THE POLES are sending 7000 peacekeepers into Iraq in July. Every little bit helps.

A FRANK DISCUSSION of the flagging morale of the 3d ID soldiers still in Iraq after six months. Included in the article is a discussion of efforts made to improve the soldiers' living and working conditions.

There are indications that the stress of combat, compounded by weeks of chasing looters and dealing with Iraqi demonstrators, has affected the troops. Leaders report more heated arguments between soldiers and more soldiers declining to re-enlist....

Blount said the Army is working to improve living conditions for the soldiers, making sure none are still living in tents and that they have running water and electricity. He said they have also begun distributing ice to soldiers to help keep them cool during walking patrols with more than 30 pounds of combat gear in 100-degree heat.

WEDNESDAY MAY 28th, the 17th day of CPT Patti's deployment. If everything is according to plan, CPT Patti and her convoy will arrive in Baghdad some time today. Forecast for Baghdad is hazy with highs of 99 and lows of 74. I have to believe that 74 degrees will feel like winter to our girl after the extreme heat of the Kuwaiti desert.

FOR TROOPS IN IRAQ Memorial Day has a new meaning.

In the driver's room at the 2nd Brigade command post, where the average age is just 21, the men lost two colleagues in a missile attack and say Memorial Day will open wounds that haven't healed.

"It's not going to be a very good day for us," said Pfc. James Luhrs, 20, of Orlando, Fla. "We miss our friends, but we can't do nothing about it. We're still here."

AN EXCELLENT ARTICLE in the Washington Post on the challenges of building a real economy, not just democracy, in Iraq. Read the whole thing here...its a good one.

"A free economy and a free people go hand in hand," said Bremer, who arrived two weeks ago to run the occupation authority. "History tells us that substantial and broadly held resources, protected by private property, private rights, are the best protection of political freedom. Building such prosperity in Iraq will be a key measure of our success here."

Bremer spoke four days after the U.N. Security Council lifted economic sanctions imposed on Iraq more than 12 years ago after the Persian Gulf War. U.S. officials had complained that the sanctions, which they once favored as a way to force Hussein to comply with U.N. arms inspections and perhaps foment an uprising against him, had become a severe hindrance to postwar recovery.

But dismantling Iraq's state-managed system holds big risks for the occupation authority at a time when most Iraqis are struggling to get by. During Hussein's 24 years as president, he and his Baath Party drew on Iraq's oil wealth to subsidize the cost of basic items, creating something like a welfare state, and people came to expect these low prices. Many free-market advocates contend that subsidies distort economic incentives, retarding growth and ultimately harming consumers....

"This place was probably affected less by the forces of supply and demand than any place I have ever seen," said Peter McPherson, who is on leave as president of Michigan State University to serve as the senior U.S. adviser to Iraq's Finance Ministry. "This was an integrated economy -- pathological, but integrated. You can't really take one piece out, fix it, and put it back. It will have to be taken all apart, and you will have to allow the forces of supply and demand to function."...

"After decades of manipulation and management, the road to a free and flourishing economy will not be an easy one," Bremer said . "But we have already taken one big step, which was the end of the sanctions."

In the short term, however, Bremer said he plans to continue elements of the old system. On Sunday, the U.S. occupation authority will distribute the first food rations across Iraq since the end of the war.

Although severe economic problems remain, security has appeared to improve in recent days. The U.S. troop presence in Baghdad has risen dramatically in the past week, with the 1st Armored Division replacing the weary 3rd Infantry Division that fought its way into Baghdad on April 9. More and more Iraqis appear to be venturing outside their homes, even in the evenings, and shops are opening their shutters with more frequency.

A SUPERB ARTICLE found here likens the mission in Iraq today to that of the occupying forces in post-war Japan. And note the sanity check from an Army Officer near the end of the extract below.

In recent weeks, commanders have redirected a larger share of the U.S. troops in Iraq to the chores that accompany controlling and operating any large city such as Baghdad: patrolling the streets, staffing prisons, guarding valuable real estate, imposing gun control, restoring electricity and water distribution, and supervising trash collection.
"For the U.S. military to be occupying a country, trying to take charge of basic services, trying to keep order, really trying to make the country work from scratch, this is something we haven't seen since the 1940s," said Thomas Carothers, a foreign-policy expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former legal adviser to the State Department.
In some ways, Mr. Carothers said, the task for the U.S. military in Iraq, a country of more than 20 million, is more daunting than that faced by Gen. Douglas MacArthur in Japan 58 years ago. Unlike Iraq, Japan was a more unified society and had a fairly vibrant economy, with people who knew how to run it.
"I think we are just going to see a long, slow road to reconstruction," Mr. Carothers said. "Nothing will happen fast. There will be gradual improvements."...
An Army officer said in an interview that despite negative articles in the U.S. press about Baghdad's reaction to the occupation, the vast majority of Iraqis gladly accept the American presence.
"Only those that accompany troops on patrol see a different reaction of the population from those reporters that write their stories from the Palestine Hotel," said the officer, who asked not to be named. "In the hotel, they cook up stories of chaos and animosity toward our troops. The truth is that 99 percent of the locals are glad we're there."

THIS IS A NERVOUS day for me. Don't mean to be gloomy, but ignoring this possibility doesn't make it go away. Read it all here.

The latest assaults on U.S. troops in central Iraq yesterday -- the third in the past week -- occurred as the 1st Armored Division arrived to join the 3rd Infantry Division to double patrols in the Iraqi capital.

Attackers fired rocket-propelled grenades, heavy machine guns and small arms at an eight-vehicle supply convoy in what military officials described as an ambush at 6:15 a.m. near Haditha, 120 miles northwest of Baghdad, killing one soldier from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and injuring another.

Hours later, one soldier was killed and three wounded when a Humvee near Baghdad International Airport either ran over a land mine or was hit by another type of explosive that had been hurled at it, military officials said

PROGRESS IN THE form of an actual local election. See the rest here.

Sgt. Troy Ezernack, also of the 173rd, didn’t discount the importance of the day’s events — but had other reasons to take joy in seeing the election process come to fruition.

“It’s good they’re electing officials. It’s democracy come true, but I’m also happy for selfish reasons,” said the 37-year-old from Waskom, Texas. “I want to go home and the sooner they take control of their own city, the sooner I’m outta here.”

WHERE DO THEY get this stuff? And according to this article, this was the second such truck stopped this week.

KIRKUK, Iraq — U.S. soldiers seized $80 million to $100 million worth of crudely made, non-minted gold bars Sunday and detained three Iraqis heading east, possibly for the Iranian border, officials said Monday.

TUESDAY MAY 27th. The 16th Day of CPT Patti's deployment. If all goes according to plan today is the day CPT Patti will lead the first convoy of her battalion on the journey from Kuwait to Baghdad. They expect to arrive in Baghdad sometime on Wednesday. When they get to Baghdad they will see daytime high temperatures below one hundred degrees for the first time since arriving in Kuwait.

GOOD READING in this article discussing the significant differences in the way the 1st Armored Division will do things versus the 3d ID. Let's hope it gets better.

NIGHT OPERATIONS and foot patrols will be increased throughout the capital, commanders said. Also, by early June, the Army will fly helicopters over Baghdad for the first time, they said. The aircraft generally will not use their weapons but instead will conduct surveillance and support ground forces with searchlights, according to a series of command briefings.

As part of an effort to change the image of the U.S. force and make it seem at once more pervasive and less threatening, the big M-1 tanks that have dominated many major intersections and checkpoints for the past six weeks will be withdrawn and replaced by smaller Jeep-like Humvees, officers said.

BUT AS this article shows, we have yet a long way to go just to restore the basics in Baghdad

On Baghdad's streets, Iraqis have little praise for Bremer's fledgling administration.

"Things have become worse since he arrived. Gas lines are longer, garbage is piling up, there's no electricity, and security is so bad that people are too scared to allow their children to go to school," said Alaa Rasul, 47, a Baghdad handyman with 5 children.

"This is not freedom," he said. "This is chaos."

US GIVES ORDER for Iraqi civilians to turn in their weapons according to this story.That idea makes me feel better about CPT Patti being there...but I suspect we will find it harder than we believe to disarm this culture.

THE BEST DESCRIPTION I've seen so far of the conditions CPT Patti will live and work in once in Baghdad can be found here..

A large group of people here is going without electricity and running water, subsisting on barely palatable food and sweltering unhappily under the stunning Mesopotamian summer sun. The group, which counts thousands of loyal members in and around Baghdad, is heavily armed, but it does not pose a threat to the U.S. Army - it is the Army.

JUST CHECKED THE forecast - on Tuesday, the day she is supposed to arrive in Baghdad, the high is to be 102 degrees. In Kuwait City? 109 degrees. It will feel like SPRING to CPT Patti when she gets to Baghdad. Yay!

YEE HAH! Just got a phone call from CPT Patti. She sounds compeletly wonderful, all full of spirit and happiness. She is still at Camp Udairi but will be leaving for Baghdad on Tuesday to arrive on Wednesday. She says that they will be sleeping in buildings (hooray!) and working out of the Iraqi Olympic Stadium - which has a 12 foot wall all the way around it. Folks, this is GREAT news!!!!
She also said she is adapting to the heat pretty well, and that she is eating well. The food at the contract dining facility is pretty good, according to our girl.

I can't tell you how good I feel after talking to her. It is amazing!

I HAD BEEN wondering along these same lines lately. This commentary posits that recent Al Queda attacks actually demonstrate how well we have done so far in the war on terror.

If we look at the targets chosen in each of these cases, what they have in common is both their defenselessness — their "softness" in the current jargon — and their failure to damage the power or image of the United States. If al Qaeda were truly resurgent, and had both the leadership and resourcefulness evidenced by its initial attacks on U.S. embassies, warships, and the World Trade Center, there is no doubt the organization would be attacking targets of this quality. But the fact is that these targets are now largely out of reach — in part because the United States and the rest of the civilized world have increased the quality their defenses but also because, as President Bush has said, the organization is on the run.

AND NOW FOR something completely different. Found this little funny on the National Review Online blog called The Corner

At Heathrow Airport today, an individual later discovered to be a public school teacher was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession of a compass, a protractor, and a graphical calculator. Authorities believe he is a member of the notorious al-Gebra movement. He is being charged with carrying weapons of math instruction."

AN INTERNATIONAL force is being assembled in Iraq says this story. Note the activity from the former Eastern Bloc.

Coalition forces from several eastern European countries are expected to join a British division and a Spanish brigade already in Iraq. A Polish army division, along with a Ukranian brigade, is expected in the coming weeks. A Georgian contingent is on the way to bolster 4th Infantry Division forces in northwestern Iraq. In addition, a Baltic contingent composed of Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians may be located in northeastern Iraq, said the V Corps officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

THE BEST ONLINE map I've found of Baghdad so far can be found here. Note that you can zoom in on this map to find a good bit of detail.

A TRAGIC STORY. He was just days from coming home.

A career soldier has died in a multi-vehicle accident in Iraq. Lt. Col. Dominic R. Baragona, 42, died Monday near Safwan, Iraq, the Department of Defense said Tuesday. A tractor-trailer jackknifed on the road and collided with Baragona’s Humvee.

BRADLEY AMBUSHED and two Iraqis killed in ensuing firefight according to this story at the Army Times. It is still a dangerous place.

ACCORDING TO THE ARMY TIMES appears the military will get about a 4% pay raise next year. Whoo Hoo!

COOL RUNDOWN on some numbers associated with the war over at The Command Post. Sample:

Approximate costs for the air operations portion - $917,744,361.55, or roughly 46 minutes, 10.5 seconds of the 2001 US Gross Domestic Product

ANOTHER GOOD GLIMPSE of life at heat-stricken Camp Udairi. Plus in this article you catch a glimpse at the extreme political correctness that the Army could probably do without.

When the chatter turned to gripes, the topic was set on the strict orders about operations in Iraq. Highest on the list was an order not to name tanks. Normally, tank crews paint a name on their 120 mm cannon. They think up catchy monikers that begin with their troop letter, such as in Troop A where tanks were named “Above the Law,” “Assume the Position” and “A Girl’s Best Friend.”

A female colonel at the port saw the names and insisted they be removed, the soldiers said. Despite complaints from the crews, the command ordered that no names be stenciled on the gun tubes, said Staff Sgt. Tony Meyers, 30, of Monroe, Mich.

“That’s an armor tradition,” Meyers said. “The order affects morale and espirit de corps.”

GEN FRANKS is about to retire. There is a good story about him here.

Like President Bush, Franks grew up in Midland, Texas. He attended the same high school as first lady Laura Bush, who was a year behind him. Tommy Ray, as he was known while growing up, loved fast cars, Elvis and hunting, according to boyhood friends.

After two years at the University of Texas at Austin, Franks dropped out and joined the Army. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1967 as a graduate of the Artillery Officer Candidate School at Fort Sill, Okla., and in short order he was serving with the 9th Infantry Division in Vietnam.

UN LIFTS SANCTIONS lets US and UK run Iraq says this story. Well duh...guess it would have been a bit pointless to vote against that which is already happening. Still, its nice to see some of these security council members can be something other than dogmatic.

AN ENJOYABLE story here about how some of the soldiers at Camp Udairi are passing the time, especially in the hottest part of the day.

AND HERE is another cool site sponsored by the VFW where you can send a phone card to deployed soldiers or simply donate some money so someone else can send a card.. Some soldier's loved ones out there may not know about this...share it with 'em.

NOW HERE is a really cool site set up by the 1st Armored Division where you can post a public message to CPT Patti for her to see once she gets to Baghdad and finally gets access to a computer. Its easy...follow the instructions carefully about including her full name and rank. Note also that you can click on a listing button to see an alphabetical listing of names of soldiers who have messages waiting. Go ahead and read the one I wrote.

FRIDAY MAY 23d, the 12th day of CPT Patti's deployment. Last confirmed location was Camp Udairi in the desert of Kuwait. Today's forcast is for a mere 107 degrees.

FURTHER EVIDENCE, as if you needed it, that Jesse Jackson is an outright idiot. Shut up already. And yes...oddly enough, it has to do with the military in Iraq.

OH OH...FIRE destroys parts of Camp Udairi says this story...fortunately no one was hurt. But the poor troops can't catch a break...

The three large tents were recently erected for morale activities, Bosse said. One was slated to be an Internet cafe and phone center. Another was going to hold a large-screen television.

“That’s all going to be put on hold now,” Bosse said.

HERE IS A STORY that will tug at your heart strings about an 8 year old boy and his selfless concern for a soldier wounded in the 507th Maintenance Company ambush during the war.

Bobby said he wasn’t finished. He told Mrs. Emery that he had a special flag at home that he wanted to put on the cover.

The following morning the teacher stood quietly as Bobby took a small, American desk flag about the size of his hand out of his backpack and unfolded it.

“What makes this flag so special, Bobby?” asked Mrs. Emery. She choked back tears as he answered her question.

“My dad gave it to me to remember him by while he’s deployed,” Bobby replied.

READ A GOOD DESCRIPTION of a camp similar to the one CPT Patti is at in this short article here. It matches what CPT Patti has told me...although the article doesn't mention long lines nor scorpions...

THURSDAY MAY 22, the eleventh day of CPT Patti's deployment. Last known whereabouts was Camp Udairi. Forecast high for today in Kuwait City is 111 degrees.

BAGHDAD IS A very dangerous place.

Within 90 minutes of setting up a traffic checkpoint on a sweltering street in the east part of the city, the 3rd Infantry Division troops had seized 20 weapons, including three AK-47 assault rifles, three revolvers and two 9 mm pistols, said Staff Sgt. Richard Rosado.

“Everybody’s got a weapon,” said Rosado, 37, of Manatin, Puerto Rico.

Not only that...they are using them against our patrols in the city. See that story - and understand the danger - here.

IF YOU EVER WONDERED...Yes, there are differences between soldiers and marines.

Army troops could only shake their heads when they recalled odd things Marines did in combat. While waiting to fight, some Marines tested their flak vests by stabbing each other with knives, asccording to Army Pfc. Christopher Montgomery, 20, of Slippery Rock, Pa.

“They found out a knife goes through it,” Montgomery said. “We did dumb stuff, too. It comes with boredom.”

See the whole thing here.

HERE IS an interesting article about joint policing of Baghdad by US Military Police and Iraqi police. Except there seems to be some troubles with Iraqi police actually being thugs. Hey - this setting up democracy thing isn't a cakewalk.

Anyway - it highlights the tentative nature of things right now.

CPT PATTI phones home!

Heard from CPT Patti on Monday night. Called about 1030 pm my time, 1130 pm her time.

She is doing well. I was really impressed by how good she sounded. Her spirit is fully intact...and her spirit is her best barometer for judging her well being.

She remains at Camp Udairi...however she has some troops working at the port in Kuwait City recovering the equipment from the ships. Meanwhile, back in Camp Udairi there is not much to be done...and this is a blessing in some ways as it allows them all to slowly acclimate to the extreme heat.

They are eating three hot meals (Army speak for food from a kitchen, not an MRE) per day and as we spoke on Monday they were heading out to pick up thier first shipment of mail since leaving Germany. Huge morale boost there.

The current plan will take the battalion from Kuwait to Baghdad in three separate convoys. CPT Patti has been named convoy commander for the first of these, currently scheduled to depart Kuwait on May 27th. The convoy will take approximately 25 hours of driving. This will be accomplished over two days with rest breaks all along the way.

And she wants everyone to know she is doing well and is grateful for your prayers.

Me too.

I REALIZE I've skipped a couple of days of posts...not from lack of interest...but have been caring for a sick relative. Should be back to normal in a day or two.

TUESDAY MAY 20th. Day nine of CPT Patti's deployment. CPT Patti is still at Camp Udairi in the Kuwaiti desert. Forecast for today includes a high of 109 degrees. Low, a balmy 85 degrees.

IT IS AGAIN 108 degrees in Kuwait today. Have you bought and mailed the cold packs and Gatorade yet?

THIS is pretty cool.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Soccer returned to Iraq and a near-capacity crowd cheered former World Cup captain Rad Hamoudi, who watched from the sideline after years of exile.

Iraqi champion Police beat al-Zawra 2-1 in the first soccer match in Iraq since the downfall of Saddam Hussein last month. But the result hardly mattered.

Troops were sent by the United States and British led administration to provide security for the match, which was billed as a symbolic fresh start.

WASHINGTON POST article outlines the expected mission of the 1AD in this article.

The injection into Baghdad of 18,500 additional troops -- the division plus dozens of smaller specialized units tacked onto it -- and their 7,400 tanks, trucks and other vehicles will double the U.S. military presence in the capital, enabling commanders to place more patrols on the streets, day and night.

Soldiers who have trained for months for high-intensity warfare will be operating checkpoints, protecting Iraqi facilities, conducting manhunts and, mostly, patrolling the streets of Baghdad as a quasi-police force. They have trained for all those tasks, but not to the highly honed edge to which they prepared for combat.

However, it is very doubtful that CPT Patti and the Gators will be doing any of these things. What they will be doing is providing those who are operating checkpoints etc with fuel, water, food, spare parts for their humvees and tanks and such things as that. So I don't imagine CPT Patti to be out roaming the streets everyday like the soldiers you see on the news. I expect she will operate from a fixed (and defended) operating base.

And I really hope I'm right.

AN EXCELLENT QUESTION AND ANSWER session with a reporter in Baghdad can be found here. He indicates that elements of the 1st Armored Division have alread arrived in Baghdad (but I can assure you CPT Patti and the Gators are not there yet). Read about how they are bunking...and the fact that the 3d ID quickly reminds the 1AD that "you didn't win a war". Good read.

SATURDAY, MAY 17th. Day six of CPT Patti's deployment. Last confirmed location is Camp Udairi in the desert of Kuwait near the Iraqi border.

SEEMS TO ME reading these articles it becomes clear that we don't have a handle on the security in Baghdad nor the rest of the country. Note that they keep saying that 15,000 more troops are coming (1AD). Well, that solves nothing under the original plan that the 3d ID go home once 1AD arrives.

Therefore, 3d ID is in for a long stay - a situation I personally believe to be untenable, or we are going to see the deployment of significant additional Army units in the near future. And NONE of this adds up to good news for a short deployment for CPT Patti and the Gators.

ANOTHER TAKE on an achingly slow reconstruction effort. The quote below offers one point of view but you'll find others if you read the entire article.

Experts in postwar reconstruction stress that it is a difficult job in the best circumstances, and Iraq has been particularly difficult.

"We were prepared for a lot of things, but we weren't prepared for this complete anarchic take-down, having people taking wires out of buildings," said Scott Feil, a retired Army officer who directed a major study on postwar reconstruction, published in January by the Association of the U.S. Army and the private Center for Security and International Studies.

"We half-expected the (Iraqi) police force to still be functional," Maj. Gen. Buford Blount, 3rd Infantry Division commander, told reporters yesterday.

THIS CONCERNS ME

When the U.S. Organization for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Aid (ORHA) made its first TV broadcast to the Iraqi people Wednesday night, the new channel used as its logo the eight-pointed star seen on many buildings here. If ORHA's head of communication, Margaret Tutwieler, or her staff had consulted with any Iraqis before adopting this logo, they'd have known that the eight-pointed star is the symbol of . . . the Ba'ath Party.

Bremer is taking over a very troubled agency: ORHA - America's inadequate, notoriously slow-moving substitute for an interim occupation government - is as unpopular with the U.S. soldiers on the street as it is with ordinary Iraqis.

Concerns me because to the average Iraqi the face of the United States interim authority is not the bungling bureaucrats...but rather the soldiers on the street. And it is upon those soldiers that the Iraqis will take out their frustration. May want to have your congressman's phone number handy.

See the rest here.

OPERATION RELAX

This is cool...free mini-vacations in the Carribean for military folks. Thank you!

SHOPPING SOLDIERS

Good article here about how the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES - they run the PXs) follows the troops. Note the staggering quantity of sodas sold in one day.

POSTING may be a little light today...my brother is visiting just before he leaves en route to some third world nation...sounds a lot like what my wife did earlier in the week...

FRIDAY, MAY 16TH. Day five of CPT Patti's deployment. Last known location is Camp Udairi in the desert of Kuwait near the Iraqi border. However, we hear that ships are being offloaded at Kuwait City now...so she may be at either location.

DOES A FULL WEASEL HOUSE BEAT FOUR WEASELS OF A KIND?

IT AIN'T OVER YET 2

Although rampant street crime in Baghdad keeps residents living in fear, Lt. Gen. David McKiernan said his forces were confronting a "more dangerous" opponent: small but determined groups of opposition fighters using guerrilla tactics to undermine American forces by sabotaging military efforts to get water pumping, electricity flowing and the government running.

"There is still a problem with organized elements against the coalition," McKiernan said.

...The official, who like the others spoke only on the condition of anonymity, said the two main U.S. units in the Iraqi capital, the 3rd and 4th Infantry Divisions, and the 1st Armored Division, which is arriving from Germany, were all better equipped for tank warfare than for policing cities.

More here.

UPDATE: And then there is this:

The instability has compromised the good will of ordinary Iraqis toward U.S. forces, who are seen as impotent against the looters or, worse, unconcerned. Many Iraqis swear they have seen U.S. tanks and troops stand by as looters break into museums, libraries and schools.

While some of the chaos is the work of common criminals, Iraqis and American officials agree that organized elements increasingly are using the violence to undermine U.S. credibility.

They say the gangs are affiliated either with Saddam Hussein's deposed Ba'ath Party or with Shi'ite groups, both of which are eager to turn Iraqi citizens against the American presence.

MORE INDICATIONS 3D ID TO BE DELAYED IN RETURNING

The 3rd Infantry Division has been told to stop sending troops home and to step up patrols, a move that reflects mounting concerns within the Bush administration about security in Baghdad, military officials said on Wednesday.

See the rest here.

IT AIN'T OVER YET

At 2 a.m. Thursday, troops formed a cordon around the outer perimeter of a 9-block area. About 200 houses and outlying buildings were searched before the sweep ended at 7 a.m.

In one house, a large stack of brand-new Iraqi currency was found, the military said. At another, a soldier emerged carrying a camouflage military uniform top.

In an unrelated incident early Thursday on the Tigris River north of Tikrit, U.S. forces saw a boat being loaded with cases of unidentified materials and fired a flare in warning.

The Americans came under fire from boat and fired back; they said they believed they killed everybody aboard.

The entire story is here.

(Article found by way of Command Post)

US FORCES DOUBLING MILITARY POLICE PRESENCE IN IRAQ

Amid signs that criminals roaming the capital are more violent and better organized than ever, top U.S. military officials said Wednesday that they will double the number of military police on city streets within two weeks.

The U.S. military is also considering confiscating pistols and assault rifles with folding stocks from Iraqis, many of whom travel the streets armed with weapons, according to a draft of the plan.

Well that will make me feel better about CPT Patti being there.

It's an ugly place and in some ways getting uglier. Read about it here.

MODEST PROGRESS

The first wave of non-military-related aircraft began arriving in Iraq last week. A plane carrying communications equipment and six people landed early in the week at the airfield in Inkawa, a suburb of Irbil where many nongovernmental organizations are based in the north. A similar flight was scheduled for Baghdad later in the week.

Once the equipment is up and operating, medical supplies and other badly needed material will be on their way.

The entire story is here.

CURRENT STATUS AND THE PLAN

According to the rear detachment guys the ships containing all the equipment have arrived in the gulf. Ships are not yet being offloaded due to a traffic jam at the port. As soon as a berth becomes available they will begin to offload.

The rear detachment guys are also telling us that they expect the 1AD to be fully in place in Baghdad by the 4th of June.

THURSDAY May 15th. Day four of CPT Patti's deployment. She is currently at Camp Udairi in the desert of Kuwait near the Iraqi border.

WHAT IS IT WITH THE SO CALLED ARTISTS AND THEIR SUPPORT FOR TYRANTS?

ANOTHER EDITORIAL from the same web site.

We cannot say that suicide bombings in Israel and Russia are acceptable but not in Saudi Arabia. The cult of suicide bombings has to stop. So too has the chattering, malicious, vindictive hate propaganda. It has provided a fertile ground for ignorance and hatred to grow.

The cynical might point out that this is what the Saudis are saying in their English language paper. But I'd prefer to believe the sentiments are real.

Anyway, the whole piece is here.
(Article found by way of Instapundit)

AN ARAB RESPONSE to terrorism in Saudi Arabia

Who are we trying to fool? Ourselves or the international community? Neither can be fooled.

It’s about time we got our act together. The time of pretending that radicalism does not exist in Saudi Arabia is long past. The time for pretending that we are above errors and could not possibly commit terrorist attacks is no longer with us. It has got to stop. Change must come now. We as a nation cannot afford to leave it to its own slow pace. It’s either now or never. It also must cover all aspects of our life — the school, the mosque, the home, the street, the media.

How can we tell the rest of the world that we are tolerant of other religions and faiths when some of us are not even tolerant of other schools of Islamic thought?

How can we expect others to believe that a majority of us are a peace-loving people who denounce extremism and terrorism when some preachers continue to call for the destruction of Jews and Christians, blaming them for all the misery in the Islamic world?

And the media? It seems that if the media are not flatly denying, they are following the see-no-evil, hear-no-evil, speak-no evil method.

Its a good piece...read the whole thing here.
(Article found by way of Instapundit)

WAY OFF THE SUBJECT

Ah...sweeps week. When we can count on the networks to pull out all the stops to get our attention.

You probably heard that Jay Leno and Katie Couric switched jobs for a day. I didn't get to see Jay in the morning, but I did see Katie on the Tonight Show.

Did anyone else notice that they had removed Jay's usual desk and replaced with it one that had no front, ergo, we all got to stare at Katie's legs through the entire show?

Now, I like a nice pair of legs...but changing desks for that pupose just strikes me as a bit, well, creepy.

HOT...DAMNED HOT!

Just checked...its 106 degrees in Kuwait.

Yikes.

CANT KEEP MY FONTS STRAIGHT

I apologize for the fact the fonts change everytime I add some quote from another source. I'm trying to fix that...

GIs AUTHORIZED TO SHOOT LOOTERS

Tough new rules of engagement coming says this article. Interestingly this information seems to fall in line with the complaints by the NY Post (previous entry)

A SOBERING VIEW OF POSTWAR IRAQ

A good opinion piece at the NY Post on the shortcomings of US Planning for postwar Iraq. And as much as I support the Administration, I gotta say I believe this is mostly on the money

During the war, we did not have enough troops to do everything that needed to be done, but the quality of our armed forces pulled off a brilliant campaign nonetheless. Now, a month after the fall of Baghdad, the most consistent complaint from our soldiers, our diplomats and even from Iraqis is that we don't have enough boots on the ground to do what must be done.

Secretary Rumsfeld consistently has sought to minimize the role of ground forces in order to justify cutting the Army and funneling the savings to defense contractors. Now he doesn't want to allow a victory parade in Manhattan that would add to the luster gained by the Army and Marines in the recent campaign - and he wants our troops to do the occupation of Iraq on the cheap.

Bad, bad idea.

In the strategic marketplace, you don't always get what you pay for, but you never get what you don't pay for.

See the whole thing here.

DESCRIPTION OF CAMP UDAIRI

Found this story on the internet about CPT Patti's temporary home. You can read about the facilities and conditions. However, the story is almost three months old so some stuff may have changed.

UPDATE: This link shows Udairi on a map of Kuwait. And another description of the camp here

UNCERTAIN DEPARTURE FOR 3D INFANTRY

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, GEN Richard Myers whom many of you will recognize from the Pentagon briefings he gave along side Secretary Rumsfeld, gave further indications that the 3d Infantry Division may not leave Baghdad as quickly as planned.

A month after their capital city fell to U.S. forces, Iraqis in Baghdad go to bed each night to the sound of AK-47s bursts overhead. It isn’t continuous, not at all, but it is still disconcerting.

Security, Myers said, is a fundamental concern. To meet the challenge, he said, additional military personnel are arriving each day.

“The scheme would be that eventually they would replace some of the units that have been here the longest, but that remains to be seen,” Myers said at a news conference after his briefings.

“It would be event driven. There’s not a timeline we’re on. We’ll look at events, and we’ll look at security in Baghdad. We’ll look at the security in other major population centers. We’ll look at security in the rest of the country and make those decisions as we go along.”

One has to feel for those guys. They are the ones that did all the heavy lifting during the hostilities, along side the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. The Marines have redeployed, but the 3d ID is still there trying to catch a break.

The entire story is here.

HOME SWEET TENT

Delightfully, CPT Patti called this morning using her cell phone to make contact. Wanted to give me an update on their status. She warned me though that with no electricity she cannot recharge her phone and the contact may cease for a while.

Major bummer.

On to the news.

They are temporarily residing at Camp Udairi. Camp Udairi is a "tent city" near the Iraqi border. She indicated that describing it as "spartan" might be a bit too generous.

She says the Gators are lucky enough to have lights in their tents, although the rest of the battalion does not. Other than the few lights there is no electricity in the tent city. However, she reports that her First Sergeant has rigged up a Gator Patio and a Gator Balcony, the only such amenities in the camp. Now I'm having trouble imagining a tent with a balcony...perhaps one day I'll see the photos.

She called at 9:20 am her time...it was already 94 degrees. But they do have access to ice. So, when she can, she puts the ice in her "camelbak" (that is a small back pack that holds drinking water...with a tube that acts as a long straw). That helps in the process of cooling off and remaining hydrated.

They are eating "real food" from a dining facility. However, lines are very long for food and for the few commercial telephones in the camp.

They do not have access to computers in this camp, so she will not be able to read her e-mail until sometime after they arrive in Baghdad. They expect to be in Baghdad by the 1st of June.

She sounded great and said she was doing very well.

I'm glad for that. Bet you are too.

WEDNESDAY, May 14th. Day three of CPT Patti's deployment. She is currently in Camp Udairi in the desert of Kuwait near the Iraqi border.

JUST FOR LAUGHS

This is just too funny.

Sample:

A Star Trek quiz:
Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and 'Ensign Gomez' beam down to a planet. Which one isn't coming back?

GLIMPSES OF CONDITIONS IN BAGHDAD

Police in Baghdad pack guns again for the first time since the war, as the capital faces a new type of lawlessness - arsons, car thefts and kidnappings. U.S. authorities distribute sidearms among the 5,000 police who have reported for duty; police guarding important sites will have assault rifles.

Some 300 Iraqi soldiers march on the U.S. army's main Baghdad base to demand back pay and a future in the new Iraq, joining a growing chorus of Iraqi civil servants hoping for a quick return to normalcy - including salaries - under the U.S. occupation.

What does it say of the conduct of our soldiers in securing the peace when Iraqi soldiers have the confidence to approach our forces today?

The entire article is here.

OUCH

Additional military units heading to Baghdad - namely the 1st Armored Division, based in Germany - were intended to replace the 3rd Infantry Division and other units that fought the war, but Myers said Monday that they "may" replace units now in Iraq.

This doesn't bode well for the soldiers of the 3d Infantry Division who must be just sick of the place by now...nor does it do much for my optimism that CPT Patti's deployment might be a relatively short one.

But this article indicates the 3d Infantry Division only extending until june...heck, it will be June before the entire 1AD is in Baghdad. So it seems that any extension by the 3d ID is only a matter of a couple of weeks at most.

1AD IN THE NEWS

Lt. Gen. William ``Fuzzy'' Webster, deputy commander of all allied ground forces in Iraq, said in a separate interview Monday that within two weeks an additional 1,000 military police would be operating in Baghdad.

``Then it will quickly decline again,'' he said, because the 1st Armored Division, which is scheduled to enter Iraq soon as a replacement for the 3rd Infantry Division, has fewer MPs than the 3rd.

Soldiers of the 1st Armored Division are now gathering in Kuwait, preparing to haul their tanks and other equipment north.

The article also gives a glimpse into a mission the 1AD will face.

RUMOR: SOLDIERS HAVE X-RAY VISION

A look at the challenges facing our troops in Iraq.

When US soldiers first arrived here in Thawra, in eastern Baghdad, rumors swept through the thickly populated Shiite Muslim neighborhood that the Americans' high-tech night vision goggles were capable of seeing through women's clothing. In a conservative Muslim neighborhood, such a suggestion is almost too much to bear. So an Army representative took a pair of goggles to a respected religious leader to show him that they merely enhance vision at night.

US officials believed the demonstration put an end to the issue. But some Iraqi rumors never seem to die. The latest version is that some sunglasses worn by American troops allow them to see through clothing.

Now, US forces are letting Iraqis try on their sunglasses

You can read the whole thing here.

WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION

It occurs to me that would be an apt description of the Ba'ath Party. See what I mean here.

UPDATE: This story further supports my contention. Sample:

Working from archives seized from many of the regime’s buildings housing secret police, state security, military intelligence, Baathist Party headquarters and so on, the Committee so far has produced a list of 10,000 names of those executed by the regime.

WHAT KINDA MICKEY MOUSE OUTFIT ARE YOU RUNNING HERE?

Actually, a pretty cool one.

I wonder if this applies to the Disney park near Paris as well?

TUESDAY MAY 13TH. Day two of CPT Patti's Deployment. She is currently in Kuwait City.

SAFE ARRIVAL

CPT Patti called about 1:00 pm east coast time. Very quick phone call.

They arrived safely and when she called they were on the bus headed from the plane to the terminal.

Said its HOT.

And, just so you know the time in Kuwait/Iraq is east coast plus 7 hours. At least for now...that will change when we shift off of daylight savings time.

Thanks for all your "safe flying" prayers. If its not too much to ask we now could use some safe ship unloading, safe firing range and safe convoy to Baghdad prayers.

TRUCKS AT SEA...

One 5-ton truck with a trailer attached lost its brakes, rolled from a ship and plunged into the harbor, said Maj. Glen Cunningham, 41, of Daphne, Ala., an Army reservist from the 1184th Transportation Terminal Battalion.

“There was no driver,” Cunningham said. “We fished the truck out later.”

Yikes.

1st AD UNLOADING SHIPS IN KUWAIT

Troops from the Baumholder-based 2nd Brigade and Hanau-based 4th Brigade arrived last week. The division’s 3rd Brigade, normally based in Fort Riley, Kan., also has arrived in Kuwait.

Soldiers from the division’s Friedberg, Germany-based 1st Brigade are the last troops to leave Europe. They should be arriving this week, Gercken said.

The entire story is here

1ST ARMOR DIVISION NOT TO RETURN TO GERMANY FOLLOWING IRAQ?

According to this no one seems to know.

UPDATE: This story offers a more reasonable tone.

BY THE WAY

As big as the duffle bags and ruck sacks are...we found out they aren't big enough to hold $1000 worth of new stuff.

I am now on a first name basis with the guy at the post office if you catch my meaning...

WHY GATORSIX?

Those who have served in the Army already know.

Each unit has a mascot - a nickname if you will by which they refer to themselves. There are such nicknames out there as Spartans, Diamonds and Providers.

CPT Patti's company mascot/nickname is Gators.

All the leaders in the company also have numbers which identify them by position over the radio. Tradition in the Army says that the commander is always "six". The first sergeant is "seven".

Well, on any given day there may be many units on the same radio net and therefore many sixes and sevens all trying to talk. In order to identify themselves as the commander of such and such a unit (without giving the unit designation which is a big no no over the air waves) they use their combined unit nickname and position number.

Hence, CPT Patti is Gator Six.

And occasionally someone refers to me as Household Six.

THE DYNAMICS OF FAMILY

It was an interesting scene as the soldiers and family members gathered at the company last night. In front of the barracks is a grassy quadrangle where benches had been placed for folks to sit during the hours we would be there.

The soldiers were intermittently busy drawing their weapons from the arms room, and conducting equipment checks. In between these activities they were of course free to spend these hours with their loved ones.

And I noticed that the families tended to cluster as families...and not in larger groups as friends, although many of these families are good and close friends.

The groupings indicated that these were family moments. As well they should be.

Later, in the wee hours of the morning as the soldiers were finally aboard the busses and the busses pulled away, I like so many others in the same circumstance of worry and longing and pride and fear stood on tiptoes to wave goodbye one more time. And when the busses were no longer in sight, I looked around. For the first time all night we the families were standing in one large group.

I suppose family may have many definitions.

BIGGER BAGS OR SMALLER SERGEANTS?

Oh the things one sees just by keeping the eyes open.

Let me describe briefly the Army's duffle bag. A cavernous green (naturally) nylon bag shaped like a squat sausage link. A little over three feet long with a diameter around which a grown man might just be able to get his fingers to touch if he were hugging it. The bag has two straps along its side by which one can wear/carry the bag as if it were a back pack.

It holds a lot. And I can assure you GIs never leave extra space in their duffle bags, especially for uncertain deployments such as this.

About midnight last night CPT Patti and her company (The Gators!) had transferred their duffle bags, ruck sacks and carry-on back packs to a huge maintenance bay the size of an aircraft hanger. Awaiting the busses to take them away many of the troops were lying on the duffle bags, trying to catch a nap.

Family members were lingering there as well, spending every available moment with their soldiers.

And then suddenly the First Sergeant stepped in and announced the arrival of the first bus.

The company executive officer ordered the soldiers designated for the first bus to move their duffle bags to the bus. I watched as the supply sergeant, a slight woman, perhaps five-foot-two and maybe 95 pounds struggled to don her duffle bag upon her back. Someone stepped in to assist her by lifting and supporting the bag until she had the straps around both shoulders and the bag on her back.

As the supply sergeant said "OK, I got it" and the assistant released the bag there was a cinematic moment in which the sergeants eyes grew huge with a nascent understanding of her predicament and her mouth opened but it was clear she didn't know what to say. And then, slowly, she began to topple backwards, the weight of the duffle just that required to overcome her slight body weight and straining muscles. But it was an incredibly slow toppling. And in a flash CPT Patti who was standing nearby grabbed the duffle in a bear hug and prevented the sergeant from completing her fall.

Later, while the soldiers were boarding the bus, I overheard another sergeant refer to the pack and bag laden troops as "Weeble Wobbles"

An apt appelation, if ever I heard one.

ONE CARD TOUCHES TWO HEARTS

As CPT Patti was doing her final packing yesterday she handed to me a card in an envelope.

On the envelope was written in pink magic marker "Female Military Officer". CPT Patti said it had been passed to her by the battalion Chaplain. The author doesn't know CPT Patti - indeed, doesn't know where her card ended up.

Inside was a homemade card with stars and the words "Thank You" written across the front.

Within the card were these words.

Dear Madam

Thank you for your service to our country. Stay strong and be encouraged. We appreciate what you are doing!

Just wanted to brighten your day and keep hope alive!!

Praying for your safety!!

Heather Goasdone
(Rhode Island)

Well Heather, CPT Patti was touched. I don't know if you actually know any female military officers or what you imagine they are like. But ff you knew her you would be amazed at her gentle and giving spirit. I've been married to her for two years and I am more amazed every day.

Heather, CPT Patti sends her thanks.

So do I.

PHONE CALL FROM THE TARMAC

CPT Patti called using her cell phone about 1045 this morning. Said she was calling from the tarmac at Ramstein Air Base as they were about to board a United Airlines jet bound for Kuwait City.

She sounded great...said the overnight bus ride and processing for the flight went smoothly for her company.

Said that seat assignments on the plane were made by rank. So CPT Patti is flying 1st Class to Kuwait City. Whoo Hoo!!

I'm glad for that little blessing - because there will be much discomfort for her over the next many days.

Flight is about 7 hours...they should be landing sometime about 1:00 pm east coast time.

IS THERE A SCALE FOR THIS?

Has anyone ever developed a scale for measuring how much one loves another?

If not, may I suggest using how much one aches with missing another upon the occasion of an unpredictable separation such as this deployment. It is real, it is palpable, but is it quantifiable?

I knew I love my wife. By the measure above I didn't know how much.

I'm astonished at how I ache. And weep.

Does it get better?

THE BUS PULLED AWAY carrying CPT Patti and her soldiers at 1:42 am.

My heart hurts.

ITS G-DAY

G for "goodbye".

In about an hour we will leave for CPT Patti's office, with a stop at a nearby hospital on the way to visit one of CPT Patti's soldiers who is fighting an infection. I have said before how remarkably CPT Patti loves her soldiers.

In this final hour at home we are baking cookies and banana bread for the soldiers and family members who will all gather together tonight to say farewell.

About midnight CPT Patti and crew will board the bus...and begin the journey that will take them to Ramstein Air Base. About 11:00 am on Monday our time (5 am on the east coast) the plane is scheduled to depart.

Its about a 7 hour flight from here.

Please send up a prayer for our girl as she and her soldiers head out to make a little history.

BECAUSE OF COURSE THEY ARE EXPERTS

This is rich. Especially in light of this.

They don't seem to understand they are their own parody.

FRANKLY, IT IS STILL A DANGEROUS PLACE

Security was required because Baghdad, like the rest of Iraq, remains an unsteady place without a functioning police force and without enough American troops to keep the streets safe. General McKiernan admitted, in one of the frankest comments yet by a senior American in Baghdad, that he did not have enough soldiers to secure the entire country. Fewer than 150,000 troops are in Iraq, which, he noted, is the size of California.

Read the whole thing.

A YEAR?!?

Sigh

ARAB MEDIA'S CONDUCT INDICATIVE OF A DEEPER MALAISE

'The Arab Media Succeeded in Deceiving the People' says this article.

Gee...ya think?

REMEMBER THE 9 BOTTLES OF INSECT REPELLENT?

Read why here.