New Year's Resolutions

New Year Resolutions... Yes I know this is a tired old cliché but we all do it so here are some of mine for the New Year. I'm not sure why I am posting this list except that maybe by posting it I'll be more likely to follow through with these. If there's one thing I can count on it's being reminded of this list when I'm slacking...

1. Make it out of Iraq safe and sound, in one piece with all of my original body parts intact so that I can bore all of you in person rather then through this Blog site.
2. Be a better brother. What I mean is I'd like to be more present in my brother and sister's lives. The older I get the more I realize they are really cool people and how important family is.
3. Be a better Uncle to my 3 favorite nephews and my favorite niece. I need to make a greater effort to show them "Uncle Mike" is proud of them and that I think they're great kids.
4. Be a better friend. I need to see my friends more often then I do. It seems like I'm always making an excuse to opt out of a night out with my buds.
5. Seek to be as honest as possible all of the time. I believe this serves us more then any other approach. Even if the truth hurts a bit.
6. Get my stupid back left molar crowned once and for all. Stupid molar...
7. Give a little more to charity then I do now, especially give my time if I can find a way to do it. I am keenly aware that I spend more time complaining about the way things are then I do helping to fix things. Maybe I should put my body where my mouth is.
8. Speaking of my body... I want to get in better shape. God knows there's plenty of room for improvement.
9. Learn to play the guitar (the first 9 times I started don't count)
10. Eat healthier and better food; ok, that can include better coffee and better beer.

Happy Holidays

I know I'm going to miss some people but here it goes...

To all my friends and family, have a great Holiday!

Matt

Mom

Brian

Kelly

Rick

Richard

Kerri

Matthew

Jason

Sam

Michelle

Lilly

Jeff

Brandon

Tania

Bryan

Les

Tony

Darius

Dave

Fat Kitty

Charley

Tom(x2)

Jay

Joel

Andy

Steve (x2)

Alan

Rob

Todd

Mike

Ryan

John

David

Jeff

Lonnie

Jeremy

Ben

Wes

Dustin

Carlos

and Dad (I miss you)

Random Funny Pics 1

Does it get any cooler then my Iraqi friend here?

No shit!

Some Polish friends

Random Funny Pics 2

Always a favorite - Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo

Fast Food in Iraq. One of the guys who works for me took this last year but it's still there.

Why wouldn't it surprise me...

A new friend...

More Pictures - Life on the Road 1

This building was used by Sadam's elite guards before the war.

Flying out of Baghdad

Leaving Baghdad

Iraqi Police "outpost"

Driving through Al Kut

More Pictures - Life on the Road 2

Driving through Al Kut

Living quarters

Yumm! Our food

Some locations have better accommodations

A little R&R

More Pictures - Life on the Road 3

More fun

Building we use when we're on the road

Inside the building - plush huh

A "general store"

LOL

Shooter...

This is a picture of me with an AK-47. I use a few different types of weapons when I go out on a mission. This is one of them. In this picture we were getting suited up for another Red Zone run.

Professor Mike

Part of the reconstruction effort taking place in Iraq includes handing over key technologies to the Iraqi government. In this picture I am demonstrating a tactical and logistics application to representatives of the Iraqi National Railroad.

Merry Christmas (Almost)

In the spirit of the Holidays (and capitalistic marketing) I thought I'd post a little Christmas picture early in the season. It is "little me," taken not too long ago (yeah right).

I'm the kid in red. The other kid is my younger brother. He's the one whose facial expression says, "I have to Poo." He's now a successful entrepreneur/business owner (http://www.terroirwinepub.com/) out in Arizona.

The Softer Side...

Some things over here aren't bleak and ugly...

These little guys are out on the street near my compound everyday. They know that my co-workers and I walk by from time to time for work. So they wait for us and when they see us they yell, "ambush, ambush" then run up to shake our hands and give us hugs.

Then they ask for coins (or potato chips - I don't get it either).

Me and the boys again after one of their "ambushes."

They range in age from 3 to10.

This scrappy (and stoned looking) cat recently gave birth to the little ones behind the wire. The Mother was feral but has warmed up to human contact and lets us pet her. Our unit commander is a retired USMC Colonel who on a daily basis ensures they have fresh milk and food. He tries to feed them early in the morning so nobody will see him do it but we all know about it.

This is a picture of me with our newest guy, Dan- the kid.

(I'm the guy in blue)

Thanksgiving Fieldtrip

Today was a slow day so I decided to take advantage of the extra time and do some exploring. Here are some pictures from the day's outing...


















This is what a Baghdad Freeway looks like. Note the lack of cars. Sharing the road with tanks has that effect on traffic. It's weird being in Baghdad this time (my second time in Iraq). I spent the better part of two years running Strike Rescue missions out of Kuwait into Southern Iraq before coming back as a civilian.

















This is part of downtown Baghdad that survived relatively intact. The tall building is an Iraqi government building.

















Here I am standing in front of a very humble monument (or 3 humble monuments) to Saddam.


















I ride around with these guys from time to time. I'd love to take one of these out to Borrego Springs.


















Tomb of the unknown Soldier, Baghdad.

Thanksgiving Fieldtrip cont'd.

More pictures...
















Driving around one of the FOBs in central Baghdad with one of my co-workers.


















Another apt building still in use (somewhat).

















This building was destroyed during OIF1 and is now a derelict.

















This is one of Saddam's palaces which was pretty much destroyed.

















Guess I need to loose some weight...

This area was in the Red Zone until recently. The car I'm sitting on was a suicide car bomb that detonated at a checkpoint. It has obviously been run over by a heavy vehicle, probably a tank since then.

Thanksgiving Fieldtrip cont'd.

More pictures...
















This was a secure little compound within the Green Zone. I was very surprised to discover it. It could have been La Jolla.

















This was the living room of a private residence belonging to one of Saddam's loyalists now used by the military for VIP functions.

















Driving in Baghdad

















Driving in the Green Zone
















Apartment building - some of the units are still used by locals.

Things that go Boom (In a big way)

We have had a major increase in the number of daily attacks on the IZ. My compound seems to be targeted more often too. A few days ago we had seven rounds of RPG Indirect Fire come into the IZ, three of them into my compound and one of them landed just 20 feet from my building. We have had suicide bombs everyday, usually 2-5 a day and gun fire from all directions on and off. Even the most jaded of us is showing the jitters when we hear the "whoosh" of a rocket or mortar flying overhead. Fortunately we have cement bunkers very close by and body armor to wear. The problem is these things are very, very fast. Some rockets travel over 2000 mph. The RPG that landed next to my building is the only one of seven that didn't explode, its fuse never ignited. It is still buried in 10 feet of earth where it struck the ground.

... Gives a whole new meaning to a difficult day.











Chinese 107mm RPG

Came down and clipped this tree

Impacted the ground behind me and buried itself in 10 feet of earth - never exploding. In this pic we had already filled the crater.

Rambling Thoughts

Rambling Thoughts

(and rambling, and rambling...)

I've been back in Iraq now almost four weeks since my vacation. I thought going home would be a very surreal experience but it turns out the return to Iraq after my break was much stranger. It was like discovering something that felt like a dream is actually real. When I was flying low over Baghdad rooftops, watching people scurry, breathing the dust, smelling that heavy odor of oil and rubber it came back loud and clear. This experience that had taken on the quality of a dreamy memory during my vacation was very real and I was back in the thick of it. There's something about life in the US that acts like a sedative. We Americans (myself included) in my opinion are so satiated on over-consumption (physically, emotionally and culturally) and so isolated from the reality most of humanity exists in that we simply don't relate (or try to) with much of the world. I find it hard to keep my perspective sharp while I'm back home. My interest and concern for the greater world is dulled by the intensity of excesses that comes with living in America; fast food, digital cable, internet, celebrity, pop culture, youth, instant gratification and of course my favorite - Fox News (I like to pick on them but they're all bad). I have been to 39 countries now and lived abroad in two of them. This travel over the years has reinforced in me a developing perception of our world in general and America in particular.

I have to say I have the strangest relationship with America. I don't think I've ever both loved and hated a thing so much as I do the USA. What I do know is that there really isn't anything about our world that is "Black or White." Everything is truly tied to everything else and every action anyone takes, any decision anyone makes produces ripples which in some way (often imperceptibly) changes everything else. Why does our government lie so much? Because it believes it must do so in order to best serve the objectives of those in power. What do those in power desire? Some want to serve the people, empower them and help them to help themselves. Others want to serve only themselves and or their constituencies. The point is the political Right and Left in this country (and abroad) are neither right nor wrong, they are both. It seems to me that we Americans are so drawn to the quick fix that we loose site of the bigger picture (and we aren't the only ones). The small or limited picture of this Insurgency problem within Iraq is: These guys are evil and they need to be flushed out and killed. The reality is this "problem" is rooted in years of cultural indoctrination starting from a very young age in many countries all over the world including Saudi Arabia, Libya, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and more recently Turkey, Israel, France, and the US. Most of the insurgents are young, (teens to late 30's) poor, have had limited exposure to a formal education and are often searching for answers to their own small and dysfunctional world view. They have limited choices and continue to make decisions and take action based on the very sick and twisted picture they understand the world by.

Unfortunately in western societies, especially America, style beats substance (almost) every time. Some who seek power exploit the fears and ignorance of the masses to achieve their goals. George Bush is guilty of this but so too is Michael Moore. It's easy to order 75,000 troops into a country and wipe out a lot of trouble makers but that will never, ever, fix the larger problem. It's easy to make a "mockumentary" about the evils of government when you control the money, editing, writing, filming and production of a film. These are just two examples of what I like to call, "taking an aspirin for a brain tumor." Until we all (Americans especially) see the bigger picture and act on that picture we will always fail.

We should never have come into Iraq but now that we are here we need to stay for the long haul and help rebuild this country, not just with military might but with lots and lots of investment in infrastructure, healthcare, education and I’m talking long term. Expensive you say, well we asked for it. We are directly responsible for this war and we must see it through. 

America and its allies need to stop lying. In the last 20 years we have been a very good friend and a vengeful enemy to the same governments. It has only been a matter of what served America more at a specific moment. We cannot expect to squelch the insurgency problem if we continue to use foreign operatives and facilities to interrogate and torture our enemies, especially with the broad brush we use to determine just who is an enemy. We cannot continue to go to bed with certain despots one day because of strategic interests, declare them evil the next day and expect no action in return. We cannot ignore the desperate cries for help all over the world for many years then suddenly act out of "humanitarian concern" for a country that coincidentally sits over the world's second largest oil reserve. All of these actions are transparent and have consequences. They set the stage for hatred and terrorism for decades to come and reinforce a limited angry view of the western world. It is a fool's game to expect to fix the problem with military might after acting the way we have for so many years.

It's not just America who's guilty either. This includes the British who bend over backwards to keep their Yankee masters happy, the French who want it both ways by objecting to the war yet continuing to turn their backs on their own disenfranchised immigrant population in prejudice and greed, the Spanish who were initially happy to include themselves in the "coalition of the willing" because it served them to do so but backed out when things got ugly sending the message that bombs really do work. It's also the Japanese whose own military is underwritten by American dollars and the South Koreans whose borders are stable thanks to the American military, which is there because of the strategic advantage it gives the US more then some notion of protecting a ally. These countries (including the US) as well as India, Pakistan, Israel, Palestine, Afghanistan, etc., are all complicit in their self serving actions that have fostered the sickness that lead to 9-11. Their direct and indirect actions over years and years led to the insanity that made some people believe it was correct to fly a plane into the World Trade Center.

We had a great opportunity to do the right thing after 9-11. We could have gone into Afghanistan and I mean really go in, not just with a few discrete Special Forces units but with a comprehensive, effective and transparent military operation. We should have stayed there and only there, focusing as much on providing education and infrastructure as destroying the hatred of Al Qaeda, Our goal should have been to help rebuild this desperate country from an Afghani perspective, with a long term commitment to repairing the deeper cultural damage that we helped foster for so long. With our courage, kindness and actions on their behalf we could have served them, us and the rest of the world in such a better way. 

What a shame...

M.

Let the good times roll... It's Ramadan

It's that time of year again when all practicing Muslims stop eating for a month. Well almost, they get to eat a bit late in the evening. Of course I eat at my desk a lot when I'm not out on the road because I work some crazy hours. So for the next month I have to be very discrete about it, in fact I actually have to try and hide it. So I've mastered the ability of stealthy consumption. I keep one of my desk drawers open with my food on a plate inside it and just before every bite I quickly scan the room for locals. If it's clear I eat. Fun stuff...

To make this holy time even more special there is a huge increase of attacks expected during this month on the Forward Operating Base (FOB) where I am based when not moving remotely. As everyone knows the only way a good terrorist can enter their version of nirvana is to at least make a valiant effort to slaughter as many gringos as one can.

I may be generalizing here - just a bit. But every time I hear another suicide bomb detonate at check point 2 (a half a click from my me) followed by hundreds of rounds of assault riffle fire it tends to reinforce the pettiness in me.

Of course one of the cleaning ladies just came over and gave me the phone number to her house because she wants me to call sometime and speak with her children who are trying to learn English. In a flash I realize how easy I let myself slip into such a limited and hostile perspective and I am reminded that most of the people here are VERY good people who are trying to make a better life for themselves and they would never advocate hurting anyone in the process.

Ramadan On...

Damn...

Yesterday we had two security teams engaged in a nasty ambush. They both occurred within twenty minutes of each other and in the same part of Baghdad. Three guys were wounded from small arms fire including a guy who took one in the chest and the fourth was killed. Today we had two more guys killed and multiple wounded, all in ambushes throughout the city. I sat helpless, listening to the radio comms as those guys were dying...

Last 30 hours: 3 killed, 1 kidnapped, 6 wounded, 3 vehicles destroyed - Just from my Compound.

Those Crazy Fijians...

I recently spent a night drinking Kava with a group of Fijians who are doing security work in Southern Iraq. In the typical Fijian tradition of welcoming a new friend they brewed a large bowel of a popular drink in the South Pacific called Kava. Kava (Piper methysticum) is an age-old herbal drink that was the beverage of choice for the royal families of the South Pacific. Believed to originate from Melanesia, kava grows abundantly in the sun-drenched islands of Polynesia. It produces a kind of "high" that, ah, well lets say I was feeling no pain when I finally hit my rack. We spent most of that night in the middle of a warehouse in Southern Iraq talking about Island life and getting baked. Very cool...

The Fijian Team

Me and some of the Fijians