no concept of conservation or trash collection. They recycle tires by burning them in the street, they dispose of trash by letting it pile up anywhere convenient, they defecate in the bushes because they have NO COMMON SENSE!

It pains me that service members are in this God forsaken land trying to pick these people up by their boot straps and they wouldn't even help themselves. Know what every Iraqi w/ an education wants to do ... it's not rebuild his or her home land, oh no, no, no, no. It's to get out of here and immigrate to the 'Land of the Big PX'! Because deep down inside they know this place will never, ever be what the American government hopes it'll be ... a self-efficient, resourceful, democratic nation. Thirty years of Saddam Hussein's brutal rule have destroyed the strong government and civil institutions that once stood. More than a decade of economic sanctions has left Iraq's economy in ruins. Corruption and cynicism are the norm and ethnic tensions run deep.

When was the last time you picked up a newspaper and didn't find a news story about a suicide bomber in Iraq? Google "suicide bomber Iraq" and you will find 1,773 related articles. NICE! These people live for this nonsense. They thrive in chaos. "A day w/out blood is like a day w/out sunshine" (name the movie). And do you really think the horror will stop when we finally pull chalks in 18 months (or whenever the current administration pops smoke)? This place will turn on itself quicker than Terrell Owens does w/ his current quarterback! Seriously, does anyone think T.O. is going to work out in Buffalo? What the hell is that all about? But I digress.

All I know right now is that Day 84 is almost in the books for OPERATION GRAB-ASS. Oh ya, everything we do here @ MNSTC-I is grab-ass. Always reactionary, never visionary. Twelve full weeks of futility. Since I've been here our section has sent a soldier home for general stupidity, reassigned another for all around ineptitude, and have two more on the ropes. Someone please send me an Airman or a Marine! It's going to be a fun year!

Quas, out!