Sorry for the long delay, I've gained some new responsibilities here and it's been taking a lot of my time to get people adjusted to a new system put into place here. So without further wait..
Sadr City
For those of you who don’t know, the surge troops who came here a few months ago are in Sadr City. But there was that cease-fire right? Right, however shortly after that extended cease fire there were disputes within the JAM forces in Sadr City. Wanting his power there, Sadr took away the cease fire. Ever since then it’s been the hell hole that it is right now, but what’s so important about it right now? Sit and wait.
Exodus
Those surge troops are leaving soon, within a month to be exact. After those brigades leave, the troops that will be occupying Sadr City will be those of the main units that are here. 2/25, 101st, 82nd ABN, 1st ID, ect. The problem with that is there won’t be enough troops to do much with Sadr City, even if there is the attempt will be a half-assed attempt at soldiering So those main units here are massing up all their available resources for a task force to rid JAM out of Sadr City and try and restore the peace there. This is so big, I shouldn’t be talking about it. This is so big, U.S. Army Special Forces and Delta Force will be there on the ground as well, they’ve already started precision bombing. (Leave your email in a comment for a video from a few days ago of the precision bombing)
All of this is going on in Sadr City right now, divide and conquer, shock and awe. CA is coat-tailing the troops in Sadr City giving refuges information on displaced family members and giving them all the aid that they can with the limited resources they have. Truth be told, CA has been fucked ever since it was moved from Special Operations a year or so ago, but I’m not going to get into that.
Into the Unknown
Apparently there is going to be a surge of troops going to Basara. Why? I don’t know. But I do know the following: Delta Force and Special Forces will definitely be there, buildings will be blown up, innocent people will be killed and roughly 10-20 HVI (High Value Individuals) and/or HVT(High Value Targets) will be apprehended/killed. I’m not really sure what the hell is going on with Basara however this surge seems set in stone so we’ll just have to wait this out until I hear something else.
Personal Thoughts
I hate it here. Plain and simple. I hate waking up in the morning and breathing the filthy air of Iraq. I hate going out on missions and seeing poor and impoverished Iraqi kids knowing there’s not a God Damned thing I can do to help them. Sure I can set up a CME, but that won’t help them now, that would help them in 5 months when the damn thing actually happens. I hate listening to the Council Members on the Qadah complain about how Baghdad doesn’t listen to them while I sit there unable to offer any help, not because I don’t know any ideas for them to try, but because I am a soldier and I am not to meddle in the affairs of their Government.
It’s not all bad here though, I have done some good things here. I set it up so that the electrical director here could get some new equipment, he had 5 trucks with only 1 running, now he’s got 10 fully running trucks because of me. He told me when I get this done, he’d put an over sized picture of me in the office and that’s what he did. I’m also working on getting a workshop for him so he can hire some new employees and fix transformers, he had 18 of them, the only one working out of the 18 wasn’t even his. We have some good wasta between us.
I hate the fact that the progress here is small and painstakingly hard to produce, it’s there and you might have to overturn some rocks but eventually you’ll find it. I can work my ass off day in and day out to get everything thrown back at my face, but in the process I ate some good local food and drank some Chai tea. That makes up for something, right?
Speaking of good food, I never would have thought Iraqi food was so good. Every time I go to these meetings I get stuck in, I pray that we order some food. I mean, when you see 10 people carrying in platters of food which looks like literally like a feast out of a cartoon, you can’t help but put a big dorky grin on your face. Also, here it’s REALLY insulting to turn down an offer of food like this, so even if you’re a vegetarian like myself, you’ll eat something good.
I’m sorry to inform you all, but the next few days I’ll be all around Iraq. So if you have any questions you want me to address in my next Ed, email me at the following email NEIRQNA (AT) Gmail (DOT) com. All questions that you ask will be answered, I will go through the comments and answer as many of the questions as I can from that as well. The next ed will be devoted strictly to answering your questions. Also, I’ve found out I really love Girl Scout Cookies. I have a feeling I’m going to go from being 6’ 190LBS to being 6’ 300LBS by the end of this tour if I keep on eating these delicious cookies.
Related Links:God Hates Iraqis, Raped Mothers Who Get AbortionsIraq: The Cluster****, The Quagmire, The Opportunity? The Iraq Report Vol. 1 It is Time For The United States to Leave Iraq Why We Should Not Hate The American Troops In Iraq