Magic in the Baghdad Cafe

Vote Today

I voted before leaving for class today. 45 minutes to vote. Polls opened at 6:00 am. I was the 97th voter in the precinct, and I got in line at 7:20 am.

This is going to be a very interesting election. I can't wait to watch the fun tonight. Whomever wins will have serious challenges before him.

Go vote. If ever you wanted to be heard, now's the time to do it.

-mike

CBS to Reveal Typist of Killian Memos

CBS will reveal that the typist of the Killian Memos is none other than Rose Mary Woods, a limber and versatile member of the Nixon White House.

Here she demonstrates how it only took her 18 minutes to type them. "It was easy to do after I discovered that by pushing the foot pedal on the Dictaphone while answering the phone, I could do those superscript things".

Major Pain Update

Major Pain is enroute from Ft. Hood to her new posting at Ft. Drum in Upper New York State. I keep telling her how pretty it is there, but she keeps saying she's going to miss Texas.

And she's looking for a snow blowing attachment for her riding mower.

Democrats vrs Republicans

Republicans point to others and say "We're better than they are".

Democrats point to themselves and say "We're better than they are".

Today's Reading 050704

Belmont Club

Wretchard of the Belmont Club displays an informed and enlightened sense of what is happening in the war in Iraq. Proper analysis is in the details; his description of the "big picture" through careful reading of available information and the historic underpinnings of the situation is remarkable.

Read this blog. A better source of information and analysis one would be hard pressed to find.

And the writing is art.

A short sample:

"My first thoughts at the news of the Abu Ghraib abuses, the Taguba Report and the Presidential mea culpa which followed was whether posterity would recall the incident in the same way the Christmas Truce in the first year of the Great War is remembered today. The last grasp at enforcing civilized standards of conduct before the brutality of the trenches coarsened men completely. The fraternization of that first December so alarmed the generals that "special precautions were taken during the Christmases of 1915, 1916 and 1917, even to the extent of actually stepping up artillery bombardments" to prevent its recurrence."

Enjoy. Belmont Club

Mike

Major Pain is Home, or, Frodo Returns to Bag End.

I know I promised a letter before this – but I am finding it particularly it difficult to write. I must admit to a feeling of disjointedness – the time I spent in Iraq was so different; that the time I spent there does not want to settle easily into my mind and memory. It’s almost like the time in Iraq never really happened. I feel I never left and things here should be just the way they were when I left. No changes. Everything the same. In fact, in my clinic, MOST things ARE the same, so when I discover something different – it’s jarring. Intrusive. Disconcerting. I wonder if it would be easier to really understand the time lost in Iraq if I had something concrete to measure it against – like a growing child. I don’t know. I am back at work, trying to build a client base for myself. One of my friends down the hall is getting very used to me asking – OK, how are we doing this NOW? - I have to be careful not to fall back into the old routines, or to assume old routines are still the way we do it. I can understand how husbands, coming back from Iraq have problems adjusting and blending back into their family. They left a year ago a wife who was dependant on him, certain routines of behavior, rewards and punishment in the kids, and come back to a household where the wife (spouse) has been “dealing” the entire time, making the decisions, changing the routines as the kids grow and change. And now the soldier is the intruder. He is the outsider who has to fit himself back into a family which has changed – at times in unexpected ways. I understand why this can lead to abuse. I am also angry. I saw things there which I feel no one should ever see. We are so lucky in this country, that we are so isolated from so much of the nastiness that takes place in some countries. Do I think we should have gone into Iraq – yes. Do I think we should stay? – yes. Despite.

Anyway.

Talking about abuse, I promised a word or six about the dreaded CIF equipment turn in. CIF – Central Issue Facility – is where us soldiers get all of our matching wardrobe and accessories. The soldier goes in with nothing (Chippendale review?) and comes out the other end with 4n pairs DCU, 2 pairs boots, one set cold weather gear, onset rain gear, 4 duffle bags, one helmet, one helmet cover, 3-pam-choride injects, doxycyline (anti malaria), equipment vest, bullet proof vest, 9 mm, web belt, 4 sets long underwear, wool hat, sleeping bag, welllllllllll, you get the idea…
Anyway, CIF wants their equipment back when we get through using it. They want it clean.

And in the SAME condition they issued it in.

Think about this.

Never mind that we just been using it for a year. In the dust and mud of Iraq. Everyday. The equipment got shot at, burned, tossed onto various means of transportation – ship, plane, jet, helicopter, 5-ton trucks, HUMMVs, tossed off again, piled up in the mud, dust, rained on, sandstormed on, dragged across the mud, slug under the cot, and generally USED.

For a year. Normal wear and tear, right? Nope, not to the anal retentive minds at CIF.

When I got back I had ½ day in my house, then sent to the barracks at Ft Bliss. The next day we had CIF turn in. Now I tell ya – exactly WHEN did I have time to take this all to the cleaners? I did wash a lot of my gear at home, then stuffed it back into the duffle bags. Which, by the time the bag was slung under the bus on the ride to CIF, then stood on end while we waited in line, got a bit dusty. Dusty. Not stained, not dirty – a BIT dusty.

And those disciples of the unattainable objective decided it was not acceptable - I would have to pay for them. Now if the duffle bag had been ripped or something, THAT would have been acceptable – no matter HOW dirty it was – it would have been accepted and trashed – but a functional duffle bag with a little dust? REJECT!!!!

Of course, no soldier would EVER get the idea to - uh oops, put a rip in it themselves. Just so he wouldn’t have to pay for a stained duffel bag. Or for a duffel that his unit INSISTED he stencil his name onto for identification purposes. To discriminate it from a thousand others.

Heaven forbid if you DARE to ARGUE with the kind and gentle folk at CIF. My friend did. HIS web gear was – golly, dare I say it? - DUSTY. So it was rejected. But the guy’s in front of him was accepted. In the same condition. My friend protested. The CIF personnel decided to reject ALL of his equipment.

My pistol holder disappeared IN LINE at CIF. They wanted me to pay for it. I basically said I was NOT paying for something that disappeared while I was in line, actively turning in equipment! I then proceeded to have an asthma attack – remember I was quite sick when I got home, kept have airway problems. Well the CIF person decided she didn’t want me to expire in front of her so she signed off on my paperwork and accepted my stuff as is.

Huh, should try that again next time.

CIF is primarily run by civilians, with a few soldiers helping. If you really have a problem – go to one of the soldiers – THEY will solve your problem. They understand what it’s like living on a soldier’s pay.

About 3 days after I got home for real – that is I could STAY there (in my bathtub) I was woken up in the middle of the night by a big BOOM which rattled the windows. I live near Ft Hood’s tank training grounds, so it’s not uncommon to hear exploding ordinance.

I darn near rolled off my cot onto the floor to take cover. Which would have really hurt, as my bed is MUCH higher than my cot was! It took a while for my brain to get through the adrenalin surge to convince myself that I WAS NOT in Iraq, and nobody was going to yell “BUNKERS! BUNKERS! BUNKERS!”

I really had to laugh at myself, because the reaction surprised me. I really didn’t expect it. Dumb, I know – I mean you read about it all the time, but HEY, not ME! D’oh!!

I still look around for trouble when I hear the cup-cup-cup-up-cup of 50 calibers in the hills. I still find helicopters with their nav lights on jarring. And, golly, they come in different colors! – not mat green.

I’m wearing regular fatigues now, no longer do I have the distinction of wearing the desert fatigues to separate me from the crowd. It’s an identity, a distinction I had to give up. It almost feels like a loss. Here at Ft Hood, I am one of literally thousands who have returned from Iraq – this is not only the home of 4ID, who just got back, it’s the home of the 1st Calvary – who just left. Interesting tidbit – at III Corps Headquarters (4 ID and 1st Cav ‘s higher headquarters) The flag is not put away for the night. At retreat, it is lowered, and then it is raised again to the top of the flagpole – and will remain so as long as any soldier of III Corps is deployed.

The president decided to attend Easter services here at Ft Hood – and, of course, visit the 32 wounded soldiers who arrived at our hospital on good Friday (our hospital is starting to take casualties to lighten the load on the hospitals in Germany and D.C.). Talk about a mess – security had almost EVERY street leading too the hospital blocked off. I had to drive 3-4 MILEs out of my way just to get TO the hospital. Guess it could have been worse – I could have been a laboring patient. They (security) just don’t realize life does go on in spite of presidential visits and you DO need to leave some sort of access to the ER! Of course, the visit was not announced – but when I was trying to make my way to the hospital – I was thinking – OK, what’s going on? – add the fact the security was tight, we got the batch of wounded on Friday and Crawford (Bush’s ranch) is less than 40 miles from here – hey, hey, hey PHOTO OP!!! Lets schmooze for the media! I left as soon as I could – had enough of the media while I was in Iraq.

Anyway.

Life is beginning to settle back to normal. I think I finally got enough bath time to make up for the lack of baths in Iraq – my skin is never going to Unwrinkle. It’s such a luxury to be able to walk to the refrigerator and grab something to eat. Getting into my truck to drive where I want to. When I want to. Trees. Grass. I planted a new garden – we’ll see if it grows.

Had a family get together at the end of March – was able to see my brother and sister and their families – we reaffirmed to each other that we were all alive and breathing.

And that I was home.
With the same number of holes I left with.
I guess that’s what counts.

Take care, everyone,

Major Pain

GHOST TOWN: Russia's Man-made Pompeii

GHOST TOWN

Go immediately to the above Blog "Ghost Town".
Chernobyl. 18 years later. A heart stopping pictorial by motorcycle.

A Guided tour where "one can ride with no stoplights, no police, no danger to hit some cage or some dog".

What a ride.

(a hat tip to Winds of Change)

The U.S. Army, Its Suicide Rate and Poor Reporting in the Chicago Tribune

Today's Chicago Tribune reports on the rising suicide rate among soldiers in Iraq. The survey (the first of its kind in a combat situation) shows an increase in suicide from 11.9 per 100,000 soldiers to 17.3 per 100,000 soldiers.

Any suicide is a tragedy, and may be a growing problem in Iraq (or may not; this may be a one time blip in the statistics).

As the Tribune warns:

"While experts and GI advocates were pleased that the Army was acknowledging a problem, they remained cautious on whether the military would heed the recommendations.

"It's no longer a disputed issue," said Dr. Paul Ragan, a Vanderbilt University professor who was a Navy psychiatrist for 11 years. "These are sentinel events and if they are not addressed now, it will become catastrophic if it's not addressed with the proper science and vigor."

But as bad as it is, is it a catastrophe? Will this story, as framed by the Tribune, cause concerned citizens to demand that we pull our troops home?

A little more information for comparison will be useful to an informed citizen. This, via the New York Times, where the first two sentences are identical to the Tribune's story. The Tribune omitted the last sentence (Ed.: emphasis mine):

"That number put the suicide rate at 17.3 per 100,000 soldiers, compared with 12.8 for the Army overall last year, and an average rate of 11.9 for the Army between 1995 and 2002, Army officials said. The civilian rate for 18- to 34-year-olds, the age range of most soldiers, is 21.5 per 100,000."

Though the suicide rate, tragically, did increase in Iraq last summer, the rate is still much lower than the suicide rate among a soldier's civilian peers back home.

Information such as this gives an informed citizen the tools he/she needs to make a reasoned decision about this situation and our commitment in Iraq.

For the Chicago Tribune to deprive its readers of this information and context, is disingenous and a disservice to each of us.

-mike

Today's Reading: Tony Blair "Why We Went to War"

Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | Full text: Tony Blair's speech

The UK's Prime Minister's speech justifying military action in Iraq and warning of the continued threat of global terrorism. Tony Blair has been one of the clearest speakers on the problems that today face our civilization. His entire speech is concise and lucid. Read it in its entirety at the above link.

Excerpts:

"We know now, if we didn't before, that our own self interest is ultimately bound up with the fate of other nations. The doctrine of international community is no longer a vision of idealism....

The essence of a community is common rights and responsibilities. We have obligations in relation to each other. If we are threatened, we have a right to act. And we do not accept in a community that others have a right to oppress and brutalise their people. We value the freedom and dignity of the human race and each individual in it....

Which brings us to how you make the rules and how you decide what is right or wrong in enforcing them....

This dilemma is at the heart of many people's anguished indecision over the wisdom of our action in Iraq. It explains the confusion of normal politics that has part of the right liberating a people from oppression and a part of the left disdaining the action that led to it. It is partly why the conspiracy theories or claims of deceit have such purchase. How much simpler to debate those than to analyse and resolve the conundrum of our world's present state....

This agenda must be robust in tackling the security threat that this Islamic extremism poses; and fair to all peoples by promoting their human rights, wherever they are. It means tackling poverty in Africa and justice in Palestine as well as being utterly resolute in opposition to terrorism as a way of achieving political goals. It means an entirely different, more just and more modern view of self-interest....

But in the meantime, the threat is there and demands our attention.

That is the struggle which engages us. It is a new type of war. It will rest on intelligence to a greater degree than ever before. It demands a difference attitude to our own interests. It forces us to act even when so many comforts seem unaffected, and the threat so far off, if not illusory. In the end, believe your political leaders or not, as you will. But do so, at least having understood their minds."

-mike

Hello Nova viewers

This blog features the letters of my sister "Major Pain" (pseudonym, of course). She is a nurse and was stationed at the 21st CSH in Iraq from August of 2003 to February 2004. Read her letters from Balad for a riveting and irreverant slice of life at the 21st CSH.

Her letters are listed in chronological order in the left hand column.

Enjoy.

-mike