Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone! I am doing pretty good here although it is very hard to have a Christmas away from my family. I thank all of you for your continued support of the troops over here. We really do appreciate it. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers especially tomorrow.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Armor

I wanted to jump the gun on this post and address something that's been in the news a lot yesterday and today. It concerns the number of armored Humvees in Iraq right now. First off, the vehicle I ride in is the fully uparmored model and I've seen them take a thousand pound bomb and still protect those inside. So, please don't worry excessively about me over this.
Also, I feel like the media is solely concentrated on the exact NUMBERS of humvees in Iraq that are not uparmored instead of concentration on what MISSIONS those Humvees are used for. As some of you know, I rode around in a totally unarmored Humvee for 6 months while I worked in the International Zone. In that area, there is just no need for armored vehicles. Also, there are many in staff positions who only need a set of wheels to get them to their various meetings. These are only two examples of situations in which fully armored vehicles are not needed. For the most part, as many units as I have seen on my patrols these last few months, almost all have had fully armored or uparmored humvees. In my own personal opinion, this is just one more thing the media has grabbed a hold of to show how ill prepared we are here. And I believe that that just isn't the case. This does remind me of the huge protective vest (OTV) scare that happened right when I arrived in country. I do not how many remember back to that, but it was the same thing. The media grabbed a hold of the pure numbers of soldiers deployed verses OTVs without checking if everyone really needed one. So, please, don't freak out and think that we are all riding around in unarmored vehicles.

Also, I feel like I've ranted pretty good about the media over the last two posts but it does frustrate me a lot that they just aren't reporting the truth over here. I'll try to make sure that my next couple posts don't have anything to do with the media. I really will try.

One last thing and then I'll go. A reporter and photographer from Newsweek were here this morning taking pictures of my platoon. So, if you see a Newsweek with the armor story, let me know so I can see if we're in there. Thanks! B

10 Minutes...

For those of you who read what's going on in the news over here in Iraq probably read about the double car bomb that went off at the IP station right outside one of the checkpoints for the Green Zone. My platoon and I had only left that checkpoint 10 minutes earlier. Amazing how the difference of just 10 minutes decides whether I'm writing this post to you or going home in a body bag. It is a quite sobering thought and I know that I don't usually post things of this degree of seriousness but I thought it was something important to put out. There are many of us over here, roughly 140,000 troops all risking their lives on a daily basis. I try as best I can to keep up with what the news media chooses to put out and I feel that this message is seriously lacking. There are many good people who have chosen to come here and work to make Iraq a better place. We are succeeding. I see that every day and yet all that is put out is how many people die in what bombing/explosion/assassination. I can't speak for my fellow soldiers but I know that if I had known that I would be coming here, to Iraq, to do this in 2000, the day I signed on the dotted line and entered the military, I would do it again. Even the most cynical of my fellow LTs said to me the other day that he gets this feeling of purpose, of being a part of something bigger than himself that he will, never again participate in as long as he lives. That is the prevailing feeling over here. We know we are here to do good and good is being done. I urge those of you who read/watch what's going on here in Iraq to view that news through a filter. Understand that what is published is only the good, juicy, sensational stuff, not the "mundane" hard tiring work that is going into making this country strong enough to stand on its own. I'm going to step off my soap box now. Thanks for understanding and for all the support that pours in for the soldiers over here. It means more than you will ever know. B