Did Iraq Get Better?

I've really been out of the loop on Iraq in the last two weeks, and I apologize. The Economist has an article about the dramatic decline in violence in the war-torn country. The Maysan province has had a very small footprint from both the Iraqi government in Baghdad and coalition forces, but now things are ramping up for a large-scale offensive by Iraqi security forces. The Mahdi Army may be weakening, but the Sadrists are showing their desperation in possibly boycotting provincial elections, which could leave large portions of the Iraqi population disenfranchised. Sadr is playing a political game by whipping up public support by denouncing the American "occupier". It's very difficult to distinguish the strict religious zealots of the Mahdi Army and the militia thugs that commit crimes for money (often from Iran) and power. It's all so confusing. I wanted to play the Jermaine Stewart Classic "We Don't Have to Take Our Cltoehs Off" as a celebration for the drop in violence, but nothing in Iraq is that simple...and poverty and strife continue. Aw to hell with it, here's the song anyways.

Military Women Sound Off

GI Kate has a sampling of a documentary on women in the military that is worth the view. It's been disheartening that, despite the fact that women are serving our country in larger numbers and in more front-line roles (such as the Lioness program), mainstream society willfully wishes to hamper their courage because of the politically incorrect nature of the military (the "women as victims" meme) and the old world thinking that women shouldn't be on the front lines. In approaching the politics of war from a strictly bipartisan perspective, these ladies are taking flak from both sides of the aisle. So, visit GI Kate's blog and show some support. Also, women interested in being part of the documentary can contact GI Kate via email.

While probably not the best blog for woman's issues, this blog supports this documentary

The Joys of Cosmopolitan Friendship

So my high school buddy, Nathan, has a blog that is totally dedicated to sustainable and eco-friendly living. It's pretty cool. Right now he is focused on the logistics of moving around something called a yurt, which is pictured below. If you need a bath from the bloggin' sewer of politics and controversy, I recommend checking it out. You may ask yourself, "eL-Tee, how were you friends with someone so crunchy?". Well, if you asked yourself about the bizarre mix of people that Ann Arbor produces (including such characters as Bo Schembecler and Iggy Pop), you just answered your own damn question. Please no "hippie-bashing", as they are very nice people that don't deserve such shabby treatment that faux-environmentalists like Al Gore deserve.

Better than a Studio

New Moveon.Org Ad Broadcast From Alternate Universe

This is the new Moveon.Org slam piece on McCain which has already gotten over 200K views on YouTube (h/t Jesus' General). I have to admit that I don't care much for McCain's plans for Iraq (frankly, I believe we should focus on accelerated withdrawal from Messopotamia and divert more resources to Afghanistan), but this ad is completely dishonest for one huge reason. It presupposes that the Iraq war is being fought by a broad cross-section of the American public. Give me a break. The military is composed of a small percentage of the American citizenry and the only sacrifice these urban yuppie types have had to make is to put down their lattes to skim the latest news on "Bush's war". Don't worry, lady, your kid will be safe to go to a liberal arts school of his choosing when he grows up to learn about how terrible America is. Can you tell I'm still bitter about the General Betrayus debacle last September? Yeah, fuck you, Moveon.Org, and I'm getting drunk and listening to Chico DeBarge right now too.

Observations on Coming Back From Iraq

Now that I'm no longer living in the stone age without internet, we can now return to the regularly scheduled blogging. Traveling out of theater is a nightmare for most. Endless waiting around in tents at Camp Victory and Kuwait. No one knows what the hell to do with you when you're in the Navy, and plane flights are always delayed for some reason or another. The term "lowest bidder" for these lucrative government contracts to ferry troops between the U.S. and the Middle East takes on a bit of sardonic irony as you wait around for days like an asshole. But somehow we all made it out. Of course I was sans luggage since it got lost in customs at Dulles, but they found it out and it's being shipped. No fanfare for the Navy IAs when we got back to the states, which is probably for the best, since I hate shit like that. Military wives and their smelly kids holding up signs proclaiming how happy they are that they're "hero" is back. Blegh! Save that shit for the rubes. We were just happy to be normal, alcohol-drinkin' people again without all the extraneous "hooah", and we didn't have to run for concrete bunkers every time an explosion went off in the distance. Although, it wasn't all monotony, incompetence, and me bitchin' up a storm. Sometimes in life, the cosmos of awesomeness collide and a great moment happens. Man walking on the moon, Isaac Newton discovering gravity, and me winning four-suited spider solitaire while listening to Madonna and then Rush. Proof is below.




The Final Fantasy-themed MP3 player and the Star-Trek themed background may cause you to be judgmental to my character. If you envision me as some sex-starved loser, you would be absolutely correct.

After hanging out with the fam, I made my way out West. Driving cross country is always peaceful and relatively uneventful, which is just what I was looking for. Here are some observations on America from a guy who's been overseas for a year:

• Did people get fatter while I was gone: An obese woman almost ran over my foot today on a Rascal while I was purchasing Q-tips and a wireless router at Wal-Mart. This is absurd. I'm not a "public health" advocate and I would never call upon our government to fix the problem via compassionate Stalinism, but I recommend a public smoking campaign. This would get everyone thinner and help our heroic tobacco companies reach new profits.
• Why does music still suck so bad: Poor economies are supposed to bring about new cultural paradigms of rockin' out. The malaise-ridden 70s saw the birth of both Punk and Metal. Listening to the radio while driving cross-country, all I heard was Jack Johnson knock-offs, dudes who were too wussy to be in The Killers, and a bunch of people singing about the glory of God. I have nothing against JC, but there's something wrong when bands in their twenties are singing about not having premarital sex and how cool it is to be sober. Zzzzz.
• Floods in the Midwest: I drove down I-90 most of the way, and there were huge expanses of farmland underwater with destroyed crops. I saw lots of cattle wading through these makeshift ponds like it was something out of Revelations. That's not good. We kind of need food, to like, you know, not have a country-wide famine and die. Here's an article about FEMA in South Dakota (which I drove through, but it sounds worse in Iowa). I'll refrain from smartass comments about bureauweenie incompetence, since I believe humanitarian relief is a legitimate application of our government.
  
• Jericho Season 2 is out, sweet: I just ordered it, but there' s only 7 episodes. Damn writers' strike.
• Nothin' about Iraq: The only time Iraq came up in conversation or on the news outside of family is when I talked with a WWII vet at a Perkins in Billings, Montana. It's almost like nothing is going on over there. While there will be no ticker-tape "V-E Day" due to the nature of conflict in Iraq or Afghanistan, ignorance of our policy is a threat to democracy. This is a very dangerous trend as Americans are carrying on while their fellow countrymen continue to die over there. I'll continue to try and seek out the news and highlight it in an easy to read manner on this lousy blog in a humble attempt to correct this disturbing reality. Of course we have it better than the Vietnam vets did when they came back. At least no one threw dog shit at us (as far as I know).
  
• I always need to be doing things to keep my mind preoccupied: A lot of other vets have talked about how they have to be busy at all times when they get back. I know what they mean. I've already vacuumed the place up like 4 times as if I was spun out of my head on meth. Good thing I've got the internet up and running, or else I'd be fighting off the demons of boredom.

Some of you asked what it's like to be back, so hopefully this self-obsessed post helps you understand a little better. Of course this wasn't my first deployment, I have no wife/girlfriend, and I was a POG, so take it FWIW, as experiences may be different from one guy/gal to the other. Thanks for all your comments and suggestions to prevent me from going batshit while I was in-country, and I'll be keeping up a regular regiment of posting.

Standin' By

I'll be back to blogging on Tuesday. Apologies for the delays, but I have to get internet set up at my house. I'm writing this from the library in Port Orchard, and I'm probably already flagged as a "person of interest" by the FBI, so it might be a bad idea. Better keep this short n' sweet to allow plenty of time to escape in my truck. Thanks to everyone for the nice comments on the last few posts. I really appreciate it.

Sunset in South Dakota

This is last night's sunset over a South Dakota farm. I stopped at a rest stop on I-90 to check it out (no, I was not cruising for gay sex). I'm still traveling, but I'll be back to bloggin' in a few days. Apologies.