COLOR ME SKEPTICAL

An official Iranian delegation arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday to mediate between Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and the United States, a Shi'ite political source said.

The source said the delegation, led by senior diplomats, met Iraqi officials and was expected to travel soon to the holy city of Najaf, where U.S. forces are preparing for a possible offensive to capture or kill Sadr.

Iran said the United States had sought its help in tackling the violence in Iraq. Sadr's political foes say Iran helps finance the anti-U.S. cleric.

SARAH FOUND IT

This weeks most absurd headline.

CAN YOU IMAGINE?

Tossing back live grenades. Wow.

The Marines in the armored vehicle fled into a nearby building, where they waited to be rescued. They threw back grenades that insurgents tossed over the wall and listened to gunmen whisper outside.

Its a good story about the tactical situation in Fallujah. Have a look.

THE EXTENSION...

The top Army command in Europe says a final decision on extending 1st Armored Division soldiers in Iraq has been made. Details, however, aren’t being released.

A spokeswoman for Gen. B.B. Bell, the chief of U.S. Army Europe, said soldiers and family members were being notified Wednesday through family support networks and command channels.

“The families and soldiers have been notified of the status of 1 AD. However, we are awaiting the official announcement from Washington,” Lt. Col. Jane Crichton said Wednesday.

“We expect an announcement shortly,” she added, declining to elaborate.

Indeed, we family members have been notified. The notice says, in part

The commander. US Central Command has requested, and the Department of Defense has directed that soldiers of the First Armored Division remain in Iraq for up to an additional 90 days. Redeployment through Kuwait will add an additional amount of time to the total deployment.

Watch for a press release from the Pentagon today.

UPDATE: Guess it has already happened.

The bulk of the retained force consists of combat troops: 14,300 from the 1st Armored Division (including an attached aviation unit) and 2,800 from the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment.

Filling out the list are smaller supporting elements, including three units of engineers totaling 1,150 soldiers; an air ambulance crew with 130 members; an aviation company with 114 troops; 70 military police, and 20 surgical workers.

In addition, officials said, 12 transport companies and one maintenance company will be kept in Kuwait. Each company has about 150 troops...

Pentagon officials have raised the possibility that the next rotation of forces into Iraq, currently planned to start in September and run through January, could be moved up to sustain the higher troop level after the current extensions end.

And note that last paragraph...

THURSDAY, April 15th.

This is day 340.

Our girl called last night! First communique since Sunday. She's been given a job upgrade. As of last night she now bears the callsign "Ready Four". Which means that her job new job is that of S4 (logistics officer) on the Brigade Staff.

She has moved from her old camp to the Brigade HQ...has new digs, more responsibility, the whole nine yards.

I'm glad for her...it is a lot of work, but she's not afraid of work...and it gives her a new challenge to sink her teeth into.

SOMEBODY NEEDS YOUR HELP

Folks...I got an email tonight from a young lady in the States. Her brother is in the 16th Engineers.

She recently learned of his extension...and apparently only today has also stumbled upon CPT Patti's website.

She asked if there were someway to have access to the information that 16th Eng families get...and I'm thinking certainly one of you could help get her on the FRG email distribution.

So...if you have a connection with the 16th Engineers...please write to me so we can help this gal. From reading her note, it seems as if she and her brother are all the family they have for one another. Let's get her in the information loop please.

Contact me at cptpattiinbaghdad @ yahoo . com

Thanks.

AN INVITATION TO ANDY ROONEY

To visit the America I live in.

Here is a link to Andy Rooney's latest missive...I wont do him the honor of quoting him on CPT Patti's website. You can read the absurdist writings at the link.

But I will answer in part:

To question 1 regarding our doing the right thing. Says the LT

"I am proud of my soldiers and the job we are doing. I am proud of my country, and believe in the decisions of the President who asked me to be here."

To questions 2 and 3 regarding doing what we are supposed to be doing and the sensibleness of the orders, The nurse said

"I didn't talk to a single soldier that didn't know why we were there and think we should be," said Palmer. "Good things are being done in that country. We are helping them get back on their feet, and they do appreciate what we are doing."

To question 4 regarding a medal or a trip home, which is like asking if you'd like one shoe or would you rather have the pair, the Specialist replied

If I said that I wasn't happy to be goIng back to Germany, seeing my family when they fly over to see me, then continuing to take 30 days leave and having this HUGE house party that my mom planned for me, I would most definently be lying. I have missed my friends and my family more then anything in the world since I have been over here, and I am ecstatic to see them, no doubt.

However, knowing that I am leaving behind fellow soldiers really takes a toll on me too. So many of my friends and the people I have considered my family for the last year are still over there. These people who I have taken care of, had their backs, like they had mine, for the last 365 days--are still out there. It hurts me, and in a way I feel like I abandoned them.

So as much as I'm happy to be able to be safe, these people will be on my mind every minute of everyday, until they, too, are home safely.

And to question 5, regarding the encouragement by folks who support the soldiers, several soldiers respond in letters to the Lutz Patriots

Hello, I'd like to start off by thanking you all for what you are doing for us. It means a lot to me and my soldiers to know that someone cares. I'll tell you a little about myself and what is going on here where I am. I am married with 2 children, and I've been in the military for 14 years. I've been a paratrooper for 14 years and stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina for 11 years. I'm a jumpmaster and the 82nd Airborne Division Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year for 2003. We are in the town of Fallujah West of Baghdad.... We will not give up hope. We will keep trying. We will defend at any price. We are part of the best division on earth... the All American Division... America's Guard of Honor... The 82nd Airborne Division ! Never Forget Us ! SFC Johnson

...I'd like to say thanks for your support. That means a lot to me. I really appreciate it....

...It is truly astounding that so many people would support what we are doing over here in Iraq. For that I cannot begin to express my thanks...

...I want to say thank you for your support to us. It is very pleasant for me to know that we got people like you that are interested in helping us thru this hard time...Well one more time THANK YOU A LOT ! And one day I will like to say thank you in person. God Bless You !...

(note: taken from an email shared with me by the Lutz Patiots, quoting letters written to them thanking them for their support)

Oh...and CPT Will answers question 5, while also addressing the issue of being a "Hero". Recall that CPT Will was wounded by a mortar round, had skin graft surgery on his leg, and returned to Baghdad. CPT Will says (see November 10th entry)

Want to thank everyone for their messages of support. They have really helped me keep a positive attitude and continue to heal. Although I am not comfortable in being called a Hero it is great to see support for soldiers. Don't think it is to heroic to be discussing issues with my supply sergeant and then having a mortar round explode next to me. It is by the Grace of God that I can walk and have all of my body parts.

Do any of these soldiers sound like victims, Mr. Rooney? They don't to me. They are Soldiers, proud of their service.

Mr. Rooney, you chose to cite one statistic...suicides among our forces. Sir, may I invite you to look for other statistics? How about these for instance

The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) celebrated America's 227th birthday in grand style the Fourth at the division headquarters, located at the palace overlooking the banks of the Tigris River.

The Independence Day festivities culminated in a mass reenlistment ceremony, where 158 Screaming Eagles stepped forward, raised right hands in front of their fellow soldiers and swore to continue defending the Constitution of the United Sates.

You cite Mr. Rooney another statistic...that 40 percent of our soldiers are in the Guard and Reserve which they joined for money and never expected to be called up. To that, again, a young first-term soldier wrote to the Lutz Patriots

I originally joined the Army so that I could pay for college. That way I could work on my writing skills and reach at least one of my goals by publishing at least one book. My true goal is to become a graphics designer. I guess I'm here in Iraq because ... well I was told I had to go. Either way though I'm proud to be here trying to help out the Iraqi people

It appears you underestimate the American Soldier, Mr. Rooney. It appears you assign to them the status of victim where they do not consider themselves such.

You impugn ribbons and medals, when you miss the point that those are testaments of a job well done, one to be proud of. You call them tricks, Mr. Rooney. And in so doing you insult every Soldier who strives every day to do his job and to do it well...a slap in the face for achieving excellence. Medals are symbols of accomplishment Mr. Rooney. A sign to the Soldier and the world that says "Look...I strive to do the right and best thing, because they are the right and best thing...not because I seek wealth." In the America I live in Mr. Rooney, that's a pretty admirable thing.

And it would seem Mr. Rooney that in your world an oath, such as is taken upon enlistment, means very little. Well, sir, to Soldiers...including the Guardsmen and Reservists, an oath still represents "my word". And in the America we live in, Mr. Rooney...our word is our bond.

Drop by, Mr. Rooney...drop by to visit the America I live in. From here you can see the youth of America who aren't perforated and doing drugs, From here you can see husbands, wives and parents who still cover their heart with their hand when the National Anthem plays...and whose eyes mist over at the same time.

And from here, Mr. Rooney...if we stand high enough atop the bluff...from here you can see straight back to Fort McHenry, Valley Forge, clear to Bunker Hill.

And that noise, Mr. Rooney...that noise you hear...why that is the echo of the shot heard round the world.

We hear that everyday in the America I live in.

You know what Mr. Rooney...I've never ever heard of someone who did something heroic lay claim to the title of hero. Like CPT Will, they tend to say, "I was just doing my job" or, "anyone in my place would have done the same thing". No, Mr. Rooney...it would seem that hero is in the eye of the beholder.

I consider our soldiers, including my wife to be heroes for what they've done on behalf of the American and Iraqi people. I consider them heroes, Mr. Rooney, not for being where we sent them as you put it...but for what they've done while they are there. In the America I live in, Mr. Rooney, lots of folks consider them heroes.

Why can't you?

OUR BEST ALLY...AND A GREAT SPEAKER

Tony Blair on why we cannot abandon Iraq.

I have come firmly to believe the only ultimate security lies in our values. The more people are free, the more tolerant they are of others; the more prosperous, the less inclined they are to squander that prosperity on pointless feuding and war.

But our greatest threat, apart from the immediate one of terrorism, is our complacency. When some ascribe, as they do, the upsurge in Islamic extremism to Iraq, do they really forget who killed whom on September 11, 2001? When they call on us to bring the troops home, do they seriously think that this would slake the thirst of these extremists, to say nothing of what it would do to the Iraqis?

Or if we scorned our American allies and told them to go and fight on their own, that somehow we would be spared? If we withdraw from Iraq, they will tell us to withdraw from Afghanistan and, after that, to withdraw from the Middle East completely and, after that, who knows? But one thing is for sure: they have faith in our weakness just as they have faith in their own religious fanaticism. And the weaker we are, the more they will come after us.

It is not easy to persuade people of all this; to say that terrorism and unstable states with WMD are just two sides of the same coin; to tell people what they don't want to hear; that, in a world in which we in the West enjoy all the pleasures, profound and trivial, of modern existence, we are in grave danger.

There is a battle we have to fight, a struggle we have to win and it is happening now in Iraq.

THE ENEMY...AS IDENTIFIED FROM THE LEFT

Reporters Without Borders today condemned the virulent criticism expressed by the US army and by Muwaffak al-Rubai, formerly a member of the Iraq's US-appointed Governing Council, towards the two Arabic satellite TV news stations Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera, which they accused of inciting violence, lying and being "anti-coalition."

The organisation said the accusations "overstepped the limits" and "denied the right to editorial independence."

It also urged the governing council not to impose any new restriction on the ability of these two Arabic-language news media from working freely in Iraq. At the end of 2003, Al-Arabiya was banned from working and its bureaux in Baghdad were closed for two months. In January of this year, Al-Jazeera was banned from covering the activities of the governing council for a month.

Reporters Without Borders said that, despite legitimate security concerns, it was "unacceptable" that the commander of the US forces and other senior US officials in Iraq describe certain news media as "anti-coalition."

Such remarks were dangerous just three weeks after two journalists with Al-Arabiya were killed by US gunfire while on the job, the organisation said. They could be interpreted by troops, who are having a trying time in the field, as meaning that some journalists are enemies and therefore legitimate targets.

Here is a news flash, reporters. Soldiers have a job to do. The soldier's mission supercedes all other missions. It simply has to be that way. Stay out of their way and you should be OK. No soldier is going to target you. They don't target non-combatants. Occasionally bad things happen...rarely a soldier steps out of line...but it is highly unlikely that a soldier will target you as a reporter being a reporter.

Now...consider the flip side. These so-called news agencies you point out as being discriminated against...they show endless loops of Americans being burned and mutilated in the streets. Every thug and terrorist who can't be heard from across the room normally knows that they can simply drop a tape off at your door step and instantly their vitriolic hate filled message inciting the masses to rise up and kill our soldiers will be given wide and endless play from those louse-filled outlets.

No...you can't have it both ways. Afraid our actions will make your guys targets, when you don't have any compunction about your actions making our guys targets.

DEALING WITH THE THUG

About 2,500 U.S. soldiers have massed outside Najaf, prepared for a showdown with radical Shiite Cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who sounds defiant and says he is ready "to sacrifice my blood."

Al-Sadr told a Lebanon TV news station that he would pursue his continue "popular revolution" to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

"I fear only God. I am ready to sacrifice my blood for this country," he said.

To which numerous recently extended soldiers of the United States Army no doubt replied "Good, we're happy to oblige." I note however that this pinhead's death will not be "for this country"...it will be for his own aggrandizement. Meanwhile,

The U.S. sounds ready to answer his call. Earlier, Lt. Gen. Richardo Sanchez, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said the mission is to "capture or kill" al-Sadr.

The American units have set up a perimeter around Najaf to prevent militants from leaving.

Meanwhile, Iraqi leaders have launched frantic negotiations to try and head off a U.S. assault on Najaf. As the site of the Imam Ali Shrine, Shiite Muslims consider it to be the third holiest city in Islam.

Al-Sadr was seen leaving the shrine Monday night, after meeting with the sons of Iraq's three grand ayatollahs including Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani. Despite tough talk from the Americans and al-Sadr, those talks appear to be continuing in an effort to prevent bloodshed.

The U.S. commander of the force said his unit was aware of the political complexities of an assault on Najaf.

"Look at this as the Shiite Vatican," Col. Dana J.H. Pittard told The Association Press.

Al-Sadr's militia, the al-Mehdi Army, has fought with coalition troops in recent days. At one point it took control of some government buildings and police stations in three southern Iraq cities.

However, his fighters have pulled back somewhat in Najaf, Karbala and Kufa.

The U.S. wants the al-Mehdi Army to disband, a demand that al-Sadr has rejected.

What the Pinhead fails to grasp is that he isn't in much of a position to bargain. The Iraqi Governing Council gets that option. The 135,000 soldiers of the US Army in Iraq intend to see to it that democracy in some form happens under an orderly process.

One rabble rouser whipping up the riff raff in the streets in order to gain power? No thanks, al-Sadr. One Saddam per millenium is quite plenty.

Still, the story unfolds

An Iraqi envoy appointed by Moqtada al-Sadr said on Wednesday the Shi'ite cleric had asked him to convey a set of peace proposals to U.S. officials.

Sadr's supporters have been rising up against the U.S.-led occupying forces in south and central Iraq.

The United States has said it will kill or capture Sadr and destroy his militia, and has brought extra troops to the outskirts of Najaf, where the radical cleric is thought to be.

"Sayyed Moqtada made positive proposals to end the crisis. I cannot disclose the details. He realizes that an armed confrontation is not in anybody's interest," Abdelkarim al-Anzi told Reuters in Baghdad.

True...least of all, his.

Remember the piece by John Galt in which he said

Ants. A wise man once told me about the ant theory to control people. You put some sugar on the table. The ants will gather around it and look. One ant will eventually venture forth and go for the sugar. You take a huge hammer and smash that ant. The others get the message and go elsewhere. It’s a bumbling homily but fairly correct.

Well, it would appear its Hammer Time. And we have just the guys to do it.

ASK YOURSELF - IF THE "UPRISINGS" WERE THE DOMINANT FEATURE IN THIS COUNTRY, WOULD THEY BE ANNOUNCING THIS?

Iraq is planning to open the Baghdad and Basra airports to regular commercial flights at the beginning of July, Iraq's civil aviation director, Fakher Faraj, was quoted as saying here Tuesday.
"We plan to reopen Baghdad and Basra airports for civil use in the beginning of July as part of a comprehensive plan to rehabilitate all Iraqi airports and reopen them," Faraj told the official KUNA news agency.

The plan also stipulates reopening Mosul airport, the development of Arbil and Kirkuk airports, as well as constructing a new modern airport in the Shiite religious city of Najaf, south of Baghdad, he said.

WHAT IF THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA AND NOBODY CAME?

Charlie Daniel's to perform in Wiesbaden...that is the garrison home of the 1AD.

Wonder who will attend now? Perhaps a lot of family members...I might.

The Charlie Daniels Band will perform May 6 at Wiesbaden Army Airfield in what could have been a roaring welcome home party for 1st Armored Division troops.

Many of the post’s soldiers were supposed to be returning from Iraq following a yearlong deployment, but many have been told to expect to remain in the combat zone into the summer. So the airfield — which serves as the headquarters for the “Old Ironsides” division — sits nearly empty.

The concert had been announced in March as part of the division’s reintegration program for returning soldiers. But officials have shelved plans to call the concert a “reunion celebration.”

A spokesman for Gen. B.B. Bell, the Army’s top commander in Europe, denied the concert was ever intended as a welcome home bash.

The division’s planned return “had nothing to do with the fact that [Charlie Daniels] is playing at Wiesbaden,” said Robert Purtiman. “The only reason they chose that place is because of its central location.”

Not so, say officials for the Army’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation European division, which is sponsoring the concert.

“Originally, this was supposed to be a welcome home party for the division,” said Laura Waid, who’s helping organize the concert for MWR. “The idea was to make this a reunion celebration, but now it doesn’t look like that’s the best title for it.”

I'm disturbed that the spokesman for the US Army Europe commander says this wasn't to be a welcome home bash...and goes on to say the site was selected for its "central location". Wiesbaden is central to Army posts in Germany as West Virginia is "central" to the United States.

I hope he just got bad information...we don't need spin from our own guys.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14th.

This is day 339 of CPT Patti's deployment.

WILL YOU EVER SERVE ON A TEAM LIKE THIS?

An extract from an email sent by one soldier to her mother...upon the news that her unit will be returning to Germany very soon...and leaving others behind.

Finally this morning we got a call from General Dempsey saying that 1-4 ADA WILL deactivate as a WHOLE unit, and they will NOT pick and choose certain individuals to go back to Iraq, so this morning the Chaplain and the PA were reunited with us, and in about a week we should all be heading back to Germany, as one.

You might think that I should be happy about this?

Am I?

If I said that I wasn't happy to be gong back to Germany, seeing my family when they fly over to see me, then continuing to take 30 days leave and having this HUGE house party that my mom planned for me, I would most definently be lying. I have missed my friends and my family more then anything in the world since I have been over here, and I am ecstatic to see them, no doubt.

However, knowing that I am leaving behind fellow soldiers really takes a toll on me too. So many of my friends and the people I have considered my family for the last year are still over there. The places that my unit and my battalion have kept unharmed for the last year are getting bombed and shot up everyday. The people who we trained to take over our positions are dying in the same spots where we stood not even a week ago. These people who I have taken care of, had their backs, like they had mine, for the last 365 days--are still out there. It hurts me, and in a way I feel like I abandoned them.

So as much as I'm happy to be able to be safe, these people will be on my mind every minute of everyday, until they, too, are home safely.

Please remember that this war is still going on. Now, more then ever, people are dying, people are getting hurt. It's not a joke. It's not something that is fake. This is a reality. I came to that conclusion 3 days ago when I stood outside my 5 ton seeing the bullet hole that easily could have killed me. It's not a joke, its not something that "doesn't happen to me." It's happening to YOUR sons and daughters, to your friends and families, and they need your support. Don't forget them in your prayers every night.

Beckie, we are glad your daughter is homeward bound...and proud to have such a wonderful person on our team.

WHY I HATE THE NEW YORK TIMES...CHAPTER 87

It paints "the military" as some faceless big brother organization destined for mind control.

The new technologies have had a potent impact on the military, ending its monopoly over the supply of news and entertainment for American troops serving in a foreign land whose borders include a language barrier.

Senior officers have responded with daily newsletters for unit commanders and the troops via e-mail. The American Forces Network continues to splice official messages into its satellite TV programming and mingle them with the songs on its radio station here.

Note the references to AFN radio and TV. The NYT would have you believe these messages "spliced in" are some sort of psycholigical warfare against our own troops. The author doesn't have the journalistic curiousity to find out that AFN wouldn't exist if it wanted to play the commercials in those slots.

We get programming for free from the networks and cable precisely because no advertiser is making a dime off the transmissions around the world. Leave the commercials in, and AFN is out of business because there is no budget to buy the programming. So, yes, they fill the "holes" with various spots targeted at the force...there are "tobacco is bad" spots, "don't drink and drive" spots, and news breaks with the leadership in DC, Florida (CENTCOM HQs) and Iraq getting their message across. What decent organization doesn't try to keep its workforce in formed? The last thing we want/need are soldiers who are just clueless and in the dark...rather like you, Mr. NYT Reporter.

Monopoly on news Mr. NYT reporter? The AFN News channel collects the feed directly from ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN and Fox. Explain how the "military" holds a monopoly on the news, Mr. NYT Reporter.

And we have, and have had since WWII the Stars and Stripes newspaper. It writes stories on the military that the NYT doesn't...stories that require the reporter to get right in the thick of things and learn these soldiers names. But Stripes also pulls stories from the AP and other wire services, as it has done for over 50 years, Mr. NYT reporter. So this doesn't represent a "new" technology to erode the "military's monopoly" over media, now does it genius? Interestingly, when CPT Patti was home for the brief period in December, she told me that most soldiers won't read Stripes because of all the negative and inaccurate stories in it. But when we disected that objection we found it was actually the Wire Service reports that torqued off the soldiers.

Frankly, you are so full of ignorance and bias you make me sick, and you do a grave disservice to the only national asset that can guarantee you the right to get up and freely speak your inaacuracies again tomorrow.

Thing is, there is a story to be told about the technology advances. Except you couldn't bring yourself to write it without slipping in your ignorant, liberal bias.

Pathetic.

THE LEFT'S OBSESSION WITH LOSING

On 1 April 2003, he wrote about Iraq -- only two weeks after the fight began -- using nearly identical words: "Is it just me or is there a smell of Vietnam in the desert air?" Baghdad fell just over a week later. (Answer: it was just you.) The every-war-is-Vietnam meme has spread throughout the Left like a malevolent virus, until every minor setback facing our troops anywhere in the world is almost gleefully hailed as "the new Vietnam," though most of our armed forces weren't even born when Vietnam ended.

Why the fascination with Vietnam? Simple: it's the only war the LEFT ever won. And they did it -- intentionally or not -- by propping up our enemy and demoralising our own troops with vehemently anti-American rhetoric. In his book Telltale Hearts: The Origins and Impact of the Vietnam Anti-War Movement, Adam Garfinkle of the Foreign Policy Research Institute detailed how the anti-war protesters actually prolonged the Vietnam War. Their strident and visible attacks on American resolve both damaged the morale of American troops and spurred the North Vietnamese to fight on. In his 1985 memoir about the war, North Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap credited protest groups -- like John Kerry's Vietnam Veterans Against the War -- for helping him achieve victory. Now, the Left is doing it again...

Meanwhile, John Kerry attacked President Bush for shutting down al-Sadr's revolution-inciting newspaper Hawza, calling it "a legitimate voice in Iraq" (before taking back the word "legitimate"). Kerry then went on to say of al-Sadr, "he has clearly taken on a far more radical tone in recent days and aligned himself with both Hamas and Hezbollah, which is a sort of terrorist alignment." Sort of?

When the Democrats and Islamo-fascist terrorists are singing from the same hymn book, and the Democratic candidate for President can't even recognise terrorist groups as terrorists, how can anyone help but wonder who's really on America's side?

IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING JUST WHY IT IS THE BULGARIANS DON'T RULE THE WORLD

Some fifteen Bulgarian soldiers have filed requests to quit Bulgaria's infantry unit in Karbala after a week of fighting with radical Shiites.

Amid mounting public pressure for Iraq pullout Defence Minister Nikolay Svinarov announced that the Bulgarian camp can be relocated some fifteen kilometers away from Karbala center.

No definitive decision on the issue has been taken yet, he added.

The minister is expected to make a report on the situation in Karbala to the parliamentary foreign policy, defence and security commission on April 22.

There are several requests from Bulgarian soldiers to return home. This comes as no surprise and may happen everywhere in the world where international missions are deployed, Foreign Minister Solomon Passy told private bTV channel earlier in the day.

He said that anybody who wants to return from Karbala is free to do so as the mission has been recruited on a voluntary basis.

BECAUSE HE GETS IT

Protesters may shout and relatives of the hostages plead, but Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi really has only one viable option: keep his troops in Iraq.

THANKS FOR THE HELP...

Where ya been? And might you add murder and mutilation to the list?

An anti-kidnapping fatwa issued by Muslim clerics failed to prevent 11 Russian civilians from being abducted Monday in Iraq, and efforts to broker a full cease-fire in Fallujah were reportedly making slow progress.

Seven Chinese men were freed by their captors Monday, but the fate of some 20 other kidnapped foreign civilians, including the Russians, remains uncertain...

Meanwhile, Mohsen Abdel Hamid, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council, said other hostages had been released this weekend after the Committee of Muslim Clerics issued a religious edict, or fatwa, against kidnapping.

"Islamic clerics and parties and all the wise people of Iraq have strongly denounced the act of taking hostages, and they issued a fatwa banning this act," Hamid said.

"And yesterday night, we made contacts with some people at these places, and we hope that the rest of the hostages would be released today, God willing, as we all believe that it is not in the interests of the Iraqi people and does not reflect their morals," he said.

EASTER IN IRAQ

“Over here, facing death, so many [Soldiers] have died just this past week,” Moran continued. “We are not facing Easter the same way. I think that makes today a very poignant celebration. It helps us to look at Easter the way they did the first time and to listen for Christ calling our name.”

THE IRAN CONNECTION

As they struggled to explain the unnerving drop-off in Shi'ite support for the occupation, some U.S. officials suggested a familiar foe might be helping to stoke the uprising. "We know the Iranians have been meddling," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told reporters last week. "And it's unhelpful to have neighboring countries meddling in the affairs of Iraq."

Can't say for sure...but the Iranians certainly have proven they love the kidnap tactic...and all of a sudden there are all kinds of kidnappings.

SIGNS OF PROGRESS

In downtown Baghdad

A red Hyundai sports coupe graces Iraq's first new-car showroom, opened last week as violence rose to levels not seen since the war.
"We have sold 38 Hyundais already, but no coupes. They are considered too flashy in these circumstances," said Nihad Abdul Rahman, assistant general manager of Al-Kasid, exclusive agents for selling Hyundai Motor Co. cars in Iraq.

"Iraqis are looking for something affordable and reliable, and Hyundai fits the bill," he said after selling a $10,200 Elantra to a retired officer...

"We are merchants, and part of our profession is taking risks. The country is still in a war mode, but at least Iraqis have choice," Rahman said.

TROOPS GET TIRED OF THE ONE SIDED PRESS COVERAGE

And who can blame them...I'm tired of it too.

Many troops in Iraq say media reports coming out of the country — and arriving on the television sets or doorsteps of their families’ homes in the States — aren’t capturing the whole picture. Some days in Iraq are much better than stories typically portray.

“You can’t judge 15 million people by the actions of 10,000,” says Spc. Brent Brendel, a member of the 1st Armored Division’s 1st Brigade from Friedberg, Germany. “I see the news media doing that a lot. That the Iraqis don’t want us here. And that’s just not the case.”

HOPE HE DOESN'T PLAY POKER

Regarding the selection of which units stay in Iraq...GEN Abizaid tips his hand pretty good.

“I know everyone wants me to name the units and where it’s coming from, and how it’s coming, and I’m simply not going to answer that question, because I don’t know,” Abizaid said.

However, Abizaid said, “I think all of us, especially those of you that are in Europe, understand that we’ve already added forces outside of the 1st Armored Division’s normal area (Baghdad), down into the south, into the Al Kut area,” he said. “And it’s logical to assume that there will be a delay in the arrival of some of those forces … home.”

“As far as what comes next and for how long, I don’t want to get into that,” Abizaid said.

A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

An aide to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr was detained by U.S. troops in a Baghdad hotel on Tuesday and taken away in an armored U.S. military vehicle, witnesses said.

An Iraqi policeman and other witnesses said Hazem al-Araji, a cleric and aide to Sadr for a northern Baghdad district, was led out of a service entrance of the Palestine Hotel and into a waiting vehicle before being driven off...

Sadr, a virulently anti-American cleric, has led a violent Shi'ite uprising in some areas of Baghdad and across southern Iraq. His Mehdi Army militia briefly seized control of several southern towns and is still said to be in control of the holy cities of Kerbala and Najaf.

U.S. commanders have moved additional forces to Najaf and Kerbala and said their mission is to kill or capture Sadr and destroy his militia forces, believed to number around 5,000.

LOOKS AS IF THEY FINALLY MADE UP THEIR MINDS

A top US military commander has requested the equivalent of two mobile combat brigades to help the campaign to put down Iraqi insurgents.

General John Abizaid, the head of Central Command, did not say where the new troops would come from or whether it would add to the number of troops in Iraq, though experts said it could require up to 10,000 extra forces.

General Abizaid said from Baghdad that the return of some troops from Iraq to the United States would almost certainly be delayed.

The General has made a request to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and to the Defence Department in Washington for the combat brigades.

"In terms of capability, what I have asked for is essentially to have a strong mobile combat arms capability," General Abizaid said.

TUESDAY, APRIL 13th.

Day 338

MORE PERSPECTIVE

This from Mark Steyn, who has a matter of fact way of calling them as he see's them.

That's the point to remember: The Iraqi people don't want to be on the American side, only on the winning side. Right now, those two positions happen to coincide; 99.99 percent of Iraqi Shiites aren't involved in the troubles of the last week. This guy Sadr is a junior-league blowhard. ''If they come for our leader,'' says one of his commanders, ''they will ignite all of Iraq." No, they won't. The vast majority of Iraq will remain un-ignited.

Look at those pictures of the atrocity in Fallujah: the remains of four corpses, and a bunch of savages dancing around them. In all those photographs, can you add up more than a hundred men? And half of them are punk kids under 11. There are 300,000 people in that city. A few score are depraved enough to cheer on the killers of four brave men; 299,900 of the town's population were either disapproving or indifferent.

And in the Arab world, the indifferent are the biggest demographic. They sit things out, they see which strong horse has jostled his way to the head of the pack, and they go along with him. The Turks. The British. The British-installed king. The thug who murders the king. The thug who murders the thug who murders the king.

I'm awarding him bonus points for getting in a right hook to the ribs on Senator Kennedy

Here's a good rule of thumb: The Pentagon's demonstrated in two wars now that it's got beyond Vietnam. If a politician or pundit can't, pay him no further heed. If Sen. Kennedy wants to give rhetorical aid and comfort to the enemy, he could at least be less lazy about it.

Indeed

INTERESTING DEVELOPMENTS

Watched with interest I am sure by families of 1AD Soldiers.

A radical Shiite cleric has pulled his militia out of police stations and government facilities in three cities they took control of last week, partially meeting a U.S. demand for ending the standoff in southern Iraq, the cleric's representative said Monday.

Police on Monday were back on the streets and in their stations in Najaf, Kufa and Karbala for the first time in days since the al-Mahdi Army militia of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr rose up last week in bloody fighting against U.S.-led forces in much of the south, witnesses said.

Makes me wonder if the blunt, straight talk of LTG Sanchez might be a contributing factor when he says

"The mission of U.S. forces is to kill or capture Muqtada al-Sadr. That is our mission,"

It would get my attention.

ANOTHER SHOUTING DAY

All the news stories are covering the low hanging fruit...focused on Sadr and Fallujah and a mortar or two in the vicinity of Green Zone. There seems to be no perspective today other than shouts of "Blasts Alarm Coalition" and "Vietnam".

So...I'm off. Over the weekend I made a vow to myself. More Jogging...Less Blogging.

It's another gorgeous spring day...I'm not going to let the headlines ruin that for me.

I'll be in touch later.

"THEY CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS"

Bill Bennett has a word to say on Iraq, Vietnam, Rwanda and the Democrats.

The Democrats need to get their story and their policy together. This week, Bill Clinton wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post lamenting that he did not act sooner in Rwanda, trying to stop the genocide there that claimed 800,000 lives. Kennedy, knowing of Saddam Hussein's slaughter, torture, and aggression that led to the gruesome and vile deaths of hundreds of thousands of Arabs and Muslims, berates our efforts to oust Hussein.

My question for the Democratic Party: Was Iraq a Rwanda that we intervened in to prevent from becoming a living hell? Or, is it Vietnam, where we regret the deaths of so many because we tried to intervene and save the South Vietnamese? They can't have it both ways - Iraq is either a mission we salute based on past inaction we regret, or it's a mission we denigrate based on past action we lament.

President Bush speaks with one voice on this. Clinton and Kennedy do not. That is for them to solve. In the meantime, we carry on with the honor and dignity our mission deserves.

A REMINDER THAT IT ISN'T DECIDED YET

I don't point that out to be hopeful that they will come on home...rather to point out we may not be done with the changes.

While the Pentagon has not confirmed whether the division will be kept over its planned 365-day tour, defense officials told The Washington Post that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld halted troop movements and gave U.S. commanders five days to sort out which units are needed to contain the violence in Iraq.

V Corps, the division’s higher headquarters in Germany, has no official word of an extension, said Lt. Col. Kevin Gainer, a V Corps spokesman.

MONDAY, APRIL 12th.

This is day 337.

I'm having trouble getting started today. The news is so focused upon the engagements ... I'm still trying to get used to the fact that we are four months away from that which, only last week, was on ly days away.

But I'll give it a shot.

ANOTHER VIEW FROM THE FRONT

Another piece from John Galt. It will help you gain perspective to know that John lives and works inside the Green Zone.

He wrote this on Friday...soon after the local hotheads have "vowed" to storm and retake the Green Zone. He doesn't come across as terribly concerned about that particular promise.

He also thinks little of the coverage as well.

Well. Very quiet. The bad guys promised to attack and occupy the Green Zone, take over the major cities and storm the Sheraton hotel.

I was on the back veranda of the Palace after supper when we heard the mortar fired across the river to our right. Stood there for a bit & then heard it land off to our left. Later we determined that it landed near the Sheraton. So all last night we saw repeated film of one darn mortar hole at the tennis courts next to the Sheraton. Over & over. Then the announcers ask various talking heads – Is it over? Have we failed?

One mortar produces a lot of gloom & doom.

The 1AD reacted well to the threats yesterday in Baghdad. First, they went around with loud speakers & said that there would be no rallies, etc. The Coalition militaries cordoned off the key center where Saddam’s statue was toppled. That is a big PR place for all the western news although it’s really a minor location. Same with the Sheraton hotel. The foreign press is at the Sheraton so the bad guys were going to storm it. New principle of war: Don’t attack the military – attack the press.

Also the Iraqi police were broadcasting from their cars that anyone seen on the streets with an AK would be shot. No warning. Gee – no one on the streets.

Marines are clobbering the bad guys at Falluja. The Marines offered a unilateral cease of hostilities but the bad guys keep shooting, even shooting their own humanitarian vehicles. The Marines resumed offensive operations.

This weekend is also a big anniversary when the Moslems remember a martyr. There will be a traditional march to the main mosque. Again, threats by the hot heads about a big rally to thow out the Coalition. Should be interesting to see how it plays out.

Iraqi security. Still doing fairly well. Not perfect & we will keep training more to bring them up to strength. But, again, not the gloom and doom that is preached on US TV.

Coalition has retaken many cities. Some interesting sights as the main population is glad to get rid of the thugs that brought about the latest violence.

But then, that's not a sound bite or film clip.

Anyway, it was a good Friday.

VIEW FROM THE FRONT

Got a note from Susan overnight. Susan has a son in the 1st Armor Division.

She passes along a note written by Lieutenenant in the 1AD...a note that offers more perspective on the situation.

I thought you'd like to see it.

With recent events in Iraq, and news coverage being what it typically is, I would like to take a few minutes out of everybody's time to say a few words.

There are two major things going on right now that have lead to the dramatic increase in fighting in the last few days. The first is happening in places like Faluja. The sunnis in this area have always been fighting American occupation, but after a year of handling them with kid gloves due to policies set by the higher ups in politics and the military, they have become emboldened. Basically, they have forgotten what a Bradley 25mm
will do to a car load of armed insurgents. Right now the marines "pacifying" this area by force.

The second cause pertains to what is happening in Baghdad, where I am. A Shia cleric, who happens to be the son of a popular cleric killed by Saddam, made a last ditch effort at a power play before the handover of power to an Iraqi government by making a religious decree to fight Americans. This has lead hundreds of out of work 19 to 25 year old males to grab there RPG's and AK's and attack both Americans, but also police stations and Iraqi government facilities. In places, this has lead to heavy fighting not seen since the war. However, we are fighting a dismounted, unorganized force, who are simply not capable of standing against a professional, mechanized force such as the First Armored Division.

The news blurbs about the fighting that I have seen on CNN have if anything downplayed the fighting (it's hard to know what is going on when you only do reports from your hotel room), and have enphasized American casualties. There is no gentle way to put it, but American forces have on average, as near as I can tell, killed about 150 enemy fighters per day (never mind the wounded), all in the street to street, house to house fighting that critics have said we are so unprepared for. What is going on in Baghdad right now is by no means a Vietnam. The enemy in Vietnam was far more effective, better equiped, and more determined than the enemy here.

As near as I can tell from actually being on the streets on patrol these last few days, the average Iraqi is not interested in forcing the Americans out. Only the following weeks will really tell how determined Sadr's army really is.

In short, try not to buy into spin motivated by political goals and the ghost of Vietnam. This is the desert, not he jungle. We are fighting to put down an uprising of religious fanatics of the same kind that flew two planes into the world trade center. The enemy that we are fighting today would, if given the chance, would be more happy to kill Americans in America.

I am proud of my soldiers and the job we are doing. I am proud of my country, and believe in the decisions of the President who asked me to be here.

"long live the fighters"

Susan...thanks for sharing that. That is one level headed young leader there.

SUNDAY, APRIL 11th.

Day 336.

Hallelujah, He is risen.

WANT SYRUP WITH THEM WAFFLES?

This is too funny.

A blogging technique that will eventually result in Google returning the John Kerry Campaign website whenever one Googles the word "Waffles".

Go have a visit...and click those waffle links!

TRYING TO KEEP IT IN PERSPECTIVE

Over the last year I've had to re-learn one lesson over and over and over. That lesson is what we see on television and hear on the radio news does not tell the whole story.

The media report that which they deem as newsworthy...and they frequently do so out of context.

Look at it this way...consider the story is in "the touch". The media focus on that touch, without putting it into its appropriate context. In so doing the impression it leaves is that there is nothing but the touch. Certainly there is much more going on on the Sistene Chapel's ceiling than that.

Watch the news today and one is likely to feel as if all of Iraq is in a state of total chaos. So for me it was a wonderful perspective adjustment to read John Galt's view of what is going on in Iraq. He is actually there...and he puts it into much better perspective.

One popular journalistic theme is that the Iraqi security forces are failing. They are fighting and dying beside Coalition forces. Have some of the Iraqi forces broken and ran? Yes. When mobs attack in overwhelming numbers a police outpost, the Iraqi police ran. So would have I. You too. But the Iraqi police returned.

My analysis.

Power Grab. Everyone expected a challenge to the legitimate transfer of authority to the Iraqi government and to the sovereignty of the Iraqi government and its procedures for democratic elections. Al-Sadr is a power grab, plain and simple. He makes his move at a key religious time.

Slow Motion Tet Offensive. Combat has moved from terrorism to an insurgency. The terrorists have changed tactics from attacking soft, civilian targets to hitting the Coalition military. Most Iraqis and Coalition states do not doubt the outcome of the battle.

But the terrorists are buoyed by the successful retrenchment of the Spanish government as a reaction to a single attack in Spain. Terrorist are attacking in force the Ukrainian, Spanish and Polish forces in the Coalition. Like the Tet offensive, al-Sadr does not expect to have a military win but to permanently damage the will of the Iraqis and the Coalition.

Al-Sadr has miscalculated. The Coalition is attacking, not defending. We are killing the terrorists while avoiding collateral damage or indiscriminate attacks.

Be sure you go read his entire piece. You will feel better.

SATURDAY, APRIL 10th.

This is day 335.

The mood in our little military community is somber. One sees worry in the eyes of others...and the collective stress levels are incredibly high.

Speculation is that our Soldiers are relocating...and that will take them out of the relative safety and comfort of the camps they've spent the last year fixing up. And most are interpreting the idea of that move as a move toward the messy areas.

Many spouses are leaning toward spending this extension time back home in the states with mom and dad.

And for a number of them Thursday was they day they got mad...Friday was the day to get sad.

NEED A SMILE?

Turn your speakers on and watch this.

IN A NUTSHELL

Smash tells you who's who, and what it takes to win.

When he says "we have the will to win"...he's referring to the forces.

The American public may be another matter.

YES SIR, THREE BAGS FULL

Do you know The Song That Never Ends?

My buddy CPT Will is living it. If you've been reading here since the Autumn you already know CPT Will. Will was wounded in Baghdad...took some serious burns from a White Phosphorous mortar round and required a skin graft on his leg.

After the surgery and a few weeks convalescence, CPT Will went back to Baghdad. Got his Purple Heart and probably raised the spirits of some of the troops who had seen too many folks for whom combat with the enemy was a one-way trip.

That isn't what this story is about though. This story is about standing tall and determined in the face of adversity.

I first met CPT Will when he moved into the apartment next to ours nearly a couple of years ago. An affable guy, ready with the smile, he's got a few more miles on him than most Captains. He did a good amount of time as an enlisted man before receiving his commission as an officer.

CPT Will came to our neighborhood from elsewhere in Germany. He was sent here because Giessen is home to a unit in which he could become a Company Commander. (Because CPT Will is a Field Artillery Officer, they actually refer to these as "Battery Commands"... hey...what can you expect from folks who refer to themselves as "Redlegs". For our purposes...we'll stick with the term Company Command)

See...that is key. CPT Patti just finished her command...all Captains who aspire to become Majors some day simply MUST be a Company Commander. Wait...make that a successful Company Commander.

And for many officers the rest of the career pales when compared to the eighteen months spent in command of a company. The demands are extreme...but the rewards are greater.

CPT Will came to town...but it is rare that one arrives and waltzes into command just like that. Normally one must pay his dues..."make his bones" I think they call it in the Godfather movies. So CPT Will takes a staff job, works hard...gains the confidence of the Battalion Commander...and is selected to take command.

He was happy. A "line battery" too, meaning his command would include the actual howitzers...doing what Redlegs love to do....reach out and touch someone from thirty miles away.

They selected a date, put it on the unit's Training Calendar. Start the countdown.

And then it came. "Wait. Out." That's old Army radio speak for we'll get back to you.

CPT Will, we've been called up for Operation Iraqi Freedom. We won't execute the Change of Command as we had scheduled. New date? Wait. Out." Meanwhile we want you to stay here while we go to Iraq...and handle all the issues in the rear.

Three bags full, sir is all CPT Will could say. CPT Will is pitching in the minors, wishing and waiting for his call up to the big show.

September 2003...Finally, the call comes.

Baghdad, October 2003. They set a new date. CPT Will is even more ecstatic...taking command...line battery with real artillery pieces...and all manner of bad guys running around begging to be the Target of the Day.

CPT Will "conducts his inventory"...a mind numbing process of accounting for all a unit's equipment...from big guns down to the wrenches in a vehicle's Basic Issue Item set. The inventory is a huge deal...such that Captains are required not only to brief their bosses on every step and result of the process...but also brief their boss's boss.

And then...Incoming! CPT Will gets winged by that Willy Pete round

Medevaced to Landstuhl. As for command...Wait. Out.

Pain, drugs, surgery, therapy and finally a Get Out of Jail Free - if you consider a near death experience and a gimped up leg free card. CPT Will returns to Baghdad.

CPT Will, I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is you are going to take command. The bad news is your command will not be a "line battery". It is "Service Battery".

Service Battery is where all the cooks and clerks and wrench-turners work. No canon...no shells...hell, no hearing loss potential at all!. This is the command that is universally avoided by self respecting Field Artillery guys all over the Army.

Yes, Sir...three bags full is all CPT Will could say.

And CPT Will conducted his inventory. From a kitchen on wheels down to the tool boxes.

He finishes...its his second inventory...so far he's touched, smelled, and counted serial numbers on $34 million dollars worth of equipment.

Then, one day in formation, "All captain's who are scheduled to take command of Service Battery...please take two steps forward. Not so fast there, CPT Will!.

What the ?????

CPT Will, seems there is a personnel SNAFU and we need a guy to go back to Giessen and take over the rear again. And well, seeing how you are already trained...and you haven't actually taken command...you get the nod. Oh...as for taking command of Service Battery...you will do that as soon as we bring these guys home from Iraq...lets call it early July. OK?

Three bags full, Sir...its all CPT Will can say. And he flies back to Giessen...this time not on a stretcher...just a week or so ahead of the Advanced Echelon of the 1st Brigade.

8 April, 2003: "1st Brigade has been extended in Iraq...guessing we'll be home sometime in August."

I saw CPT Will last night. I asked "given the changes in the schedule, when will you be taking command."

You know what he told me?

"Wait. Out"

Why tell this story? Yesterday we got news here that changed all that we expected and were excited about. We all whined and cried and today we have begun licking our wounds, so to speak.

It might help us to know that change is going to happen in the Army. It is the nature of our business. The truth is a "fluid and dynamic entity"...that is, the truth changes.

Just ask CPT Will.

AMEN

Another prayer, delivered via the internet. From my cousin.

Breton Fisherman's Prayer

Dear God, be good to me;
The sea is so wide,
And my boat is so small.

Thanks, Deb

CONTORTED THOUGHTS

I had occasion today to think about good and evil.

I know that some don't believe in these concepts. I do.

And I noticed that good and evil belong to a set of concepts the definitions of which may be that "b" is the absence of "a".

Darkness is the absence of light energy. Cold is the absence of heat energy. (I'm no philosopher, so I can't quite sort out if this equation allows the elements to be properly referred to as opposites.)

And therefore it seems to me that in such cases, proving the existence of one of the concepts serves also to prove the other's.

Remember back in school when doing math problems for homework or a test the teacher would always require one to "show your work"? Well, being a bit distracted as I am today my brain has failed in three separate attempts to "show my work" in arriving at the conclusion in the above paragraph. But, I'm running with it anyway.

Now...where were we. Oh...good and evil.

The last 24 hours have been extraordinary. My email shows me that prayers are being said on my behalf...on CPT Patti's behalf, indeed on all our troops behalf by folks whom I've never met. One email contained the actual prayer itself.

Spontaneous hugs and a close, gazing of the eyes accompanied by a sincere "so...how are you doing" from folks whose names I can't quite recall.

My telephone has rung more times in 24 hours than it has in all of 2004. Literally.

I answered my cell phone Thursday morning. "Tim?", the female voice I had never heard asked, "This is Sarah at tryingtogrok."

It was only after reading her account of this call that it dawned on me that some might not quite understand how it is that I'm on a first name basis, and have given my telephone number to a woman I've never met nor spoken to who calls to say she's also grieving over the continued separation of me and CPT Patti.

Such may be the nature of friendships these days.

I remember being a kid and going to the little southern baptist church where daddy was the minister of music. At the end of every service, after the final prayer, we'd all sing together "Blessed Be the Ties that Bind"

Well, chances are if you are reading these words, we are bound by ties to the good that we are trying to accomplish on behalf of, and in some cases, in spite of, the Iraqi people. For many of them have known, it is fair to say, only evil.

Which brings us full circle...

Some do not believe in the concept of evil. But evil might be defined as the absence of good.

Me...well, I've been showered by such amazing levels of good today, good people doing good things for good reasons, that by my logic, evil must exist.

But in the face of all the goodness, it doesn't stand a chance.

SHOCK AND "AW HELL"

Wow...a lot has happened in the last 24 hours...I want to try to catch you up with where we are now.

Yesterday was a tidal wave. It was large, fast, caused an immense amount of disruption...and resulted in a lot of stunned, hurt and angry people.

You see...most of the folks in our community had not even imagined this turn of events was possible. The post here is covered with yellow ribbons and signs announcing "Welcome Home Axe Men" and such. So...while I had my suspicions confirmed and my disappointment unleashed on Wednesday night, there were less than 100 of us affected on that day (those of us expecting our loved ones to return with the ADVON).

Thursday morning when I arrived at work, rumors were circulating...but not being given credence. As the morning drew on word came from our Brigade HQ.

Shock, anger and tears followed.

At the end of our biweekly staff meeting our director asked us all to hold hands and she led us in prayer. There were perhaps 25 in that meeting...more than half of which have a wife or husband in Iraq. We cried together...we hugged one another. And, as I alluded to just below, it felt a lot like the night they left.

And to me, I had this feeling I had seen this all before.

Not much work got done yesterday. Staffers who are mothers left work to go explain their kids (who are out of school for spring break) that Daddy isn't coming home in two weeks as they had been counting on. Those of us who stayed in the office alternated between fits of tears, hugs and rereading the text of the message released by the HQ...looking for loopholes, something they could grasp on to so they didn't have to believe it is true.

A coworker got off the phone, steamed. She said the caller, a friend of hers, had reminded her of GEN Shinseki's warning to beware of a 12 Division strategy with a 10 Division Army.

Early in the afternoon I received a call from my Rear Detachment...the sergeant read the text of the HQs message to me over the phone. I explained before he began that I had my own copy of it (as a result of working in my particular office). "Yes sir," he explained, "but my orders are to read it to every family member, word for word." So I let him. He then told me he was packing his bags...he had returned three weeks ago to fill a requirement in the rear...but he'd be going back. He didn't complain and I sensed he felt that if the others in his unit were going to stay then it is only right that he should be with them.

A town hall meeting for all the family members was hastily organized by the rear detachment commanders. There was a traffic jam at the gate to the Depot where the meeting was held. Hundreds of people, mostly wives, filled the room. An Army Reserve Chaplain opened the meeting with a prayer that the Lord would soothe the anger in each of us. (Side note: Notice that twice on this day large groups on a Government Installation openly prayed to God. Several hundred people felt better for it...that is the America I Live In).

We were briefed on the points laid out in the HQ's memo. Babies cried, so did moms. There were more hugs and pats in that room than at a high school dance.

And then came the question and answer session. The first few questions were mostly practical - inquiring whether new orders will be published for all soldiers, or enrolling kids in the2004/5 school year as it appears kids who thought they were leaving this summer will start next school year here.

After a handful of such questions, predictably, the unanswerable questions ensued. Most of these questions begin with "Why". Why our guys? Why not somebody else? Why didn't they see this coming...questions that convey the askers anger more than a coherent inquiry. When the questions were hurled at the speakers from sorrowful, angry wives...often many in the audience would applaud.

Venting. Predictable, normal...but uncomfortable for the couple of Captains and the Sergeant facing an angry crowd.

I left. I'm told there was quite a crowd at the bar at the restaurant in the same building following the town hall meeting.

CPT Patti and I got the chance to "chat" via Instant Messenger again. She told me she had a good cry on Wednesday night...but was comforted by her roommate, another Officer whom CPT Patti describes as a "sweet and loving girl".

CPT Patti says the soldiers are just in shock...but planning has already begun to do what they are being asked to do.

As we typed our notes back and forth...the conversation focused on the need to put this setback behind us. Preparing for the future is more productive at this stage than dwelling on the uncontrollable.

I adopted a tone perhaps a bit more upbeat than I was really feeling...and we turned our view toward tomorrow. "I'm doing pretty well", I said, "But I'm concerned for the house plants...I think they were just hanging on until you get home." She laughed...and told me so.

"Now...how can I help you?" I asked.

Well, because she had packed up to come home, she had divested herself of all of the comfort items she had accumulated over the past year. We made a shopping list. And after innumerable assurances that we're still rather fond of one another, she signed off...and I went shopping.

Beef jerky, Gatorade powder, hard candy...new Army brown t-shirts, Neosporin, lotion, underwear, vitamins, shampoo, a new toothbrush, sunblock...

You see...there are three things I can do to make life better for the Sweetest Woman on the Planet. I can pray for her...I can shop for her...and I can exchange messages between her and those who love and support her. I was already doing A and C...but B was eliminated when the mailing cutoff date passed in March. So I'm back to doing all that I can do for her. And that is good therapy for me.

As my father taught me when I was 19..."Worry is a poor substitute for work."

Amen, Dad

Change comes fast, often and at the worst possible time in the Army. I've lived that for over 24 years now. As a result I believe I've learned to pass through the five stages of grieving in a hurry when such is required.

This time it is required.

Do I hurt? Yes...hugely. But you know what...I'm not the one in a war zone. Hosting my own pity party does her no good whatsoever...and I am choosing to consider that this change in plans...well, this change in plans isn't about me. It's about her.

I have three boxes to mail to her today. Each packed with love disguised as sunflower seeds and sugarless gum.

And that is the best that I can do.

FRIDAY, APRIL 9th.

This is day 334. But in a lot of ways it feels like day 1 all over again.

OFFICIAL WORD

We got the official word this morning. Plus, I've been in touch with CPT Patti. But at this point I can only share what has been made public.

The 1st Brigade, 1st Armor Division has been extended for a total of 120 days. Four months. Three months of that will be for the purpose of continuing operations in Iraq. The remaining month is the time to pack stuff up and redeploy to Germany.

As of now we should expect that our folks will be back here in mid August.

And...unfortunately for some readers...the bad part is that those who have already returned home to Giessen and Friedberg from the 1st Brigade...those soldiers will be returned to Iraq to rejoin their units.

Expect that the stop loss, stop movement order that was implemented in January will be extended for the duration of the deployment. That means that 99% of all scheduled moves, unit changes, retirements and just plain old getting out of the Army will not happen for our guys.

The good news? Well, the best I can give you right now is that mail service has been reinstated for the 1st Brigade effective immediately. Just address the stuff the same way you did before and send it on.

It's a helluva shock...but we've got to get back on that horse and ride. May God have mercy on us.

"MANAGING THE PACE OF THE REDEPLOYMENTS"

Translation: Putting them on hold indefinitely.

The continuing rotation of forces in Iraq gives American forces an advantage by having about 20,000 more troops than would otherwise be there.

"We're taking advantage of that increase, and we will likely be managing the pace of the redeployments to allow those seasoned troops with experience and relationships with the local populations to see the current situation through," Rumsfeld said.

"PLANNING TO DELAY THE DEPARTURE"

Sources told CNN that the top U.S. commander for the U.S. Central Command, Gen. John Abizaid, assured President Bush in a video-teleconference that the U.S. plan to aggressively attack anti-U.S. forces will work.

However, while Abizaid had not asked for additional troops to be sent to Iraq, he is planning to delay the departure of units that had been scheduled to leave after one year, according to Pentagon officials.

Those units, officials say, are expected to be elements from the 1st Armored Division.

THURSDAY, APRIL 8th.

This is the 333d day of CPT Patti's deployment. It was supposed to be her last.

My morale is low...imagine what hers is.

Please pray for her.

STUNNED

She just called.

She had made it safely to the airport.

Four hours later...she, and all the others, were recalled back to their camps. She said it is because 1AD anticipates they may get extended.

I don't know anything more.

And forgive while a feel a little sorry for myself. And a whole lot sorry for my darling wife.

EVER MORE CONFUSING

This

Sources said options include repositioning troops within Iraq, moving troops from Kuwait, accelerating the scheduled deployment of replacement troops from the United States, or identifying small additional units that could be moved from the United States or elsewhere.

Another option would be to extend the tour of duty of some troops already in Iraq, a Pentagon official acknowledged Tuesday. But at the same time, officials played down the possibility.

One official said extending the tours of U.S. troops is not a "formal option" and that it is not under "active consideration."

A decision to keep troops in Iraq beyond a one-year tour would break a promise the Pentagon made to bring "predictability" to the stress of overseas deployments.

"Any decision to extend the tours of duty would come at a cost," one official said. "That would have to be taken into consideration."

Of course, I'm hoping this one is correct.

Meanwhile, still no word from CPT Patti...I don't know if the convoy went out or not...usually she is very good about contacting me.

But I'm feeling a bit calmer now...and I think it is thanks to your prayers. So...thank you!

HOPING YOU WILL PARDON ME

I'm a bit distracted over all this at the moment.

OH GOD

The CENTCOM official also said Monday that 24,000 U.S. troops who were scheduled to leave the country in the next few weeks will stay where they are.

The delay brings the U.S. force level in Iraq up to 135,000 troops, which is “an unusually high level,” Rumsfeld said Tuesday.

He did not respond to a question regarding how long the 24,000 troops due to rotate home might be kept in Iraq.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7th.

Day 332.

And I'm just worried sick. She was supposed to convoy today...and I'm thinking this is perhaps not the best day to do that.

Plus...according to reader John, Congressman Hunter, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee appeared on Lou Dobb's show on CNN on Tuesday night. And when asked about troop levels in Iraq Mr. Hunter said off the phone with his colleagues and with Donald Rumsfeld. His belief (shared by others) and recommendation to Rumsfeld and Abbizaid is to stop the rotation of 1AD immediately to "shore up" the troops' strength within the Sunni Triangle, and also "to be ready" for potential increase in Sunni uprising.

Please help pray her home safely.

IT'S ABOUT HONOR?

So says this piece...and note the role the media play.

Given the world’s shortage of enlightened despots these days, this fantasy is unlikely to be realized either. No leaders, no goals, no future—what do Sunnis hope to gain from the violence?

Honor. Forget political or social objectives—or even attempts to “drive out” the Coalition. By killing GIs and Iraqi civilians, Sunni terrorists feel they are reclaiming the pride they lost when the U.S. military juggernaut crushed their miserable fiefdom. This explains the sense of desperation one detects in their complaints about the U.S., as well as their lack of interest in ideology, propaganda, leadership or anything that normally characterizes a true “resistance movement.” The goal of these criminals is simply to kill: a non-negotiable position that allow an enemy no chance for accommodation or truce—only withdrawal or death.

Unable to grasp such irrationality, the press insists on bestowing a more acceptable motive to the death squads stalking the Sunni Triangle. They are “guerrillas,” we read, waging a war of “resistance” against Coalition “occupiers”—as if they were an Arab version of the French maquis or the Viet Cong. The gunmen are happy to have an obliging media grant them legitimacy and offer justification for their atrocities. As the Israelis discovered with the PLO—another humiliated bandit-gang transformed into a national liberation movement by the media—even a democracy can lose the moral high ground to corrupt insurgents posing as the representatives of an oppressed people..

PERSPECTIVE

Good piece...read it all.

Seven American soldiers died in Baghdad on Sunday because we failed to respond to last week's Fallujah attacks. Whatever our motives, we looked weak and indecisive. Additional enemies believed their moment had come.

In the Middle East, appearances are all.

Intelligence personnel are routinely warned to avoid mirror-imaging, assigning our values and psychology to an opponent. Imagining that our enemies think like us has cost us dearly in Iraq. The bill will go still higher...

Americans value compromise; our enemies view it as weakness. We're reluctant to use force. The terrorists and insurgents read that as cowardice...

On Sunday, in Baghdad, Kufa, Najaf and elsewhere, the followers of the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, bolstered by his militia, rioted and killed seven U.S. soldiers and two El Salvadoran peacekeepers. It should never have happened.

Sadr's militia should have been disarmed and disbanded in the earliest days of the occupation. Sadr himself should have been arrrested for his inflammatory preaching. But we were afraid to stir up trouble.

Now we face a much greater threat than we'd have faced had we acted firmly last year. We set a precedent of timidity.

Recently, we summoned the nerve to shut down Sadr's private newspaper for formenting trouble. But our reluctance to face down the man himself has been read locally as cowardice not tolerance.

Make no mistake: Just because we view restraint as a virtue does not mean our enemies share that view. The refusal to use our power in the face of defiance only makes defiance more attractive.

When U.S. forces arrive in a troubled country, they create an initial window of fear. It's essential to act decisively while the local population is still disoriented. Each day of delay makes our power seem more hollow. You have to do the dirty work at the start. The price for postponing it comes due with compound interest.

WHY IS IT THEY ARE ALWAYS FROM CALIFORNIA?

A 26-year-old Army Ranger never expected an ambush quite like this one while stationed in Iraq and the only warning he got was when fellow soldiers paged him over the 2-way radio.

"Hey, Nick. Your mom's here," they said.

Of course, she was there doing research to write her anti-war book.

OH OH

Military officials spoke for the first time Monday of possibly increasing the number of U.S. troops in Iraq in response to the surge in anti-American violence.

While saying he believed the current force level to be adequate, a senior official of the U.S. Central Command acknowledged it was involved in "prudent planning" for sending more troops to Iraq.

"Given the events of this weekend and the obvious potential for more demonstrations or more violence, we have asked the staff to at least take a look and see what forces are available out there in a quick response mode, in the event that they should be needed if there was a widespread move in that direction," the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Pentagon reporters.

When I heard this I had a stomach turning thought.

What if they decide they do need more troops than was planned for? What is the quickest way of expanding the size of the force on the ground? Easy...don't let those go home who haven't left yet.

Please, Lord...let me be wrong about this one.

MORE GOODNESS

I've written before about Dave, aka Defense Contractor Guy. We were roommates in college. We prowled the streets of Frankfurt together as lieutenants. He did the photography on the day CPT Patti and I got married.

And for 331 days he and his wonderful wife have provided support to me, CPT Patti and her soldiers from way back in Washington DC. Among their numerous acts of generosity they donated books. I don't know how many...but I know he and his wife are prolific readers...and Dave also enlisted assistance from his coworkers who, in turn, also donated books...and other stuff.

So my buddy Dave gets credit for the establishment of Gator Library, which CPT Patti tells me was hugely popular with her soldiers, as well as the English speaking staff at the Mess Hall.

Dave wrote recently offering more books which we had to refuse due to the pending redeployment of our units.

Last night he wrote to me about what he did with those books instead.

And I just gotta share it.

Tim,

I went to Walter Reed Army Hospital today.

Wanted to do a good thing ... you know something that made me feel good. Since Patti is coming home and packages can no longer be sent I decided to take the remainder of the books (about 75 books, plus socks, cookies etc) I had collected for the gator library and give them to the Red Cross for patients to read.

Well when I got there I went through security and then parked in a loading zone front of the med facility.

I took the first two boxes of books up to the Red Cross on the 3rd floor. In the lobby I passed a soldier with fresh bandages over a stump on his arm. He had a sheaf of papers in a folder ... off to whatever medical treatment he needed. My first amputee of the day.

I brought in the first two boxes into the Red Cross office - a cramped set of rooms with too much to do and too few supplies. I dropped off the books and some soldiers went quickly in setting out the books out on the existing shelves outside the RC office - a lending library.

I left and went for the second load of books. Walking through Walter Reed is a really interesting time. Hundreds of people there for their medical support. Mostly these are retired soldiers and their dependents in the lobby ...waiting for Rx and such. But you go up the upper floors and you begin to see some of the recently injured soldiers. The two that stick in my mind are two young men wearing pajama tops, knee length shorts, and bath robes. Moving down the hall next to each other, on crutches, one had a left leg missing and the other had a right leg
missing. As they moved down the hall toward me they were strangely symmetrical. The soldier on the right with his left leg gone and the soldier on the left with his right leg gone. They moved down the hall in unison ... almost in formation, talking to each other ... friends ... their own support group. But they were still soldiers - they walked with confidence and with heads up and just a touch of arrogance. Walking with crutches they took up most of the hall way - I moved to the side to let them pass. Even on crutches they moved like they were on a mission and I did not want to get in their way. I tried to catch their eye and say hello - but they did not acknowledge my presence.

I thought about the Red Cross tax deduction form I had filled out and felt guilty. I left thinking - there should be more that I can do.

I was thinking that you could add the Walter Reed web page as a link on your Blog -there is a button at the top for donations.

Thanks

And so I have. Through that link one can donate to various organizations that support soldiers and their families such as the American Red Cross and Fisher House.

And now all the readers have a real good idea why I hold on to a friend like Dave.

A CHANCE ENCOUNTER

Something special happend on Monday.

While taking out the recyclables to the collection bins near our apartment, I passed a woman in our stairwell whom I didn't recognize. She was clearly coming from the exercise class being held in the building.

Upon seeing me she asked "Are you Tim?" After I confirmed my identity she gave me her name as if I would recognize it. Seeing that I didn't she said that I would have read some of her emails.

And then it dawned on me...this is a woman I've "known" only through CPT Patti's website and the emails generated by its readers.

I was quick to apologize for my absence the last four days (which she said she had noted!)...explaining that i was feeling a bit poorly on Monday.

After enquiring about the projected dates of return of each's spouse, we were saying our goodbyes.

It was then that the something special happened. On her way out the door this twenty-something woman paused, turned back to me and said "keep up the good work".

"Keep up the good work".

Now she would have no way of knowing until she reads this just how that one remark completely lifted my spirits on what had been for me a rather gloomy day. By her words, my heart soared. It was a spontaneous affirmation...five words on her part but what an awesome effect on me.

And so I am reminded of the power of a kind word.

And I'm given hope that civility isn't actually obsolete.

I won't use her name here...but ma'am...you know who you are. Thanks for touching my spirit with your goodness.

THE MEANINGLESSNESS OF SOON

Time has slowed to a crawl for me.

You see...according to the schedule, CPT Patti, the sweetest woman on the planet, is to return home this weekend. As a result, the days have transformed themselves into vast, seemingly endless stretches of time.

And I feel as if I know the sentiment behind the phrase "waiting to exhale".

In these circumstances words like "soon" and "near" and "close" have no meaning. They will have no meaning until the event they describe, her homecoming, is in the past tense.

"Soon" means nothing if "never" is still a possibility.

You see...the flag in front of our brigade HQ building flies at half staff today. We lost one of our own on Sunday. Doubtless somewhere there are loved ones who only Saturday were hearing well wishers use words like "soon".

"Soon" means nothing if "never" is still on the table.

It is like this...for me anyway. The last 331 days were, at the beginning, an ocean. Each day of the deployment is a quantity of water. And the ocean is full of mortal danger...which we will represent with salt. As every day has passed, one day's worth of the water has evaporated. The salt does not evaporate however...it is left in the remaining water. So today, there is only a handful of water remaining...but it is packed with an entire ocean's worth of salt.

The danger has not decreased. We see that clearly on the flagpole.

And just as the salt is thick, so too is the stress I'm feeling. I don't mean to be selfish...I don't mean to be negative. I'm simply being honest.

"Soon" is a concept that doesn't work here.

TUESDAY, APRIL 6th.

This is day 331.

I am sorry for being away...I am still not feeling well...the first cold I've had in two years has me moving fairly slowly.

MONDAY, APRIL 5th.

Day 330 of CPT Patti's deployment.

She called yesterday to tell me they've added at least one more day to her Baghdad visit.

Me...a bit under the weather today...