The "Good" News

You hear a lot over hear about how the media is distorting the situation in Iraq by not telling the “good news stories.” However, I believe the media has every right to be critical of the overall mission in Iraq. The original objective was not nation-building or bringing democracy to Iraq. It was not even to dethrone Saddam Hussein. The basis of the invasion was to protect the American people from WMD. As we all know now, and many people suspected back then, this was, at best, based on faulty intelligence.

Saddam and his cronies were evil men and they deserve to be tried in court. The Iraqi people have suffered through 3 wars caused by Saddam and, like people everywhere, deserve peace. There is great poverty in a country that is blessed with abundant wealth. The US would be well served by a moderate ally in the Middle East. Access to Iraqi oil would undoubtedly help the US economy. I will not deny any of this. However, none of these were cited as a reason to invade Iraq. I doubt the American people would have agreed to spend 155 BILLION dollars and sacrifice over a thousand US soldiers lives in pursuit of these goals.

Please don't get me wrong, the soldiers who have served in Iraq are brave and the greatest majority have served honorably, including my brother-in-law and my best friend. Likewise, my fellow government civilians, contractors, and even PSDs all deserve praise for risking their lives to fulfill their various missions. Every day, these people work to promote freedom, restore the economy, and provide basic services for the Iraqi people. I'm here because I have an opportunity to help. I have a mission to restore infrastructure and provide clean drinking water to Iraq. There's a need for this and, at the moment , there's funding for it. But clean drinking water is not enough to justify the invasion or our continued occupation.

I don't have all the answers, heck, I don't even know most the questions. But the reason the good news stories are not going home is because there are some hard questions that still need to be asked about our reasons for being here. That's the media's job. Let's leave the good news stories for the bloggers.

The Solution

I emailed my dad that I would be in Al Hillah for a couple days last week. I cracked up when I read his response:

OUT OF THE GREEN ZONE, AYA?!! 1 1/2 HOURS??? BY AIR OR ROAD? HOPE YOU'RE TRAVELING SAFE. THESE ARE THE LITTLE TRIPS PEOPLE "DISAPPEAR" ON AND TURN UP ON CNN...DOESN'T HELP THE ANXIETY HERE.

SEND THEM A COUPLE HUNDRED FEET OF PVC PIPE AND A WATER SPIGOT, A HUNDRED CHLORINE TABLETS, A BUCKET AND THEY HAVE A WATER PURIFICATION SYSTEM. OF COURSE THEY'LL USE IT TO MAKE A PIPE BOMB, BUT AT LEAST YOU TRIED.

IF IT'S ELECTRICITY THEY WANT....DURACELL STOCK WILL GO UP IF WE SUPPLY ENOUGH BATTERIES AND SOME MAGLITES. OF COURSE WITH ENOUGH INGENUITY THEY CAN TAKE THE BATTERY STUFF AND MAKE MORE EXPLOSIVES....HMMM....CHUCK THAT IDEA.

HOPE YOU'RE SAFE. LOVE YOU. DAD

Dad should be running this place.

Valentine's Day

It might be a Hallmark marketing ploy, but I really can't complain too much about a holiday that reminds me to tell my wife how much I love her.

Nothing Happening

Note: Our security office has recommended that I delete this post.

UPDATE: First of all, I would like to apologize to any PSD or security officer concerned with the content of my original post. No offense or critiscm was intended, only an observation on different approaches/philosophies. Admittedly, I am not a security expert and thus, I did not discuss the relative effectiveness of the different operations.

Furthermore, I fully support and understand the OPSEC issues associated with discussing tactics. For anyone who has not read the original post, I assure you that the level of detail discussed was general in nature and well within what has been printed in major news sources and shown on network news.

However, considering the personal content of this blog and the extent to which the post was disseminated around the blogosphere, I felt it was prudent to follow the recommendation of our security office. And as I've said before, when the guys with the guns talk, I listen.

As always, I appreciate the support of my family and friends. May you continue to enjoy my rants and raves.