THIS IS MOSTLY GOOD TO HEAR although admittedly this is not deepest, darkest central Baghdad where CPT Patti is. But that lack of spare parts means CPT Patti and her folks are working like crazy.

Baghdad is no more dangerous than New York City, Col. Arnold Bray said Thursday in an interview from Iraq.

Bray is the commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, which is built around the 82nd Airborne Division's 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment.

On Tuesday, the 2nd Brigade suffered its first death since the war in Iraq began. The soldier was one of 10 American troops killed in Iraq in the past two weeks. But Bray said that while there is danger to the troops, it is not as bad as it is being depicted in news reports...

...The 82nd troops are being supplied by the 1st Armored Division. Bray said the soldiers are getting three bottles of water a day and at least one hot meal.

There has not been a shortage of water, he said, but most soldiers have been avoiding the purified water supplied to them in large tanks or "water buffaloes" because it gets hot. But as of Monday, Bray said, many of the water buffaloes will have ice in them.

One pressing supply problem is a lack of parts for the brigade's Humvees and trucks.

"The vehicles are not holding up at all," Staff Sgt. Damon S. Wodever said. He is in the 1st Battalion of the 325th. "It has been a major issue, as well as getting parts for them."

Read it all here.