Merry Christmas from Baghdad (Petro's Great Adventure IV)

This is going out to a lot broader audience that I-III, so if the Baghdad part surprises you, or you wonder what that's all about see http://petroiniraq.blogspot.com for more details.

Life where I am now isn't bad. It's not even particularly uncomfortable compared to what most of the world has to endure. My bed, though a bit lumpy and worn, is free from vermin. I have ready access to clean running water (Hot *AND* Cold, AND flush toilets). The food, though plain, is safe to eat (how healthy it is is debatable, but there is a lot of debate about what is healthy anyway).

I have very little to complain about compared to the average person on this planet. Even that which vexes me most--the separation from my wife and children--is only temporary and totally my choice.

This isn't true of all the military and contractors here in Iraq and Afghanistan. We've got troops out in places where "comfortable" means a 20 man tent and a cot--at least they aren't sleeping on the ground. Where using a porta-potty is great because they don't have to dig the hole. And where rain is the closest thing they see to a shower for weeks at a time. And the food is at best T-Rats. Eating MREs for long periods of time sucks. Not as much as they used to, and they can be down right tasty, but they do suck day in and day out. T-Rats however suck so bad that most soldiers who've been exposed to them won't even talk about it. The memories are just too painful.

And there are contractors of various of sorts in many of these places.

The moral of the Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen that I work with and around continues to amaze me. Lt. Colonel DeLange(USAF) the Enterprise Ops Chief and Lt. Pool (USN) are here today at their desk. CW02 Anderson (US Army) is as well. All three dedicated professionals. Well over half the people still here (meaning not out of the country on leave) came in today to work in spite of our being authorized "Minimum Manning Levels" (meaning 2 people to handle the phones/emergencies).

An incredible percentage of military personnel--both American and other countries (the British and Australian are the largest two other contingents here on Victory, with Turkey, Japan, and Albania having a noticeable presence as well)--wish you a good day or some other cheerful greeting in passing on the street.

Anyway, if you're so inclined say a prayer or send good thoughts or wave your crystals or whatever at the soldiers in harms way. Whether you agree with them or not, *they* believe that what they are doing is good, right, and proper and whether you think they are correct about that you have to respect and honor their willingness to put themselves not only in harms way, but in really miserable conditions to do it.

And they're really doing a heck of a job. Not only at closing with and destroying the enemy--which their doing as well or better than any army in history--but they're doing it at a MUCH lower cost in "collateral damage"--meaning the killing and wounding of civilians and the unintended destruction of property than any real war before us. What the line grunts are doing, and the additional risks they are taking to safeguard non-combatants is really heroic.

And yes, accidents still happen. People still snap. But contrast the incidents in this war against, say, the Rape of Nanking, or the way our opposition here were treating the people of Fallujah before the Marines and Army went in and cleaned it out.

We have EVERYTHING to be proud of with our people. Truely some of the best trained and best lead in the world.

I've been one of them off and on since the mid 80s, so I am well aware of the inadequacies of the Officer Ranks, the NCO ranks and the Enlisted Ranks. It's also clear that despite those problems they are *still* the best non-elite soldiers in the world. And if you want to compare our Elite Units, there are, and have been none better. Yeah, Spetznaz blah blah blah. Yeah Israeli special forces etc. etc. I'm sure they're great troops too. I'm sure that even every once and a while they're as good as we've got. Ours are better.

So whether you're celebrating Christmas today, or it's just another day for you, I wish you the contentment in your life that I feel right now.

Regards,
Petro.
:wq

p.s. Nothing interesting is happening here. Which is probably best.