When will we have victory?

Good question: hard answer.
In past wars, the time of victory was never uncertain. There was a surrender, a treaty, a capitulation of the vanquished. The moment in time could be noted on a calendar, photographed, annualized, and remembered. We could celebrate what became Veterans Day (the 11th day of the 11th month) for WWI, or V - E Day, V - J Day for WWII. Schwarzkopf sitting in a tent with Hussein’s Generals let us know that the ’91 liberation of Kuwait was complete.
But how will we know when this war in Iraq is complete?
Is it right to even call it a war? President Bush’s administration has declared a global war on terrorism, but the actual criteria for a war do not truly exist. This is a battle of ideological differences that is not defined by countries’ borders, uniforms or flags. That distinction is critical. There never will be a cessation of hostilities due to an agreement or peace signing ceremony. Ideology is not changed due to dominance of force.
Now what about IRAQ?
We could leave tomorrow and we would have accomplished our mission which was to overthrow Saddam. The pundits can postulate about WMD’s forever, but ultimately, the overthrow of Saddam was the true (hidden) objective and that was achieved. His regime had destabilized the entire region and that was unacceptable for our national objectives. Now that he is gone, the trouble we have is keeping the Former Regime Elements (FRE) and Foreign Fighters (FF) from reasserting itself. To remove our forces from the region would further destabilize the area. To stay longer will cost more lives and more money but the inevitable result will be stabilization of the region.
The administration has made many mistakes. Military and political thinkers agree on this point. The disagreement is no longer about why we got here, or what will we do next, but how do we get out? Should “peace with honor” be a part as it was in Vietnam? I don’t think that is the right question.
Last Sunday, one This Week on ABC, George Stephanopoulow interviewed Senator Joseph Biden, the ranking Democtrat on the Senate Foregin Relations Committee. Senator Biden insisted that the goal should be to get our troops out of Iraq as quickly as possible. I agree. He then goes on to insist that the President should hold to the “Pottery Barn rule” which is “you break it, you buy it” and the President has broken the pottery. He owns it.
But I wonder how you “break it” to begin with. Mistakes, yes. More difficult than expected, yes. But broken? What was it before there was justice, before there were elections, before the overthrow if not broken?
Biden continues that his solution is to first fire Rumsfeld. (I see that as vendictive, not helpful in any form). “Secondly, lay out specific terms, Mr. President, as to how many Iraqis you have to train, when you are training them, when you expect them to be trained, and when you expect to be able to draw down American forces so that we can judge whether or not you have a plan, Mr. President.”
Mr. Senator, you have no idea what you are talking about any more than you could have predicted that we could take boys from the farms and factories of the U.S. heartland in 1942 and form an army to fight WWII (which took two plus years). And in WWII we were talking about men who had been through the Great Depression, not who had been born and lived their entire lives in a regime of oppression and devastation.
The Iraqi soldiers of today and their police counterparts are incredibly brave people. Yet they also know that the only way to provide for their country and ultimately themselves is to join and fight. To stand in line to join puts their very lives at risk. But in an economy that has been in shambles for generations, they risk that to feed their children. [Saddam’s economy was simply to pay those who supported you and ignore the rest. Everyone who wanted to eat supported Saddam].

[Last week I spoke with a woman who said her friends join the military and the police because you can live with hungry children only so long. You have these options:
Live with hungry children that tears your heart out-
Join the military-
Join the police-
Join the terrorists- Those are your choices. She said, “I would sell myself rather than live with hungry children that cry all day long.” She is employed as a government worker and is grateful to have the job.]

So how can the President say how long it will take to raise an army and a police force? Should it be free from corruption? Should it be ready to defend its borders? Should it enforce the laws? Laws require a judicial system that is counter-supportive. That system has not been in place for 50 years. Should the police learn to live on their salary and not be subject to graft and kickbacks? That requires training a new way of thinking not just for the police, but for the citizens as well, who don’t trust the police.
Sending people to boot camp or a training center does not make them a competent police or military with a time line on completion, Mr. Senator.
It is easy to throw stones at mistakes. It is much more difficult to put a time line on learning how to live in a newly formed Democracy. Getting out is simple. Doing it right is painful. I think we would do well to do it right.

Sign the Constitution

Sign the Constitution

We are still in the waiting game.
When will the Iraqis sign their new Constitution? Another day passes and another deadline goes with it.
But the real question is not “when” but the concern is about what will be in the document? I have had a chance to talk with some of the people that are very closely involved with the proceedings and them some who “think” that they are close.
I spoke with a man today who was very happy with how the progress was developing. “When did you read the draft?”
”About a month ago” was the reply.
I immediately knew that his review of the Connstitution was too outdated and that he had no idea what was still in it. This document goes bad quicker than fish in the sun. What was printed two days ago is already outdated.
I spoke with some members of the Department of State earlier this week. They were very concerned about the process. I cannot say too much, because who can say what the final document will look like. I know that the information flow back and forth has been at a frantic pace between the participants, the advisors, the advisors to the advisors and the Capital back in D.C.

What is the concern?
Main issues: “We have been disenfranchised for 35 years and we want what is rightfully ours.”
“We have been in charge for 35 years and you have no right to take what we have developed and accumulated for the last generation.”
“We don’t care what you do. We have the $-rich resources and we deserve to keep the money. You cannot take it and give it to others in the country, because it is under our dirt.”
Federal vs. State concerns….can the national government tell the local leaders how to manage their area? The local leaders (tribal warlords, etc.) have ruled for generations and see no reason to change just because outsiders tell them there is a new regime.

Part of the concern is that there is little concept of national pride in the sense that we as U.S. Citizens understand it. The loyalty of many Iraqis is first to their family. Inherent in the family loyalty is tribal loyalty. Beyond that is the loyalty to their neighborhood, their hometown mentality that has nurtured their tribe and family for generations. Beyond those borders, there is not much room for loyalty. Everything that you have is provided locally or arranged locally or consumed locally. Who needs national or international government? Once one gets far beyond Baghdad, that seems to be the prevalent thought process. So what purpose does a Constitution or an international agreement have for the locals?

“All politics is local” could be the ultimate slogan for most of Iraq. Many who are pushing from the outside to force a constitution would do well to be reminded of that. Our concept of Federalism and autonomous local governments has very little foundation in the thinking of Iraqi leadership.
Can we get it done? I think so, but we have to remember that “we cannot force our Western style into their Eastern mind.”

Hungarian holiday

St. Stephen's Day was a great success for the Hungarian NATO Group. There are not a lot of them in country, but they are a great group of guys.
I showed up in plenty of time...I was told to "follow your nose" to the gulash. I was pinned with a minature Hungarian flag and enjoyed getting to meet new friends.


Part of the evening was a video display of Hungary and Budapest...beautiful country. Then came the recognition of the officers there who were celebrating their anniversary of commissioning date. When under the Communists, the leaders designated what had been "St. Stephen's Day" for generations, to "Constitution Day" and changed the religious holiday into the state holiday. This date became the day that all the military officers were commissioned. There were a dozen or so attending.
Then we all stood for the national anthem. This was not a march or martial song. The Hungarian national anthem sounded like a love song to a country. The CD played was of a 6 part harmony chorale that was fabulous. The music was enough to bring tears to your eyes.
Patriotism runs deep in the military serving in a foreign country.

The origin of St. Stephen's day also includes the "Blessing of the Bread." I had invited my good friend, Father Dennis Volmi to do the traditional blessing. Since many of the citizens of Hungary are Catholic, I thought it only right that he be asked to do the blessing. I assisted and the people were very appreciative.

The highlight of the evening was the food.
There was plenty and it was good. The gulash reminded me of a beef stew...tomatoes, onions, peppers, beef, and who knows what. Along with hot flat bread, this was a meal I could eat more than on holidays.


I stayed much too long, ate far too much, but it was one of those memorable evenings that taken in the context of a war zone and all of us being in a different land, we all had a wonderful time.

"You type, I'll write"

There are many Iraqis working to establish their country that still don't trust technology. (Same could be said of our folks, too). I was talking to one of our folks who works downtown with one of the directorates in the Iraqi Government. She said that getting people to commit information to a computer is very difficult. The fear is that the information will be lost. You cannot trust electrons. They are afraid that when the screen closes, the info is gone. Backup disks are difficult to fathom. To turn off the computer is unthinkable, but when there is only 3 hours of electricity on some days, getting the generator turned on at the right time is difficult.
So the solution? When one person types at the computer, the assistant sits beside them and copies everything that is written onto a notebook. Which of the two is more important? The one doing the writing. That person is the one with the power, because the book is the final authority of what work is done.

Don't pick up the backpack

We are always told to never pick up packages or backpacks that are abandoned or have nobody around them. The bag could be a bomb. Call for security. They will cordon the area, move all the people to a safe distance, call in the bomb sniffing dogs, do whatever is needed to get the bomb disarmed or blown up.
We had a controlled detonation this morning. Nobody will ever say if what was blown up was bomb or just a forgotten box.
A few weeks ago there was a flurry of activity at the front of the Palace. The morning had started with a lot of VIP's in the area. That always means escort officers, security, armored vehicles and all the "stuff" that goes with that. Less than half an hour after all the vehicles had left, there was an announcement over the loud speaker ("voice of God") that everyone in the front of the embassy must move immediately to the rear of the embassy for their own safety until a suspicious backpack is disarmed....
I am sure that in the flurry of departure, one of the aides or security details of one of the VIP's left his pack leaning against the vehicle. Once the VIP gets in the vehicle, then everyone runs like a Chinese Firedrill to get to their assigned seat in the surrounding vehicles, doors slam, tires squeal and off they go in a cloud of dust....very dramatic...totally inane, and senseless. Only this time, someone forgot to pick up his backpack.
An hour after everyone vacated the front of the building, the dogs had been called, the EOD (bomb squad) came, the loud speaker announced that it was safe to return to work. No bomb, but I bet there were fireworks at someone's workstation later that day.
This morning was a pleasand breakfast with a couple of my friends. I had just enough time for my food and a bit of conversation before heading back to a scheduled phone call. Then I saw the backpack. The black bag was leaning against the counter underneath the toaster. I am sure that it was not there when I sat down a few minutes earlier. Someone set it there while they toasted their bagel and forgot. I pointed it out to the folks at the table. But should I leave it? If the "wrong" person saw it, the dining facility would be emptied, dogs called.....breakfast missed by a lot of people. But what if???
I sat for a full minute staring and watching others walk by it, nobody noticed, nobody claimed it.
Then I decided to resolve the problem. I went for the bag, brought it to the table and announced that I was going to find out whose it was. I unzipped the top. Why was I nervous if I was sure that there was not a problem? Because two days ago, I had read some of the report of the Mosul Dining Facility bombing earlier this year.
Socks and underwear. Side pocket had chemlights, a flashlight, a strobe light. Other side pocket had a waterbottle. Nothing harmful yet. The back zipper held ammo. Light rifle ammo in plastic speed loaders. One of my buddies was right. He had announced that one of those "!#$! PSD's forgot his load."
I zipped up the bag and held it overhead and announced, "Who recognizes this bag?"
Heads turn, then shake....
Next group of tables...same response.
Third group of tables. Before I finished the question, fingers pointed at now a red faced guy in civies. He was the culprit. Everyone at the table knew I had saved their buddy's butt. He was very apologetic. I was very relieved.
Back to breakfast.

Where I'll be tonight

Tonight is the celebration of St. Stephen's Day in Hungary. I have been asked to bless the first loaf of bread of the harvest season. This is a tradition that goes back over 1,000 years to the establishing of Hungary as a nation under King Stephen. It seems to be a combination of what we would regard as the 4th of July and Thanksgiving together. The Hungarian UN contingent has asked me to join them for the celebration of the blessing of the bread followed by their traditional gulash. Some of the men started cooking pots of it on open fires two days ago just outside my trailer. I stop in the evenings and visit with them and smell the cooking.

The men start gathering around the fire as soon as the first can get away from work. They cut the vegetables and tell stories and laugh as they cook the gulash. They have been there the last two nights well past midnight. I don't know how late they stay, but I am sure that quality food must take a long time.
I am looking forward to another cross cultural adventure this evening.

Baghdad Regatta Raft Team

Last night was our "once in a while" regatta team competition. This is an occasional competition sponsored by Morale-Welfare-Recreation folks and they generate a lot of interest and fun for the evening.
With all the water we drink and all the water bottles that are left, someone decided to host a water bottle raft competition. This has evolved into the regatta. Each team has six members and one raft. One member must ride the raft from one end of the swimming pool to the other. Then a second member, who is prepositioned at the other end, gets on with the first member and the two of them ride back to the starting point. The other four members are the propulsion system for the raft. The raft must be composed of only plastic water bottles and duct tape (100 mile an hour tape for the military).

There were five yachts entered. The smallest, puniest floating board won the race, but there was also competition for best design and best working raft. The best working did not work well if that is an indication of what else is involved....I think that bribery had something to do with it.
One was named "taxpayer's dollars" entered by some Embassy workers. Another, titled "Last Minute" boasted of "203 bottles, 320 yards of tape."
A great time. Lots of people at the pool and $100 to the winning team.

Who Dressed You?

One thing about the military, we are Uniform! That is the whole meaning of the word....all alike. There are complaints about the uniformity and sometimes the lack of such. Articles to the editor in the Stars and Stripes complains about the uniform police who insist on making on the spot corrections to improper uniform wear such as placing one's sunglasses on the top of their head. We are issued a sunglasses strap to keep them secure, but the strap is unauthorized while in uniform. We are not allowed to wear anything except the uniform and to hang the sunglasses strap around the neck and let the glasses dangle out of the way is not authorized. The bottom line is that we regard the uniform police as someone with way too much time on their hands and a missed recognition that we are in a war zone.
But the greatest miswear of clothes had to be a civilian flying on a helicopter with me the other day. She was cute, long brown hair, nice short sleeved knit top. Not very conducive to wearing body armor on top of the knit outfit. But the pants, as nice and probably as expensive as they were did not match the environment. I don't think I have seen anyone get on a helicopter in a war zone wearing tight, hot pink pants. Not that she was not noticed, but the comments were not favorable. The pants were topped only by the wooden soled, open toed sandals she wore. Somebody should help her get dressed.

Christians in Iraq

There are Christians in Iraq. They have a rich and deep history here and have had for generations. There is seldom a Sunday that goes by that some do not attend the Chapel services here at the Embassy.
But, yes, in much of Iraq (all?) there is much persecution. Many Christians have left the country rather than risk the purging that appears in so many areas.
One web site that was shown to me recently is Christians in Iraq. This gives a very good insight into what is taking place in some areas.

Carnage, Anger and Grief

In yesterday's Washington Post, foreign service writers, Ellen Knickmeyer and Khalid Saffar wrote about the anger and grief being demonstrated in Baghdad. This is a very good sign. Yesterday's attack seemed unusually brutal. Vehicle borne bombs were placed at strategic distances at a police station and a crowded bus terminal to gain the greatest damage. Then secondary explosions detonated in front of the hospitals where the wounded were being taken for emergency care. The national news made an unusual decision as a result. The television programming was interrupted to show the grief of the families as they discovered their loved ones were dead or wounded. People at the explosion sites called the television stations to tell of their anger at the bombings that seem to never end.
Moqtada Sadr is the cleric leader of one of the most heinous groups of terrorists. "We put responsibility on the occupation forces," said one of his spokesmen. But the people are not buying that line any more. You cannot blame the "occupation forces" for blowing up their own people. National outrage and anger is what is needed to stop the insurgency and the terrorists. This is not a coalition battle or a fight for freedom from occupation. The terrorists are hiding behind a flimsy disguise of patriotism and loyalty and yet are destroying the very people they claim to defend and support.
When the Iraqi people have had enough, they will denounce the charade that poses as religious leadership and pull down the false leaders. It will take time, but anger here is a good thing today.

What the Constitutional fight is about

This is an excerpt from an article by Reuters, with some additions from me and some editing. I think that this is a good overview of what the Constitutional fight is over....strong emotions, money, power, the regular thing.
Talking to one of my Irai friends helped me understand that much is a redistribution of power and resources since the fall of Saddam. Those who had been "out" of government control for the last 30 years want to get what they think should rightfully be theirs. Those who have been "in" power do not want to give it up, even though they are a minority in number and the power base was supported only by terror and power, rather than common consent. The Kurds, long despised and wanting their own country, have great resources. The fight over how much Islam should pay a part, how to decide who rules and even what the name of the new country. Did you know that the legislators might change the name of the country?

[I included some of my thoughts and explanations in brackets.]
Enjoy:
BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) — Following are the main points of dispute in talks over Iraq's permanent constitution, which a 71 -member panel is aiming to complete.
The main groups in the debate are
1) Shi'ite Muslim Arabs, who form around 60 percent of Iraq's population;
2) Minority Sunni Arabs, who lost their dominant position under Saddam Hussein after the U.S.-led invasion of 2003; and
3) Ethnic Kurds -- mostly Sunnis -- who already enjoy autonomy in northern Iraq.

FEDERALISM - Kurds have been the most vocal in arguing for a strongly decentralized federal state that would safeguard their gains in three provinces in northern Iraq. Sunni Arabs, who see themselves as the historical glue for Iraqi unity, have resisted federalism as a ruse for eventual Kurdish independence.
Shi'ite religious leaders have blown hot and cold on such decentralization. Some now suggest that the Shi'ite regions of the south should also form a "federated region".
Iraq's transitional administrative law (TAL), signed in March 2004, allows any three of the 18 provinces the right to form an autonomous region. There is argument over whether that provision should be changed to make forming regions harder.
[this is not too different than some of the considerations that led to the struggle between states’ rights and federal rights that led to the Civil War].

ISLAM - Secularists, U.S. officials and a host of liberal lobby groups, the most prominent of which have been women activists, are fighting to water down references to Islam in defining the new Iraq.
Shi'ite clerics had originally argued for Iraq to be named an "Islamic republic", like Shi'ite Iran, with Islamic law -- presumably Shi'ite for Shi'ites and Sunni for Sunnis, though this was not spelled out -- specified as the sole source of law. Secularists fear that if Islam is the sole source of law, as opposed to simply a source, parliament or local government could enact laws or regulations that deny women equal inheritance rights, [women can only inherit ½ of what their brothers would inherit], restrict their rights in divorce [only men can initiate divorce proceedings] or impose dress codes.
Women also want to ensure they have the right to pass on their Iraqi nationality to their children, which is not an available right at this point.

ARABS - Sunni Arabs have pushed for Iraq to be defined as an Arab state that is part of the "Arab nation", a loaded term linked to pan-Arab nationalism, including that espoused by the Baath party of Saddam Hussein. Shi'ites, keen to establish their distance from non-Arab Iran, have been sympathetic, though perhaps not overly concerned. Non-Arab Kurds have fought for softer alternatives, such "Arab world" or "Arab surroundings".

RESOURCES - Sunnis are keen for central government in Baghdad to have control over all or the majority of the country's oil revenues. Iraq's huge oil reserves are located around Basra in the south and Kirkuk in the north -- another spur for Kurds and Shi'ites to favor federalism. Sunnis fear being left in the middle with a rump state big on Arab nationalist slogans, but bereft of resources.

KIRKUK - Since Iraqi Kurdistan is already an autonomous region, the drafting committee is faced with deciding where the borders of its three provinces are and what proportion of their revenues can be retained for local use without passing through the central government in Baghdad.
The north oil city of Kirkuk, just outside present-day Kurdistan, is an emotive issue because the Kurds consider it their ancestral capital and resent the forced settlement of Arabs during Saddam Hussein's rule. Arabs say it is an Arab city and Turkish-speaking ethnic Turkmen say it is by rights theirs.
The TAL specifies that issues involving Kirkuk cannot be settled until after a census in the area is held, property claims are resolved and a permanent Iraqi constitution is ratified. However, Kirkuk as a symbol of Iraq's divisions is overhanging many of the discussions over the constitution.

Is it clear now? How hard can that this be????

In Memory: Thomas Strickland

Numbers are more than just digits on a page. When they represent casualties, they are people. These people are the sons and daughters of our country; the brothers and sisters we will never see get old. They are the future and hope of our nation who give the ultimate sacrifice so that those whom they do not even know will savor the taste of freedom. They live in memoriam for generations yet unborn.
This is Thomas Strickland. He died along with two other fellow soldiers in his unit this past week in Iraq.

One of the faithful readers of the blog brought this loss to my attention. Sergeant Strickland is one of the best friends of their nephew.
This photo was the only one posted of an individual soldier this week in the daily photo update I receieve. Many photos are sensational and graphic. Some pictures are of the rebuilding and the political side of the growth of this new democracy. We very seldom get photos of the personal side of the US military who pay the highest price. When the numbers become numbing, it is appropriate to put a face with the figures and be reminded that they represent what can be the very best of sacrifice in us and the very worst in cruelty and destruction.

I am continually reminded of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. His words those many years ago reverberate with the truth....
"a new nation: conceived in liberty..."
"dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal..."
"it can never forget what they did here..."
"for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us..."
"they gave the last full measure of devotion..."
"that these dead shall not have died in vain..."

May it be so.

Riding the Rhino

$275,000 for a truck seems like a lot of money. But when the truck runs “the most dangerous highway in the world,” I think that the money is well spent especially if I am riding in it!
I rode the Rhino last night to get back to the IZ from Camp Victory. Since the Rhinos started their late night rides (during the hours of the Baghdad Curfew), nobody has been injured riding in a Rhino. That is a good safety record. The only problem is that riding at night makes for a long and painful night for me.
Senator John McCain was on FOX news the other day. He stated that he thought that Iraq would be safe when he could land at Baghdad International Airport on any given day, get into an unarmored car and drive to the International Zone without concern or incident. We are not at that point, yet. The road is still dangerous.
"Riding the Rhino" was the title of an article in The Army Times from May 30 ’05 that gave a good description of what was involved in getting from there to here. The article described the 14 minute trip as “uneventful” and that is surely the truth...

When my NCO and I went to the sign up desk, there was another soldier standing to the side. I can spot a newcomer by the look in his eyes. He reminds me of the Basic Trainees I worked with back at Ft. Bliss. They don’t blink their eyes very often. They stand wide-eyed and search for anything that could be familiar or comfortable. While I stood in line, he mouthed the words, “Do you have any ammo?”
“What?” I asked.
“Do you have any ammo?”
“No, I am a chaplain. Why do you need ammo now?” I stepped out of the line to visit with him for a minute. I could tell that he was very anxious.
“Haven’t you heard the shooting going on outside? They have not issued me any ammo, yet. Said that I would get it when I got to my unit. But I need it now.”
“We’ll see.” To be honest, I had not heard any shots, but maybe I was just not listening. After I signed up for the ride, I went back outside. Sure enough, there was shooting going on. Not too far away, but I knew what it was. No overhead helicopters flying providing support. No hand grenades. Only one type of weapon being fired. All the shots coming at the same time. Now I know: firing range for our soldiers. Night firing exercise. Nothing to worry about.
I went back inside and found the solder. He was sitting down. That was a good sign. I placed my hand on his knee for assurance. You don’t need to worry. The shooting you were hearing is from our U.S. firing range. If it were a real firefight, there would be helicopters and heavy weapons. What you were hearing is night firing training. You won’t need any ammunition tonight. He exhaled deeply. I trust that he believed me and trusted that this would be a quiet night. It was a long night, but it was quiet.
Now I just need the next day to sleep in….

Interesting Mass today

I went to Catholic mass today. My good buddy, Dennis Volmi, is the priest. He is a delight to be around and the services have increased in number and fervor since he arrived a couple of months ago.

The text for the homily this afternoon was taken from Matthew 15. In the passage, Jesus refuses ministry to a “foreigner” until she persuades him through her persistence to give her “the scraps from the table.” Dennis explained that perhaps this was the time when Jesus expanded his ministry and sphere of influence to include those who were not like Him, those outside the Jewish realm. Dennis’ conclusion centered around the belief that we should all look beyond our normal sphere of influence and comfort to include all of God’s created people to embrace them as well.

We had dinner together afterward. He commented on how many people come to the chapel service and sit with tears coming down their cheeks as the liturgy is read and the service is conducted. I notice it often during our songs and prayers. I wrote of this in an earlier blog. Dennis had a Colonel hug him after the service “almost hard enough to crack my ribs,” he said. He had red eyes from the tears. He admitted to Dennis that “this is the only place where I can come and cry and not be ashamed.” The pressure some of our people are under is immense and I think that chapel, for some, has become a true sanctuary.

I was struck by the diversity of those who helped Dennis with the service. We don’t have altar boys (although this war is fought by young people, they are not altar boy age). One altar server was a Sergeant with a combat patch on his right sleeve. This is not his first tour in a battle zone. The other was Captain with Ranger tab, 101st Air Assault Division patch on his sleeve and a pistol in its shoulder holster. For serving communion, the volunteers included civilian contractors in khakis, military-white, Hispanic, and Black in DCU’s, civilians and a KBR who works in our dining facility who is from India and wore his blue baseball hat through the whole service, because the ball cap is part of his uniform.

There were no foreigners there in one sense…we were all pilgrims together….caring, praying, worshipping.

What is worth dying for?

Or is Cindy Sheehan really that wrong?

One of the folks that I work around was angry the other day. The office was all busy working at their stations, headphones on to provide their own background noise. Then the Colonel announced, “Everyone give me your attention. We need to have an office meeting.” That announcement is usually met with immediate thoughts of, “here we go again, hearing pronouncements about what should happen….hardly a meeting, more of a diatribe.”
Yet this one was different.
“What do all of you think of Cindy Sheehan? You know, the mother camped out in front of President Bush’s house in Texas. The one upset her son was killed here in Iraq. You, Major, what do you think?” And the discussion began.
I would venture to say that any of us here in the Palace that have watched any of the television news or checked the internet, are familiar with Cindy Sheehan….The soldiers on patrol don’t get cable news and seldom read the papers. They just do their mission…

The greatest heartbreak and most horrific nightmare of any parent would have to be the pain of burying their children. When I have performed funerals for children, that topic is one of my themes. Parents should not have to bury their children….children should bury their parents after a long and full life. That idea leads into the second theme of the funeral…we cannot count on any certain number of days.

Cindy Sheehan has experienced one of those tragedies. She has buried her firstborn. Casey was killed in Iraq last year by an IED. Mrs. Sheehan now wants to talk to the President to demand an explanation of why her son died. She is convinced that he died not for the Iraqi people’s freedom and for democracy, but for oil.

I think that only history will write the final chapter on the Iraqi move toward democracy. It is certain that Mrs. Sheehan will not write it. She and her supporters, who stand against all U.S. involvement will not, should not, have the final voice in what our country’s determination in Southwest Asia will involve.

Mrs. Sheehan says that the Iraqi people are now “much worse off than before we meddled in their country.” I wonder how she determined that? Are there 14 year old girls regularly kidnapped on their way home from school by Saddam’s two sons’ henchmen for their pleasure and then murdered? Are chemical weapons deployed against their own countrymen? Can she uncover mass graves with hundreds of victims that have been murdered since we arrived? Has she talked to the people on the street who say, “Thank you for being here?” I think not….

There is still murder, brutality, injustice and in some places there is virtual anarchy. But that is not the result of our being here. That is the result of an oppressive regime’s absence and an interim before the grassroots justice and law is established in a land that has known neither for a generation. The bad guys are not us, Mrs. Sheehan. The bad guys are everywhere, including our own country. They just have the leeway here to wreak their havoc more often. The Iraqi people are sick of it, too. They want peace even more than they can express. They know that it is not us who are doing the killing, it is those whose whole purpose in life is anarchy and destruction.

Mrs. Sheehan is a mother. She knows that you cannot have peace in a household until you kids to stop fighting. That is peacemaking. Then comes peacekeeping. The peacemaking is happening, but there are still more coming into the country every day that want to destroy. Until the Iraqi people can stand up and stop the fighting themselves and trust the courts to be fair, then the fighting continues. Our goal is to make the peace last as best we can until the people can keep the peace themselves.

Our government has made no secret that we will leave as soon as the “kids stop fighting.” Our goal is not to rule, overrule, dominate, or intimidate anyone here except those that are fighting. When they stop, we leave. There are plans to leave. We are ready to leave. It is up to the Iraqis to help us leave by stopping the fighting.

Our government has made no secret that the outcome of this conflict will not be settled on the battlefield. This is not a conventional war that will be won on military might. This is a battle between those who want justice in their land and those who want anarchy. Elections, public servants, police, and common citizens will win this conflict. We in the military are here to keep the kids from fighting until the people can grow into a democracy.

Mrs. Sheehan, I am truly sorry that your son was killed. I have no idea the pain that a mother experiences at such a time. But I wonder if your anger is directed at this conflict for democracy or if you are just angry. Mrs. Sheehan, what fight would you allow your son to die for? Afghanistan? Is that a noble fight for democracy? Or how about the fight in Somalia with the Rangers and 10th Mountain Division? How about Lebanon with the 220+ Marines killed in Beirut in a barracks bombing? How about going down in a Pennsylvania field on 9-11 or in the twin towers or the Pentagon? People died in each of these and hundreds more examples of great Americans whose blood was spilt on the ground and whose mothers got the knock at the door and a visit of condolence. Good and noble people and soldiers and sons in each. How do we decide which are noble and which are not? Can you say that you draw the line and decide who died needlessly or who died worthily?

Maureen Dowd, of the New York Times, says that “the moral authority of parents who bury children killed in Iraq is absolute.” I don’t think that I even understand what she means. These parents cannot lay claim to any absolute moral authority any more than any other person can. I think they can lay claim to grief and anger and hurt and, for Mrs. Sheehan, perhaps misplaced vengeance at times. We all have our soapboxes (this blog is mine). But none of us have a moral absolute. You may have grief, but you have no context of historical or cultural perspective of what is happening here. You have a desire for vengeance, but you have no voice with us who are in theater. You hurt, and you cry, and you are angry and you have every right to all of those emotions. But don’t tell us that what we do is a lie or that we sacrifice for nothing. You don’t know what you are talking about. You do not know what you are doing.....sorry.

Please go home.

What do you miss?

One of the conversations I hear on occasion is the “what do you miss?” question. The first time that I heard the question, I was at a local Iraqi restaurant. [Note: That particular restaurant, my absolute favorite, has since been put ‘off limits’ because a group of people eating there one evening all got sick. Well, let the buyer beware! The water here is not potable. The restaurants wash all their produce in water that we are not supposed to drink and any prepared chicken should be considered suspect. That should be interpreted, “don’t order chicken and don’t eat freshly washed produce. If you want that food, eat it in the military dining facility. Only order meat that can be cooked thoroughly and eat only cooked veggies, etc.” This is still a foreign country but some Americans don’t get it]...back to the story... This particular evening the question played was “what do you miss?” One of the guys said that what he missed most was “fountain drinks.” We all have certain things that we miss that makes home special for us, and for this guy, he missed fountain drinks most of all. We all thought that was a rather unusual item to miss.
Yesterday, the local Imam had our Religious Support Team over to his house for lunch. What a spread.

This, however, was a conflict of culture. When I grew up, I was told to always clean my plate at the table. The Iraqis are always told to make sure that the guest’s plate is never empty. Who will win that culture war? The Iraqis. There is always way too much food for us to eat. We could have had triple the guests and still had food left over.
After the meal, the Imam asked one of the chaplains what he missed most being here in Iraq.
“What I miss most is rain” was the answer.
“But it is summer here. You cannot have rain now.”
“Oh, yes. There is rain in the summer where I come from. I am from Connecticut and we have rain during the summer.”
“How can you have rain in the summer?” the Imam asked. “If it rained, the water would be so hot that the trees and the grass would die from the hot water. You can only have rain in the winter.”
Our interpreter had to explain to the Imam that in Connecticut, the summer is not as hot as here in Iraq. The weather was much cooler…we tried to do quick calculations and convert Fahrenheit to Celsius to explain that nothing in the Northeast US was as hot as here in Iraq. The concept of rain in the summer was a completely new concept to the man. Rain is reserved for the winter. That is when the people know that winter is close...rain falls.
“Then does it rain in the winter, too?”
“No, then it snows.”

$2 a month, plus tips

How can one best describe the corruption that has plagued Iraq for the past 35 years? The entire generation of everyone under 50 has been part of a culture of corruption. But how does it work? How does one live in a culture of corruption and not become corrupt?
I got something of an insight by talking to one of the Iraqis that has befriended me.
Probably the best way to explain how the system works is to compare the wages to how we pay waiters and waitresses in the States. The wait staff usually is paid minimum wage and the rest of their salary is made by tips, the “donations” paid by the patrons. The tips may not always be fair or equitable or even appreciated, but that is how we do business. The same type of wage scale can be imported to the Iraqi civil servant and public officer positions. My Iraqi friend’s wife is a doctor. Her state paid salary was $2 a month. “No one can live on $2 a month,” he explained. “So what happens is that everyone is paid extra for what they do. If you want a paper from the court house, then the paper is free…f you want it next week. If you want it in a few days, then you pay them what you think it will take to have them get the paper in a few days. If you want it right away, then you pay much more. That is how business works.”
A doctor had to work the same way. I can see you, but the tests may take a while. I know you need this treatment, but it may take a while to get you in. All of those approaches are an invitation for the patient to offer a way to present a gift for the help. No gift; no help. The money machine was just a merry go round of dinars being passed from one person to another. Everyone was paying off the next person who paid the next and so on.
So the only way to make a living working in the public sector in Iraq was by “tips.” Merchants made their living by the price of their goods. People in the service sector made money by people paying them off. Police were paid $2 a month. They made their living by offering “protection” to the merchants in the area, like our mobsters are reputed to do. So a well paid policeman was one who had the community under his thumb. Add to that scenario, the only acceptable sign of power (according to Saddam) was force and brutality. The police were brutal to maintain their power and extorted to maintain their lifestyle. Now for someone to join the police force requires a lot of indoctrination to convince them that they will be paid enough to live on and that extortion and protection money are not part of the new Iraq.
Some police officers have walked off the job when they were not paid. I think that there was a combination of frustrations involved. Joining the police force was an act of bravery for many of the recruits have been targets of the foreign fighters who would bomb police stations. Then the police were not paid on time by the government, and yet the government would not allow them to extort or strong arm the populace. How could they make any money? So they walked.
Part of the struggle also involves getting the court system up and running. The courts are hesitant to prosecute people for doing what has been done for generations. Murder is one thing. Strong arming the merchant for a few bucks is different. Should we throw all the public servants in jail? Can’t do that. It will be hard to retrain and reorient a new generation on how to live honorably and justly when there is not a template to follow.

The New Look

My wife just laughed when I said that I was thinking about shaving my head. Why not? There are others here that do. I don’t plan on having any significant photos taken of me while in country. After she stopped laughing, she said, “Sure, why not? You will have time to grow it out before you return.” (I have two months) So I shaved, but kept the moustache. Here is the result.

My hair was so short (and receding) before I shaved that I don’t think a lot of people have noticed. Either that or I am not as important in their eyes as I thought I was.
I promised not to die until my hair grows out. I have always hoped to leave a good looking body and with the minimum I have to work with now, I need the help.
I am standing at the rear hatch of an armored truck used to transport soldiers around. I love the question posted at the top of the door.

Birthday Party

Sometimes having a slice of home is a wonderful break from the daily job. I had such a chance this past week. Our translator, bodyguard, good friend and local culture expert had us over to his home for a special meal and the 11th birthday of his youngest daughter.
Because of the sensitive nature of his work, I have decided to digitally change his face for security.

Our guy is a wonderful man with five delightful daughters and two beautiful grandchildren. The meal was 14 separate dishes served buffet style….all traditional Iraqi food. Even when we took the smallest amount, the plates were overloaded before we reached the end of the table.

Lamb was the primary meat, but if one wanted chicken, then you got a ¼ chicken, choice of baked in flavoring. Baked, stuffed peppers with rice and lamb stuffing: or baked stuffed tomatoes: or baked, stuffed onions: or baked, stuffed egg plant: or baked, stuffed more….My favorite was the lamb and okra served in a flavored tomato sauce, or maybe the shredded lamb in spice sauce, but really the baked chicken was excellent, or maybe the stuffed tomatoes….I realize that my PT program will not keep up with my Par-Ty program at this rate.

That's a truck!

This is the greatest way to travel in Baghdad right now. This is the Rava! What a truck. If you want a vehicle that will turn heads, ride in this. Even sitting in the parking lot, it gets a lot of attention. That is where I found these two and took the pictures. While taking photos, others stopped and stood by me to take their pics. There are not a lot of them in country, but when they arrived, there was a notice in the morning BUA about their arrival.

Dual gun turrets and hatches on top. Full armor all around. The only door is a hatch in the back that is like the one on the back of our armored personnel carriers (M-113’s and Bradley Fighting Vehicles). The small discs on the window are firing ports. The machine is massive. This is the ultimate testosterone set of wheels.
I purposely kept the Ford SUV in the picture so that you can see the height and size contrast to a full sized US SUV. I don’t know if the ecologists and tree huggers would approve of such a thing, but I hope they don’t stand in front and try to stop one. The driver would scarcely feel the bump under the tires.

Typing with a hammer

I think that one of the most critical skills that a staff officer must develop is how to type. Typing quickly and accurately is essential. Not all have this skill. One person I work around is continually complaining about the number of emails that he receives. Those who know him just laugh.
"I had over 24 emails this morning." "When I came back from being gone for a day and I have 62 emails to answer."
We laugh. Many in our jobs have emails in the dozens before lunch and I have gotten over two hundred in a busy day back at Ft. Drum....and that was before lunch. If one doesn't stay on it, it can be a short time until there are drowning sounds coming from the office.
The problem with the complaining officer is that he cannot type quickly. I watched him one day (I got caught up quickly 'cause I can type). He types with three fingers and a thumb. Slowly. The problem is not the number of emails, but also that he is a very deliberate, exacting typist. NO mistakes, wording is perfect, and phrasing is exact. Watching the process would be painful if it were not so funny to us who watch and hear the complaining about how he can never get caught up.

In the SOC we see the same thing. There are some who type very well...very quickly.
Then there is LOWTH, one of the British officers. He truly hammers the keys. When he types during our morning briefing (which is allowed, but not really appropriate), his three fingered hammering on the keyboard can be heard for rows around. I mentioned this to one of the guys at the pool the other night who also works in the SOC. He knew immediately who I was talking about. He laughed. We both wondered how long a keyboard will last under the pounding and if there is some type of dubious honor for beating up a certain number of keyboards during a tour here...Battle damage comes in all kinds and styles. Another Brit joined Lowth one evening to work on a project together. They sat at adjoining computers and the racket was so loud that some people left the room because they could no longer concentrate.
We surmise that the two must have learned to type on a tired manual typewriter that required some serious pressure to activate the keys. They have not adapted their style to the "new" electronic age.
They get the job done, but I think they must stay late...

Should we send them home early?

One of the more interesting parts of my job is not even in my job description. That is the counseling part of being a chaplain. As a “strategic planner” I have been put in a position where the actual “ministry” is done by another chaplain element here in the I-Z. The Joint Area Support Group is responsible for providing the religious and spiritual care to the folks here. I cover a bit, but not that much.
Unfortunately, the chaplain who is supposed to be doing the work here in the IZ is extremely incompetent in his position as a senior leader. There is not a doubt that he wants to do the right thing and cares for the people, but in the words of an earlier supervisor, “his administrative skills are still developing.”
Because of his inability to function in his position, I have picked up some of the splash over. Even people in his unit that have known him for years (maybe that is not a good thing) don’t want to see him, and they come to me.
I enjoy counseling; believe that I am rather competent and have the time to do it. My being upset with this other chaplain is that his inability increases the stress and workload of those around him.
A number of months ago some officers came to see me because they were very concerned about one of their fellow officers. This particular Major was acting in such a bizarre manner, that the others around her were concerned about suicide/homicide/etc. issues. Would I talk to her, and then have the command send her home?
I talked. She talked. She seemed to be handling the war as best she could. I could not say that she was a danger to herself or to others. She may have lapses or spurts of bizarre behavior according to those around her, but I could not make a recommendation that the command send her home early. One of the concerns that troubles commanders is that if you start sending people home early, there may be a M.A.S.H.-inspired, Max Klinger syndrome develop in the unit. Others ask “what do I have to do to go home?” and then act out and go home. Once that door is open it is hard to close. We monitored the officer…watched closely….held our collective breath…waited….then put the entire unit on a plane when it was their time to return and they all went home together, safely.
Recently, a senior sat in my office and cried when he talked about his marriage ending. He was not suicidal or dangerous at any level. He just could not sleep, was distracted and unfocused at work. The General officer for whom he works talked to him about his lack of focus and the officer explained that his marriage was over. After consideration of all the factors, the General decided to send him home in two days. The officer’s tour was cut short and he was on a plane right away.
Two situations. Two different answers. Which commander was right? They both were. Thankfully.

Chaplains are not immune to the struggles of being here in the war zone. Our most famous “walk off” was written about extensively during the push to Baghdad in 2003. The Chaplain just got tired, and hitched a ride to the Baghdad International Airport and decided that he was going to hop on the next available flight back to the states. He just told his assistant, “I am sorry. I am going home.” He did not go home right away. He got the help that he needed. Battle stress can do that to the very finest. Having a reporter embedded with the unit brought that situation to the forefront. I think that is a good thing. It reminds us all that battles are not fought and paid for by machines, but by people.
Recently, a chaplain returned from R&R in the States. After returning for the final six months of his tour here, he just announced to the Senior Chaplain that he could not do it any more and was going home. How would one “force” a chaplain to minister, to be competent, to be effective? One cannot do that. Perhaps in another time and place, the chaplain could be set aside for a while, given some administrative duties or told to relax and stand down. Here in Iraq, the Chaplaincy is spread so thin that there is no one to do your job. Either you do it, or it does not get done. The second part is that we cannot requisition another chaplain. All the slots are filled that we can fill. To get a new chaplain in theater, one must go home. The command decided that this one would go home so another could be tagged to replace him. Good decision for all involved. The chaplain went home, turned in his equipment, got out of the Army and went back to his home town. We may not all come home as heroes, but I trust that we all come home alive.

Temperature check

Our intranet has the daily temperature range listed for the next three days. There is also a small icon next to the temperature range to let you know what the day will be like:
3-Day Forecast
High Low

Tuesday 113° 86°

Wednesday 114° 78°

Thursday 116° 79°

I could not get the icons to transfer to the blog (I know there must be a way, but I am not going to learn it).
The icon for Tuesday and Wednesday was a bright sun.
On Thursday, the icon was the word HOT in red.
Who decided that at 114 degrees, it was "sunny" but at 116 degrees it is "HOT?"
I think that the meterologist could stamp HOT across the whole month of August.

In Kuwait, the temperature is 15 to 20 degrees HOTTER!