July 2004 Archives

Day 144
Wow! I haven't blogged in three days. My apologies to the regulars who have been disappointed at not finding some new bit of wit here. No new missions or anything. The real issue is that for the most part everything here has become very routine. There are a few interesting things going on but I can't talk about them due to operational security. That's probably the hardest part of this blog. Tracking what I can talk about here and what I cannot.

Still swimming everyday for the most part. Had watch all day yesterday and could not muster up the motivation to go swimming. I'll go today though.

I took the first official step toward joining the Royal Australian Navy. I sent an inquiry with all of my personal data, address, phone number, service, etc. They wrote back asking for a package that includes my service record, all the courses I've completed in the Navy and their content if possible, my evaluations for the past five years. That's a lot of stuff to put together. As I think about what I have to send I feel like I don't have much and they probably won't be interested. Such negatively is probably not a good thing. I will need to wait until after I get back home to put this package together. I will send it in though. Never know what might happen. I'd still like to live in Australia.

I'm back to thinking about switching to the Army. I've been reading some articles about the Civil Affairs units and what they do. Still sounds like really cool stuff. Assuming they ever let me go home from here I know that after a time I will want to come back. That doesn't seem to be much of a problem with the way they are deploying reserve units these days. Lots of units are getting called back for a second tour. I'm guessing we'll start third tours here pretty soon.

I'd like to come back here. I'd like to be more involved in the building of a free Iraq. If/when I come back, I would like to have a more direct roll. My current involvement is a support roll to the those going to Iraq with the exception of my time up in the NAG. I liked being in the NAG a lot more than I like being here in Kuwait. If/when I come back, I'd like to be in Iraq. In Baghdad would be rather cool. A little dangerous but that just gets the adrenaline pumping.

It's awesome to meet and talk with the Iraqi people. I think most of them are still trying to figure out what it means to live in a world where there is no Saddam. To live in a world relatively free from fear, at least immediate fear. I would like to meet more Iraqi people. I would like to see first hand as they rebuild their country for themselves. I believe in what we're doing here. I believe in a Free Iraq. I do not believe that a Free Iraq would happen without this war. I believe that if the US military does not retain control and remain in Iraq to provide security while a new Iraq is built, that new Iraq will be at risk.

It's a lot like a new farmer back in the 1800s. Without the help of neighbors, family and friends, you would never make it. There was simply too much work to do, too much muscle required, too many skills required. One man or one family couldn't really do it on their own. Likewise Iraq. After decades of being trod down and beaten the Iraqi people have no concept, no model of what a free and democratic society looks like or how it works. Because of the vast differences in culture, religion and society, there is no way that we can simply transplant Western democracy into Iraq. The Iraqis are going have to build a society that incorporates religious tolerance, personal freedom, democratic election, and secular government into the existing fabric of Arab society.

Wow! That's a huge task if you think about it. They are going to need the help of a few friends. To take care of things like security until they can get to the task of building their own security force. The media and the government seem to think that Iraq's first priority should be building its own security force. I sincerely disagree. The US should be leaving Iraq from the inside out.

First, the internal processes of running Iraq should be turned over to the Iraqis. We've started that with the handing over of sovereignty to the Iraqis. The Iraqis now need to be given time to build a government and for the Iraqi people to develop a faith and confidence in that government. This should happen before they are tasked with taking over their own security.

It would be convenient and less costly to the United States if Iraq took over its own security forthwith. At least in the short term. Stability in this region is going to be important to the world economy for as long as the world economy is dependent on oil. If we don't finish what we've started here we will leave Iraq a more volatile place than when we started. Saddam was evil but he kept control of the country. If there's no one in control then the situation would be worse.

All of that to explain that by joining an Army Civil Affairs unit were I to come back to Operation Iraqi Freedom it would be in a roll more directly involved with Iraq and its people. I would like that.

Aloha

Day 141
I'm pretty proud of me. Yesterday, after I blogged, I managed to get motivated and go swimming. I also went swimming today. It's a nice workout. Right now I'm swimming 500 meters. Pretty soon I'll probably need to increase it to 600 or maybe even 750.

So I began the process today. I sent an official inquiry to the Royal Australian Navy about joining that service. I learned some things along the way. The maximum age for joining the RAN is 48. I have a few years to work this out. Still working out all the various allowances and what not but the pay seems a bit better than what the US Navy offers. So with a luck the next time I come up into this part of the world I'll be wearing a different uniform and, according to my wife, speaking a different language. My dream is to go back to the NAG on board the HMAS Stuart. I think that would be incredible.

aloha

Day 140
Those of you who want to see a picture of me, go here and scroll down to the guy named smith on the page.

Another long watch done. It was hot and humid today which is to say the weather was normal. Standing watch all day makes it hard to go swimming. I'll go in the morning.

aloha

Day 139
I've been up since I woke up yesterday morning, more or less. I got off watch this morning and had the opportunity to go into town to the airport. It was a lot of fun. Had Starbucks coffee. Ate lunch at an Italian restaurant that was quite good and fairly cheap.

The big investment scheme out here is to buy Iraqi Dinar. Currently valued at around 1400 Iraqi Dinar to US$1 at one time it was US$3 to one Iraqi Dinar. Today I bought 335,000 Iraqi Dinar. If it goes back to the old rate, I'll be a millionaire. More likely, it will be a cool treasure for my grandkids to play with.

aloha

Day 138
Yesterday I had the day watch. Came back to camp and couldn't get motivated to go swim. It is also hard to settle down and focus enough to do a blog entry. I find that most of the days I miss are days when I have the day watch.

It's hot this morning. Windy and hot. It feels like someone is holding a blowdryer in front of your face. Literally. Today's wind is blowing from the direction that gives us dry weather. That makes things a bit more livable.

This article illustrates one of the lasting ramifications of Bill Clinton's "Peace Dividend". In the 1990's under the Clinton administration the United States military was gutted. The logic being that with the fall of the Soviet Union we no longer needed a strong military force. Where we used to have a military big enough to handle a war on two fronts we now have a military not even capable of handling what is really a pretty minor action and it's aftermath. We are now very dependent on our reserve forces.

I think that in the past reserve military forces were under utilized hence the prevailing notion that reservists never go overseas. However, here in the OIF OpArea reserve forces, especially Army reserves, are being overused to the point of abuse. There are MP units that have been here for almost two years. The really frustrating part is when the media and the Army make a big deal out of the fact that the 1st AD had to be here fifteen months. Many Army Reserve and National Guard units are well past the fifteen month mark and still don't have orders home.

I think reservists should play an active role in operations like OIF. However, I do not think that reservists should be filling active duty roles simply because there are no more active duty units to send.

aloha

Day 136
I went and swam 500 meters today. This evening I tried to go running. I ran a mile and quit. I ran 5 miles a day when I came out here. I'm weak again. Yuck!

Read an interesting article today (haven't found it on the web yet) about an Iraqi National Guard officer who sacrifices a large salary and prestige to serve in his new nation's self defence forces. Why? "Because you can't do nothing." I am convinced that Iraqis want desperately to be responsible for and control their own country. I am equally convinced that Iraqis are scared to death of that very prospect, that they will be responsible for and control their own country. A headline read, "the US should leave Iraq from the inside out." That's exactly right. Give the Iraqis control of the internal processes while we continue to maintain the security for them, at their direction and control (within limits, obviously). As they grow confidence and begin to realize that they are capable of leading their own country and as they realize that Saddam Hussein and others like him really can be controlled and eliminated, they will step forward and take over their own security.

Some times I think Americans and their politicians think there is a box of "Instant Democracy" somewhere such that we can just scatter the content and wait for rain to reconstitute. Growing a new democratic government where there has never been self-governance is going to be a slow, painful, violent process. How can it not be?

aloha

Day 134
Went swimming yesterday and today. I managed to swim 500 meters both days. If I very manage to get back to a place where there's surfing it won't matter because I won't be able to paddle my fat butt out. Oh the sacrifices we make for God and Country

Aloha

Day 133
Blogging everyday is harder on my current watch schedule. My apologies for the empty days. I think about my family a lot lately. I'd like to see them again. It's fun to talk to with my wife about our plans for when I get home. Daydreaming about those plans seems to help me deal with the stress of being separated from them for so long. Damn, it's been a long time.

Stars & Stripes had an article talking about the fact that personnel returning from OIF often don't want anyone but immediate family around for the first few days they are back. I hadn't thought about it but I can see now that will be true for me as well. I have been in the company of no less that 8 people since I've been over here. There is no privacy save what you're able to create in your head. In my tent we often sit spending time on our computers with the lights out and our back to each other. I'm not sure about the rest of the guys but for me it give the illusion of being alone. I'm looking forward to being alone.

I'm looking forward to using toilets that flush. I'm really looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again someday. I'm looking forward to eating food not prepared by a fast food outlet or a cafeteria. I'm looking forward to eating food that I chose. I'm looking forward to surfing. I'm looking forward to having to wear a jacket. I'm looking forward to going to hula practice again. I'm sure I suck. Much as I love the guys I'm currently deployed with, I looking forward to not being around them for a while. I look forward to putting my son on my shoulders. I look forward to hugging my daughter. I look forward to holding my wife for a really long time.

aloha

Day 131
Long day. Busy watch. Which is odd. Usually if watch is busy it goes by fast and the day does not seem so long.

I feel sorry for Charles Jenkins. Yes, he deserted his post and his duty. Yes, that is a terrible thing that should not be taken lightly. I think there is a good trade to be made. Mr. Jenkins undoubtedly knows quite a bit about North Korea. Mr. Jenkins becomes an consultant on North Korean issues working for reduced pay for x years and he's given probation on the desertion charge. What happened was forty years ago. Let the guy live is remaining days.

aloha

Day 130
When I'm not out here serving in the Navy I work for Apple. Hence I have a strong interest in what and how the company is doing. I've haven't been much in touch with any of that for the past four months but the past couple of days it has been hard to ignore.

• Apple Reports Third Quarter Results
• The Meaning of iPod
• A Brief History of Wi-Fi

I finished another book a day or two ago. Jack Higgins' Bad Company. Now, I really liked Higgins' work The Eagle Has Landed. That was a fun read with a very unexpected ending. Bad Company, however, I never really quite understood. The bad guys seemed like good guys and the goods guy were definitely some bad characters. The ending was rather anti-climatic and ho-hum. I doubt I'll be reading Jack Higgins again for a while.

I've finally started reading Silversword by regular supporter and friend Charles Knief. Charles Knief sent me an autographed copy of Silversword. I read the first chapter after getting off watch this morning. After the first chapter I fell into a fitful sleep. 12 hour night watches are rough.

A good friend of mine from work sent me a $20 gift certificate from the iTunes Music Store. So I am plowing through the various genre that I like trying to determine which albums to by next. I've already purchased a second Kohala album. I also bought an album by The Crusaders, another group that I really like.

Lately, I spend a lot of time looking for ways to while away the hours.

aloha

Day 129
I got home from watch yesterday and pretty much went straight to bed. I was too tired even to write in the blog. Sorry folks.

The weather is interesting here. Whether it is a comfortable day or not depends largely on which way the wind is blowing. When the wind blows in one direction, it is hot but relatively comfortable. A pretty nice day. When the wind blows from the opposition direction the humidity increases significantly and it become very uncomfortable.

They keep telling us that the weather will get worse in August. However, some of the Iraqis have said that July is the worst and it starts getting better after that. I'm still praying for a mild summer this year. I hope you all will join me.

aloha

Day 127
Read this article yesterday about why the war on Iraq - more accurately the war on Saddam - is/was wrong. The author offers two major principles for invading another country.

Principle One: In general, don't invade people on their own behalf unless they are clearly asking you to invade them.

Principle Two: If you can't tell what people want, don't invade them on their own behalf unless genocide is clearly threatened or under way.

The author contends that these two principles are the basis for the anti-war case. While I believe there might be a worthwhile anti-war case out there, I don't believe this one is it. These principles if applied would require the International community to stand idly by while some terribly horrific despots had their way. As the despots and tyrants control the very mouth piece through which the populace being so grossly mistreated might deliver their call for help, these principles set up a Catch-22 for any population wishing to be freed from its ruler. In the case of Iraq, how exactly would the Iraqi people cry for help when to do so would ensure your disappearance and death.

It is not unlike the neighbors who live next door. At some point becomes obvious that the wife is being physically abused. Yet, if you ask her about it she will deny it. If you suggest calling the police, she will become angry and tell you to mind your own business. When the police arrive she will fight them, arguing loudly that nothing is wrong. In some cases she will even turn violently on the police. If we wait until she asks for help she will very likely die at the hands of her violent husband.

These principles suit the sensibilities of those who live in wealthy nations where the horrors that were commonplace in pre-war Iraq never happen. It is uncomfortable to watch family, friends and neighbors go to war. It is even more uncomfortable to watch some of them come home in body bags or in pieces. Watching war being waged is uncomfortable. It is inevitible that innocents will be injured and die in the course of war. Children will suffer as a result of war. It is difficult and even painful to watch the utter violence of war even when it is far away.

So long as we do not dig too deeply we do not have to watch as the Iraqi people suffer under evil men such as Saddam Hussein. But when our nation decides to get involved then the media will make sure that the war is delivered to our living rooms in living color on a daily basis. After all, now that our own people are involved it is news and the American public "has a right to know".

I do not agree with the justifications that were offered to get us into this war. That the US administration chose justifications that were wrong or illogical does not mean that there were not logical reasons for going to war. Kenneth Pollack, one of the leading experts on Iraq, Iran and the middle east, wrote a very convincing argument for going to war with Iraq titled, The Threatening Storm.

In my opinion the reason most significant to the United States was that the containment policy that was enacted for 12 years after the first gulf war was not a viable long term solution. It was simply not going to happen that Saddam would one day wake up and say, "look at what a terrible and horrific man I am, I must change my ways." The critical error in my opinion is that the United Nations did not act in a timely fashion when Saddam failed to keep his part of the cease fire agreement. What we are doing now we should have been done 10 years ago.

I think there is no one who wishes for peace more than the soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen engaged in fighting a war. Especially the line troops whose job it is to execute and have visited upon them the horrors of war itself. However, as the famous quote says, "the only thing necessary for evil men to prevail is for good men to do nothing."

aloha

Day 126
Not a lot to talk about today which is probably why I didn't blog yesterday. Actually, yesterday was pretty busy. Had the day watch that makes it harder to find time to blog.

I sent an email to a friend yesterday in which I wrote something that really fits here. The paragraph talks about my take on having been involved in OIF these past months.

It's been a great experience being here. I've especially enjoyed being up on the oil terminals. Having time served in Iraq is kind of cool. Being on the first team onto the oil terminal I was part of the most important mission the Navy has today. And I played a key role in that mission. I've made a lot of friends. Some of those friends have the potential to influence major changes in my life. Being here I've been a part of history. A lot of really cool, fun, interesting things have happened here. When I get back to the world, life will go on. I will be forever changed by my experiences here. For better or worse and how drastically only time will tell.

aloha

Day 124
I had a thought that I think might make clear what I was trying to say yesterday about the difference between Camp Spearhead and Camp Patriot. Camp Spearhead is a place that you could make a TV show like MASH from. It had that kind of character, its own personality. Camp Patriot, at least for the moment, is just a place where a bunch of military service members happen to sleep and sometimes eat (when they can't find some thing better). We experienced some thing new last night and today. Humidity. Did I put a capital H on that? We talking wet. The condensation was becoming a real problem on watch last night. I was working under a drip that was gradually becoming a shower. Whenever I would walk outside my glasses would fog up bad enough that I could not see.

A dear friend of mine who will be heading over here next year mentioned that in the last few posts I've sounded down. That's interesting. As I told her, a switch was thrown a few weeks ago. Suddenly, I was ready to go home. This isn't a "OK, I'm done now, I'm not working anymore, I'm fed up with this I wanna go home" thing. It was really just a suttle shift in my own outlook. Up until then I really wasn't thinking much about going home. I thought a lot about my family. I thought about how much I missed them. But I didn't really think about going home. I wasn't looking forward to the day when we would finally pack our gear and head back.

Rather suddenly a few weeks ago it just kind of occurred to me that I'd really like to go home now. This hasn't made it any harder to work here. I am still mission focused and a positive contributor to my watch team. I'm still sharp at my job and looking for opportunities to learn my job better.

However, I now keep a count of how many days I have left here. I talk with my wife about plans for reuniting the family. I think often about how it will be to walk off the plane and see my family there on the tarmac. I think I wrote about that a few days ago. This is not a prevailing thought that makes me sad or depressed. In fact, it really brings me up. We've been here a long time. Not as long as some but still, a long time. I'm kind of excited to see the end approaching.

I'm looking forward to the change in focus that will occur as we shift from doing the mission to training and preparing others to do the mission. I'm looking forward to the change in tasking as we begin packing things up for our departure. It will be a lot of hard work probably in the middle of some really nasty hot days but it will still be a nice change.

Lastly, and probably most surprising to me is that while I am very anixious and excited about the eventuality of seeing my family again I am really not looking forward to returing to civilian life. For all it is, there is something addicting about being out here. As my friend and I talk about her upcoming deployment I find that I feel some twinge of jealousy to realise that some one else will be the one out here and I will be back at my day to day grind. I enjoy the military. It is a good job. Despite all the political wrangling going on back home the US is doing a good thing out here. There are a lot of good, positive things happening in Iraq as a result of US presence. It is a pity that the media chooses not to report on those positives but it does not make them any less real. One could do worse than to spend his or her career serving in the military.

aloha

Day 123
I miss Camp Spearhead. Camp Spearhead had character. It had its own personality. Camp Patriot is still too new and has not yet developed a character of its own.

I miss the old DFac at Camp Spearhead. It consisted of several large Fest tents connected together. In the main dining area, hanging from the overhead were all the standards (flags) for the units present. It was fun hanging out in there. Camp Patriot's DFac is a modular building. The food isn't very good. Several times I've gone in, seen what the DFac was offering and decided to not eat. I suspect that's due to experience. The food will get better. The tents we live in here in Camp Patriot are newer but somehow not quite as comfortable as the tents we were in at Camp Spearhead. And the NCW community had a section of the camp that was called Dickeyville. It was NCW's area, our hang out.

And that's the big part. When we first arrived at Camp Spearhead there were a lot of units headed home and a lot of unit headed into Iraq. There were a lot of friendly people to sit and talk with. Camp Spearhead had a number of hangouts where one could meet other service members, hear war stories, talk about home, play cards and relax.

A number of friends still live at Camp Spearhead. I'm looking for opportunities to meet people here in Camp Patriot but with no real hangouts its a bit of a challenge. I guess I need to head up to the pool and see what goes on there.

aloha

Day 122
First, my apologies. I didn't blog yesterday. Don't know why. I guess I forgot though that seems hard to believe. Anyway...

"...but things could be worse." Where in the world does this saying come from? Talk about completely meaningless. If we work this statement out to its logical conclusion in, say, my situation. The line soldier, pinned down in a firefight with no fallback position and no help on the way looks over at his buddy who has already taken a round and says, "well, it could be worse." Is he now any better off? No. The implied statement here is, "that guy over there has it worse than me so now I feel better about my pathetic situation." I really don't understand this statement. I hear it a lot over here.

aloha

Day 120
Why is it that the only thing the American Press thinks news worthy is when one of us dies over here (hardly news anymore) and when one of us does something reprehensible? I understand reporting reprehensible acts. I understand reporting on the death of Americans over here. What I don't understand is why they don't report on some of the other things happening here. A people that had nothing now have hope and they are acting on it.

If the American press is going to report on the deaths of Americans they should at least have facts before they go to press. In the case of the Marine one of the insurgent groups is currently holding captive, the American press released a story based solely on information they read on a web site.

"Honest, I know it's true. I read it on the Internet." Heellllooooo?

The Stars & Stripes – a newspaper that is suppose to be for the troops – ran this story as its front page headline on the 4th of July. Hum. Not something about the Iraqis celebrating on the 28th and us celebrating on the 4th. Not something about the cool 4th celebration that went on all over the region here. They ran a story that had as its only foundation a web site.

While on board the HMS Grafton I heard a comment that I think is one of the wisest things I've heard out here. "I don't talk to journalists, full stop."

I was exploring iTunes Music Store today and discovered a group that I think I'm going to really like. The group is Kohala. Very mellow, quiet. Great background music for a quiet dinner with a love one, a slow and peaceful Kauai sunset, or a waist high summer wave out at Hooper's. I bought the Kohala album but I've a feeling I'll be getting more. Good stuff.

Slow Kauai sunsets. Yeah, I'm looking forward to that.

alola

Day 119
I hope that all of you will celebrate in some way the freedoms and liberties that you enjoy. Enjoy your families and friends.

aloha

Day 118
I think maybe I don't really like adjustments very much. Which is interesting because I really like change. I'm finding, at least so far, I don't like Camp Patriot very much. There don't seem to be many/any places where people hang out. Or it could be that I simply haven't found them yet. We're on a new work schedule which has me doing really long shifts. I'm still adjusting to that. Not sure how I feel about it yet. A lot of people are still at Camp Spearhead. I miss having the people around and I miss seeing some of the people that I've gotten to know through this web site. In short, I'm not enjoying the adjustment from life in the NAG to life here in the rear.

I think a lot about what it is going to be like to go home. In my mind's eye I can see myself stepping off the plane and looking for my family. I can imagine walking across the tarmac and greeting them all after so many months of separation. I worry about returning to my civilian job. I like the job I do out here. I like the excitement, the purpose, the thrill of being a part of history. I think a lot about the plans my family and I have for getting reacquainted with each other again. Some day my time here will be done and I will get to begin living out these things I dream about now. I'm really looking forward to that.

So far I've missed an anniversary, two birthdays, a father's day, at least two martial arts belt advancements and over 117 days of my children's' childhood. That's a lot of sacrifice in my opinion. I'll never get any those things back nor will I ever be able to make them up. They are simply gone. Everyone out here has a similar list of life events that they have missed. I know a guy who's mother passed away while he was here. He went home for the funeral but he did not get the opportunity to say goodbye. Because he was here. I know I couple of guys who's wives have given birth to children while they were out here. They have missed forever the birth and first days, weeks and months of their children's' lives. Because they were out here.

There's a huge amount of sacrifice being made by individuals and their families so that the Iraqi people can have their country back. Or maybe we should say so that the Iraqi people can have their own country. "Have their country back" implies that they had it for themselves at some point in the past. Yet, reading Kenneth Pollack's book, The Threatening Storm, it seems to me that the history of Iraqi does not include, in recent times, any period when the country actually belonged to the people. Transfer of power in Iraq has always involved bloodshed and terror. This is the way things are done here. With luck, over the course of the next generation, Iraq will learn a new way of administrating power that puts control of that power into the hands of the general populace. But I think there is a very important lesson to be learned from Russia's attempt to adopt a democratic, capitalistic society. This article in Foreign Affairs talks about Russia's acceptance of Mr. Putin's seemingly authoritarian leadership. The article talks about briefly about Mr. Boris Yeltsin whom the West liked very much for his promises of democratization, civil rights and participation in the world community. The article takes an in-depth look at why Russians prefer Mr. Putin to Mr. Yeltsin.

Something similar is going to happen in Iraq. American handlers have some notion of what they think democracy in Iraq should look like. CNN, the Network Three and other news channels will provide a platform for talking heads to tell us what democracy will look like in Iraq. But until the Iraqis begin to live out democracy no one will really know what form or shape self-governance will take in Iraq. The Iraqi people need to be given a very general framework on which to build a system of government that will work for their society and culture. The general framework should supply the basic requirements of self-governance. Basic rights guaranteed to all people, basic requirements for leadership or, more likely, the basic structure by which a leader will be placed in power and removed from power by the people. Beyond a few basic parameters the Iraqis must be free to build their own government. A government that is controlled, not by a single individual nor by a single group of people be they a tribe, religious sect, or ethnic sub-group.

I want to see a free and prosperous Iraq in my life time. I would like at some point in my military career to come back over here and serve along side Iraqi sailors and soldiers as we help some other nation in this region throw off their despot ruler. And I would like to see, once the despot is disposed, those people use Iraq as the model for building their country.

It's about the people. This time, it's about the Iraqi people. If we do this right and finish the job, next time it will be about someone else.

aloha

Two posts in one day. I know it's unusual for me. However, both of these articles are really pretty good. The Economist is one of my favorite news sources. Here's the Economist's take on the turn over. And here's another.

aloha

Day 117
I spent another 24 days up in the NAG. Different than the first time I was up there. The HMAS Stuart was there. I got to see friends and make a few new ones. Of course, it was nice to catch up on the latest in lives of RAN Runner (who's picture is included in the article) and Gerbil (who considers himself very unphotogenic). Added to the list of friends are H, Dingo, Jody, a group of engineers and electronics techs who helped me make a couple of ice cream can antennas. Everyone keeps asking me if I'm ship's company yet. I tell them not yet but I'm working on it. RAN Runner is pulling together the paperwork so that I might begin the process of joining the Royal Australian Navy. Hum, that would probably count as another adventure.

I made some friends out on the terminal too. I spent a little time talking to the Iraqis who work the terminal. They work out on the terminal for a week and then go home for a week, then back on the terminal. Most of the guys I talked to had been working there for ten years or more. David has been there for ten years. He's seen a lot. Under Saddam Hussien he was paid fifteen dollars a month. No food was provided so he had to either bring food with him or fish for his dinner. Now, he makes $300 a month and the food provided to the workers on the platform is very good. Fresh meats and produce and the staples necessary to bake bread there on the terminal. David is very happy about what the Americans have done for his country. Not 'to', 'for'. I heard an interesting story. It seems that some Syrians came down into Iraq and were shooting at American forces. According the story, Iraqis got weapons and shot the Syrians. Syrians told them they were there to help Iraqis. The Iraqis pointed at the American forces and replied, "no, THEY are here to help us."

It was kind of exciting to be in Iraq when sovergnity was returned to the Iraqis. Now that I'm back in Camp Patriot I see that the press is doing their best to play down the fact that President Bush and the United States have kept their word and turned over power to the Iraqis. But out on the terminal it was interesting. The Iraqis had a huge celebration when they heard that sovergnity had been turned over. They baked cakes and had feasts to celebrate. They shared their feasts with us and said thank you for what you have done for us. The Iraqis that I talked seemed pretty clear on the idea that if they were to have a chance at a future for them and their children, their best chance lay with the Americans. Whatever the politicians and others say, what we're doing here is about 25 million people who now have a better future than they did eighteen months ago.

Here's what news.google.com can find regarding life in the NAG.

I hope I get another chance to go out to the NAG.

It is getting hotter. It is not as unbearable as I thought it might be. It is damned hot though.

Music has an interesting affect on us. I was listening to my iPod out in the NAG when the song Ku`u Home O Kahalu`u came on. I started crying. The song talks about how we change and how important it is to allow and accept that change. Beautiful song. I wonder what Ku`u Home O Kahalu`u means? Anyone know?

We live in a new place now, Camp Patriot now. The move happened while I was up in the NAG. Air quality is better here, as are some of the amenities. Toilets are all Port-Johns which isn't really quite as bad as it sounds. They are cleaned often. The tents are comfortable enough. There's a pool and a beach here. All in all, not a bad place.

It's good to be back. It's good to be blogging again. If you're stilling reading, thanks for hanging in.

Aloha