FOR A LITTLE AMUSEMENT you simply must read this article. Hint...it doesn't involve alcohol, but it does involve deployment.

“Are we married?” he asked.

“Yes, we’re married,” Sabrina replied.

“Did we have fun?” he asked.

JUST TRY TO IMAGINE living like this for 20 years. Thanks to The Command Post for the lead to this article.

After two decades in hiding, an Iraqi man has finally emerged back into the real world - squinting at the unaccustomed light.
Twenty-one years ago, Saddam Hussein placed an execution order on Jawad Amir for supporting an outspoken Shia cleric.

Mr Amir escaped - not into a far-off town or neighbouring country, but into a space sandwiched between two walls in his parents' home.

He said for the whole of his hiding he never left that small, dark space and had only a tiny peephole to view the outside world.

INTERESTING VIEW of the long term solution in this global war on terrorism is at this Salt Lake Tribune Op Ed Piece.

The liberation of Iraq cannot be viewed in a vacuum: win the war, set up an interim government and bring the troops home. As we have said before, it is part of a larger mosaic, a mosaic that requires a sea of change in Middle East politics. Governments in Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia will either fall or be dramatically altered. The status quo cannot stand because with it stands bigotry, hatred and the logical consequence: terrorism. So it is critical that we understand our objective. We made the mistake in 1991 of limiting the objective to ousting Saddam's forces from Kuwait, and when the Iraqi Shiites rose up in rebellion at the end of that war, we stood by and allowed Saddam to slaughter them, gaining their enmity in the process.

ONCE A THUG always a thug. Palestinian diplomats in Baghdad arrested by US Soldiers for carrying illegal weapons. See it here.

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!