One of the main problems with Congress is that Congress really isn’t accountable to anyone, because the American people have been lazy for a good long while now. That thought leads me to this excellent editorial by Herman Cain on hunting down people who try to avoid paying the highest possible amount of taxes:

Senator Grassley, why don’t we hunt down those in Congress who waste our tax dollars on failed entitlement programs and pork projects? Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND), ranking Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee declared, “It just leaps out at you as one of the most significant opportunities we have.” What should leap out at you is the fact that lawmakers produce deficit spending and the confusing tax code.

The gist of the editorial, entitled End the $100 Billion Witch Hunt, is that Congress is excited by a promise from the IRS that, if it is given $100 billion it will recover $400 billion. In other words, the IRS is promising is that for every $1 Congress is willing to steal from Americans, it can steal an additional $3. This actually excites Congressmen and Congresswomen, because their raison d’etre is stealing money from the American people and using it for whatever pork projects and vote buying schemes have been dreamed up for the year.

Some government projects benefit some people some of the time, but certainly not most people most of the time. Of course, when the legislative body is really not responsible to anyone, that is the outcome that should be expected. It’s the same mentality that allows your Senators and Representatives to vote themselves pay raises in the middle of the night and then act righteously indignant about fiscal irresponsibility at Enron and Martha Stewart trying to make a profit from her stock investments. The same mentality allows a body of people with higher than average levels of personal financial indiscretion and bankruptcy to lecture the rest of us on what it means to be good financial stewards while they take our money and spend it like it is their own. The same mentality allows these men and women to lecture us on what appropriate free speech about them should be, via unconstitutional legislation like McCain-Feingold.
It’s the same sort of thinking that makes Congress think it is entitled to as much of your possessions and life’s work as it wants to take. And that’s just wrong. Giving $1 of your money to an organization that promises to steal $3 more will be celebrated in Washington, D.C. Elsewhere, though, the small remaining trust Americans have in Congress will be further eroded.

CJR Daily should have led this story with the most important point:

Iraq is unquestionably the biggest story of our time, and one which will affect American foreign and domestic policy for the rest of our lives — but if news organizations won’t invest the money and manpower to cover it from top to bottom, it will end up becoming a story told only through its major disasters and victories, without many of the small, personal narratives and struggles that give the story its humanity.

Read the whole thing. It’s certainly worth a few minutes of your valuable time.

I worry about what Islam, as a religion, teaches its adherents. Of all the world’s religions, Islam seems to the be one most likely to turn devotees nasty. I’m generalizing, of course, but the statistics back up my fears.

How many Buddhists have ever driven a car into a crowd of people based on their religious convictions? None that I am aware of. There does, however, seem to be proof that large groups of Muslims can tolerate and coexist relatively peacefully with large groups of non-Muslims.

GIVEN THE monstrous crimes perpetrated in the name of Allah, it is easy to despair about the future of the Muslim world. Nonstop news about bombings, beheadings and general bedlam will no doubt lead more and more Westerners to conclude that we are at war with an entire civilization.

So if, like me, you’ve been wondering if Muslims can coexist in relative peace with people who ARE NOT Muslims then it’s nice to read things like this:

Although the majority Muslim population is forced to follow the dictates of religious Sharia courts in family law, Malaysia has substantial minorities of Buddhists, Christians, Hindus and Confucians who are free to worship as they please. Alcohol is available, and few women are veiled, at least in Kuala Lumpur. Some Muslim extremists who have formed vigilante squads to crack down on “sins” like teenagers necking in public have been arrested by police. Although tensions exist among different ethnic and religious groups, Malaysia has for the most part been a showcase of ethnic and religious toleration.

Read the full article. I wouldn’t say Malaysia and Qatar are free, but I wouldn’t say Americans are either. I have higher standards than most of my fellow citizens. Much higher. And I’m optimistic about the future of human freedom on a global scale. I think the 21st century is going to usher in new paradigms and new freedoms for huge swaths of our species.

The world has room for lots of beliefs and philosphies. As long as those systems don’t espouse murdering or supressing those who disagree or practice alternative viewpoints.

I recently blogged a story claiming that a hacker conquered MAC OS X in 30 minutes. It appears there is more to the story than was covered in the original article.

Schroeder is so sure of the Mac’s security if setup properly that he is having his own security challenge. According to his Web site, the challenge is as follows: simply alter the web page on this machine, test.doit.wisc.edu. The machine is a Mac mini (PowerPC) running Mac OS X 10.4.5 with Security Update 2006-001, has two local accounts, and has ssh and http open—a lot more than most Mac OS X machines will ever have open. E-mail das@doit.wisc.edu if you feel you have met the requirements, along with the mechanism used. The mechanism will then be reported to Apple and/or the entities responsible for the component(s). Going after other hosts/devices on the network is out of bounds.

Go see if you can crack Schroeder’s machine! I still recommend encrypting any hard drives that have any information on them you don’t want to share with the entire world. Not encrypting your hard drive is like leaving your front door unlocked. At some point, someone is likely to walk in and go through your lingerie drawer.

Speaking of optimism, I’ll bet you didn’t know there are Arab Muslim libertarians espousing common sense, respect for human life and generally Western friendly values. But there are.

So here I am, an arab muslim egyptian male, and I am well aware of all the history and the injustices and all the other excuses we all know and are ready to spout on a second’s notice, and yet I can’t seem to care about those people anymore. For me, as far as I am concerned, they want me dead. Not me personally, but if I die for being in the wrong place on the wrong time, they wouldn’t really care. And you know something? I am not really ready to die. I don’t wanna die. I want to live. I have places to see, parties to go to, girls to sleep with and children to screw up raising. And if it’s between me- or you for that matter- and 100 of those Koran thumbing allahu akbar shouting misogynistic racist jihadist assholes, it is no contest: I choose us. They’ve got to go. It really is that simple.

Sandmonkey is significant because he gives me hope for the future I want to see – a future where tribalism, fundamentalisms and other the other bass ackwards pre-21st century self-destructive memes have actually died out like they should. As technology shrinks the world, there is less and less room for inbred thinking. The Middle East can evolve voluntarily, which I would prefer, or it can be forced to evolve, which sadly, is what seems to be happening. But enough modern prophets like Sandmonkey can tip the balance back in the direction of a peaceful march towards progress.

Reason. It’s the only thing that differentiates us from animals. When humans reject it, they become monsters.

There is an ideological war going on in regards to Islam and in our societies I believe, and the Jihadis are winning. There are 3 reasons why they are winning: 1) The reluctance of the moderates amongst us to admit there are problems that need addressing, thanks to our stupid belief that “we shouldn’t air our dirty laundry”; 2) Because in any debate between the moderates and the extremists, if there is to be a compromise, it will always be in the extremists favor; and 3) Because the extremists, if they face defeat, they will just threaten their ideological enemies, if not issue a takfir Fatwa on them, which will lead to a moron attempting to- if not succeeding in- killing them. And because of those 3 reasons I am the extremist that I am today.

As Sandmonkey points out, you cannot reason with an extremist, you must yourself become one in order to combat the original extremism. However, a reasoning extremist will draw a conclusion such as this:

You see, we can’t fix our problems without addressing them, so I therefore make sure to point out the negatives all the time, because I believe that it is our duty to fix them, and that if we do fix them, then no one will be able to criticize or attack us. And that, in the eyes of many, makes me an extremist and a self-hater. Fine, whatever. But someone has to do it, and since very few are stepping up to the plate, I guess it has to be me. And that’s the first reason why I am an extremist.

Whereas, an unreasoning extremist draws conclusions such as this:

Q. Why do you hate Americans?

A. Americans are a lowly people who don’t understand the meaning of principles. . . . Our enemy, the target – if God gives Muslims the opportunity to do so – is every American male, whether he is directly fighting us or paying taxes. (Isma’il)

Q. Why do you hate Israelis?

A. We are sure of our victory against the Americans and the Jews as promised by the Prophet: Judgment day shall not come until the Muslim fights the Jew, where the Jew will hide behind trees and stones, and the tree and the stone will speak and say, “Muslim, behind me is a Jew. Come and kill him.” (Nida’ul Islam)

Idiot. People have been claiming to have God on their side since humans first started bashing each other on the head with rocks in fights over food and women. Your intrepretation of God’s will is no excuse to act abominable, fools. Grow up. Try and look forward for once. Your 12th century thought processes do not work and won’t fit into the 21st century. I won’t tolerate them or you because you represent a direct threat to my existence.
Go read Sandmonkey’s latest rant. All of it.

If even half of this story is true both the U.S. and Iraqi governments look very, very bad. The problem is, you don’t really know what’s what or who is telling the truth.

BAGHDAD, March 8 — Days after the bombing of a Shiite shrine unleashed a wave of retaliatory killings of Sunnis, the leading Shiite party in Iraq’s governing coalition directed the Health Ministry to stop tabulating execution-style shootings, according to a ministry official familiar with the recording of deaths.

The official, who spoke on the condition that he not be named because he feared for his safety, said a representative of the Shiite party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, ordered that government hospitals and morgues catalogue deaths caused by bombings or clashes with insurgents, but not by execution-style shootings.

The new Iraqi government cannot survive if it cannot be honest. The news yesterday of 18 bodies found inside a minibus is just one symptom what appears to be deep rooted problems within the Shiite dominated interim government. The American and Iraqi publics both deserve to know the real cost of this war, in human, military and financial terms.

What’s in doubt? How many have died. Who killed them? Why were they killed? And who is in charge? Are militias running the show? Is the government operating as a government, or as a group of sectarian religious thugs? It’s hard to know what’s real with all the information operations being run behind the scenes and all the different actors on the stage that is Baghdad and to a larger extent Iraq.

The Health Ministry, which operates the Baghdad morgue and government hospitals, is in the hands of a religious party headed by Moqtada al-Sadr, the Shiite cleric whose militia, the Mahdi Army, waged two armed uprisings against U.S. forces in 2004. Since the Samarra bombing, the Mahdi Army has been widely accused of kidnapping and killing Sunni men. Families collecting bodies at the morgue last week described gunmen in the black clothes associated with Sadr’s militia coming to Sunni homes or to mosques and taking men away.

Some say where there is smoke there is fire. They might as well say, where there is Moqtada al-Sadr, corpses turn up frequently. My home city of Atlanta, Georgia, is about the same size as Baghdad. I can’t imagine the stir that would be caused if 18 bodies were found in a minibus, tied up and strangled.

But Baghdad is not Atlanta, and Iraq is not the United States. And this is war. Call it low level civil war, or an insurgency, or a religious sectarian murder spree. It all amounts to the same thing – personal tragedies on a scale so great the human mind is numbed, repeated daily. This city is tired, it’s denizens need a reprieve from wanton violence and the coalition needs to push the Iraqi government harder. Rule of law and respect for human rights and life itself are lacking.
Progress in Iraq is happening. But it is being mitigated by unrealistic expectations, avaristic leaders and a flawed and widespread culture of ignorance. We need to be honest with ourselves and with each other about the long hard road ahead and we need to approach each day with determined resolve and most of all with continuing optimism. If we let death merchants steal our optimism then we have already lost.

Here’s your positive Iraq story for today.

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More images of my time in Iraq are available in the photo gallery.

Many transhumanists worry that the United States is losing its technology edge due to increasingly onerous and counterproductive government regulations. Including these guys:

The first meeting of the World Congress for Freedom of Scientific Research took place in Rome earlier this month. Heart in the right place, but shackling freedom to the modern (increasingly socialist, increasingly bloated, unelected, anything but free) structures of “representative” democracy seems to be a losing proposition these days. When was the last time you voted on the destructive policies – or existence at all – of the FDA? You are most certainly not free when unelected, unaccountable government employees have veto rights over everything you do and own.

This all goes back to the basic question of who owns you. If the U.S. government believes it does, as it has shown through word and deed for decades now, then people will either circumvent government or move elsewhere. They’re doing both. Do a little research on how many Americans live in Costa Rica if you doubt me.

Iraqi blogger 24 Steps to Liberty is unhappy with Jafari:

Saddam Hussein came into power in the early 1970s as a vice president and stayed in power until the Iraqis allowed the United States Army to enter Iraq and help them to topple Hussein and his regime. Along the years Hussein was in power, he and his Baath party arranged demonstrations and rallies that forces people to go to the streets calling Hussein’s name and supporting him. Over the years, I’ve witnessed Baath party members come into classroom in schools and universities to lead the students to busses parked not far from the schools to take them to one street of Baghdad, usually was 14th of Ramadhan street, to go and chant “yes yes Saddam Hussein.” “we sacrifice our souls and blood for you, Saddam.” And “all Iraq chants, Saddam is the glory of the country.” And other stupid chants that are famous only in the Arab countries and other dictatorships in the world.

Yesterday, the same thing was repeated. In Babil province, south of Baghdad, people were led to the streets to chant Saddam-style slogans, but in Jafari’s name and in the UIA’s name. People went to the streets to show that they support Jafari and they want him to be the prime minister of the next government. But Jafari and his group didn’t play it well. Saddam was more convincing to the misinformed public. He took Iraqis from all the provinces to the streets to call and chant his name and for his support, while Jafari could only get poor people from Babil. And today he says he does what his people want.

What’s different about Iraqis being unhappy with their leaders? Under Saddam, there were no free expressions of displeasure available to you – not if you lived in Baghdad. Assuming an Iraqi was able to blog to begin with, a sentiment as expressed above would have been an almost certain death sentence.

Of course, there are still death sentences being carried out in Iraq, but Rule of Law is at least on the table now. It’s an idea waiting to blossom, I hope. Iraqi bloggers have an audience, and as the mainstream media continues irresponsible and inaccurate reporting, that audience will continue to grow.

Who really needs five different versions of Windows Vista? Only the Microsoft marketing team. Dumb move.

For Home:
Windows Vista Home Premium: Goes beyond basic tasks and helps you get more done around the house while more fully enjoying your digital entertainment.
Windows Vista Ultimate: Includes the full set of business, mobility, and home entertainment features for those who use their PCs at work, at home, and on the road.
Windows Vista Home Basic: Increases reliability, security, and ease of use for entry-level computers and basic tasks such as writing e-mail and surfing the Web.

For Business:
Windows Vista Enterprise: Adds protection for sensitive data and helps lower IT costs for large global organizations with highly complex IT infrastructures.
Windows Vista Business: Helps people in organizations of all sizes reduce costs, improve security, increase productivity, and stay better connected.

This is what happens when businesses get top heavy and profit hungry. In the end, only technical people will have any understanding of what the differences between these versions are. No one else cares. They just want the operating system to do the stuff they want it to do and they also want it not to crash or slow down for no reason.

Five versions, five new ways to push people to migrate to other operating systems. Stupid. If Microsoft doesn’t adapt and change it will become the next CP/M. You’ve never heard of CP/M have you? I thought not.

If I wasn’t busy fighting a war, I would love to be the guy who discovered this fascinating creature.

I wonder how many more unusual new species we have yet to discover. Maybe one day humans will stop killing each other and start cooperating. Longer lifespans, exploration of the universe and many other worthy goals could be quickly accomplished.

Scientists said the animal, which they named Kiwa hirsuta, was so distinct from other species that they created a new family and genus for it.

The divers found the animal in waters 7,540 feet deep at a site 900 miles south of Easter Island last year, according to Michel Segonzac of the French Institute for Sea Exploration.

Read the whole story.

It’s almost as if the media wants more violence.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Eight in 10 Americans believe that recent sectarian violence in Iraq has made civil war likely, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released on Monday.

The civil war has been going on for two years from what I can tell. It’s a low intensity consequence of having removed the strongman which allowed a thousand year old larger conflict that affects the entire Muslim world to flare back up. Yes, there have been short sighted bad decisions made.

Nearly the entire body of reporting on the situation in Iraq by the mainstream media is also short-sighted. The way the pundits and the reporters frame this conflict is biased and slanted in favor of the insurgency.

Want examples? Here they are:

The surge in violence has killed more than 500 people since the destruction of a major Shi’ite shrine in Samarra on February 22.

Who caused the surge in violence? Radical fundamentalism Muslims who want to destroy Iraq. Why didn’t they add that? Seems kind of important to note who caused the violence. Besides, you said 500. What happened to the 1300 number that was just being reported a few days ago? Guess someone was counting wrong…

Headline: 8,000 desert since beginning of Iraq war

Only if you read past the headline do you discover this is actually a lower desertion rate that the military was experiencing prior to the start of the war. And if you read to the bottom of the article, you find that “Desertions in 2005 represent 0.24% of the 1.4 million U.S. forces.” Of course, the headline is very fair and completely unslanted. It’s just factual. No bias at all.

Then there’s the fact that if you try to search for Yahoo News about the war in Iraq, the second highest link displayed on the page is this:

Full Coverage:

• World > Antiwar Movement

Proving that operating on encrypted drives is the only relatively safe way to compute, a hacker has broken into Macintosh’s latest operating system in less than an hour.

The security breach took place on February 22 after a Swedish devotee of the Mac set up a Mac Mini as a server and invited all takers to try to compromise the system’s security to gain root-level control. Once a hacker has gained root access to a computer system, the attacker can install applications, delete files and folders, and use the computer for any nefarious purpose.

The competition was over in a matter of hours after a hacker, who asked to be identified only as “Gwerdna,” gained access to the server in question and defaced the Web site with a message that read, “This sucks. Six hours later this poor little Mac was owned and this page got defaced.”

Real security comes from real understanding. If you don’t understand your own security needs and can’t provide your own security, then you will always have to rely on others for your security. This is fine, if you have experts available to you whom you can trust. That isn’t always possible. A primary example of this is the Transportation Security Administration.

I wouldn’t allow the TSA to touch my computer, and it makes me extremely nervous to fly federally “secured” airplanes. Ultimately, if I didn’t secure something myself, I’m not comfortable it is secure at all.

Anyhow, Mac elitists, better recheck your security and backup SOP.

An Iraqi general was assassinated by terrorists in western Baghdad yesterday.

Maj. Gen. Mubdar Hatim Hazya Al-Duleimi, 6th Iraqi Army Division commanding general, was killed by terrorists in western Baghdad.

“General Mubdar was a true Iraqi patriot,” said Maj. Gen. J.D. Thurman, commanding general of Multi-National Division – Baghdad. “His loss will be felt by this command. He was my friend and a brother. His legacy will live on. He leaves behind a professional and capable fighting force that will continue the fight for Iraqi freedom.”

I’ve encountered several Iraqi generals and high level officers since my arrival in Baghdad, and I’ll say this – these guys are brave. They have to be. They are targets. The insurgency tries to kill them all the time. I’m saddened every time a pro-Iraq Iraqi is murdered. Americans who haven’t been here probably can’t grasp the reality of what is happening here. Americans don’t generally assassinate each other. We don’t kidnap and murder the family members of people we disagree with. We are not insane, and we think human life has value.
At the most basic level, this is a battle between men who want Iraq to be free and prosperous and men who want a twisted, evil nation of fearful, ignorant slaves that they can rule. Sadly, more good men are going to die before the infection of evil that haunts Iraq fades into memory.

Congressman John Murtha is at it again.

Murtha added: “The rhetoric is so frustrating — when they keep making statements which are very optimistic, and then it turns out to be the opposite. … And the public has caught on to that, and they’re very pessimistic about the outcome.”

The public is pessimistic because of people like you, Mr. Murtha. The cut and run crowd. Iraq needs optimism, infrastructure and investment. It needs civility and friends. Leaving now would be the same thing as kicking most decent Iraqis in the face. We would be consigning them to being ruled by strongmen without consciences again.

Go ahead, keep calling for policies of cut and run. Let future generations deal with problems in the Middle East. That would be the easy way out. Keep teaching Americans to give up when the going gets tough. I’ll just get my bags packed up and tell all the Iraqis I work with that we’re abandoning them. Not. Finish the job.

Maybe we’re doing some things wrong. If you want to criticize, address how we could do better. Running away isn’t a solution, it’s a time delaying tactic that won’t work.

And then comes this heartwarming news:

U.S. officials tell CBS News that intelligence has picked up reports that al Qaeda in Iraq is planning what one source calls the “Big Bang,” a spectacular terrorist attack in Iraq against either a single high-profile target or multiple targets simultaneously.

I’m not a particularly religious man, although I have my spiritual beliefs. I mostly keep those to myself. But I will say that I hope Abu Musab al Zarqawi and his buddies rot in hell. They’re evil, pure and plain. You would need to be mentally unhinged or morally deviant to defend their tactics of purposefully targeting civilians and taking and beheading hostages.

Harry Browne was the first libertarian author I read, and he has shaped my views about what government should and should not be, and also about what real liberty means and what real freedom is. Rest in peace, sir. I hope you’re in a freer place.

KR: “Self-described ‘pro-life’ Libertarians are hesitant to see abortion outlawed and favor ‘persuasion,’ which is a pro-choice position.”

HB: “Libertarians are pro-choice, even if they oppose abortion. But it applies to everything.”

KR: “Would that apply to murder?”

HB: “You have a 99 per cent consensus in the country that murder is wrong. You don’t have that consensus with drugs, prostitution, abortion, so trying to have the government enforce something that is so contentious, that is going to lead to trouble.”

KR: “Surely you would agree that murder is wrong not only because of a 99 per cent consensus. Or are there no objective truths — is it just what the majority of people believe?”

HB: “No — It’s a pretend game for us to discuss what is morally right and wrong and then assume that government can enforce it — ”

KR: “Government cannot enforce anything?”

HB: “Right. Government doesn’t work. That isn’t the way the world works. Government is force and I want to minimize the use of force in solving social and political problems. . . . and we’re not going to solve them by discussing philosophy.”

Read the whole 1996 interview with Mr. Browne. He and I disagreed on some things, but he loved freedom, and he lived a principled life based on working for more freedom for human beings. I’ll miss him.

If you haven’t read any books by Harry Browne, you should.

I want to win this war, and I believe that understanding how Iraqis see things is an important part of doing so. Which is why I am sharing this blog entry from Treasure of Baghdad. It gives me another important perspective.

These men, the Badrists, are in power now and they are using the same way Saddam did in dealing with the people. “If you are against me, you are my enemy,” is the slogan they raised for almost three years after the fall of the first dictator. No one can criticize them in public and no one is able to stop form their continuous assassinations that reached even non- criminal Baathists now. And oops, I might be killed if anyone of them discovers this post and knows who I am!

It seems clear to me that Iraq has a lot of open wounds that need time to heal, and that healing Iraq isn’t the main priority for some of the people in power. I wonder what we’re doing to mitigate and neutralize such people. Iraq cannot be a democracy without stability. Stability won’t come until we can bring some measure of peace and prosperity into the lives of common Iraqis. It’s a long road.

One of the things I get most frustrated about in military life is that decisions are often made based not on the merits of any available choices, but on who has the highest rank among the group of those whom the decision will affect. This means that in some units day to day life is controlled and often micromanaged by the whims of whoever has hung out the longest without getting in trouble, or by the person who has massaged the promotion system most effectively.

If there is a single factor that would discourage me from reenlisting it is that the people in charge often forget or willfully neglect to solicit the input of the people who are actually going to bear the consequences of decisions being made. I don’t mind busting my ass to get a job done, but it has to make sense from my perspective. Don’t leave your NCOs hanging. I want to do my job, do it well and go home. As a leader, you inspire confidence in your troops when you explain who, what, where, when and why. To be honest, when people tell me I don’t need to know these things, it is usually because they are trying to gloss over bad decision making on their part.

NCOs (non-commissioned officers) are the spine of the military. Officers, ask them what they think before you make final decisions. Your entire unit will benefit in the end, and you will look better than you ever would have trying to do everything by yourself. Your NCOs are here to help you accomplish missions.

A clear plan of attack, shared with the entire unit, is almost always the best way to proceed. People who feel a sense of ownership, no matter what their level in an organization, are much more likely to be motivated and enthusiastic than those who don’t have any sense of what it is they are supposed to be accomplishing.

I’m not comfortable with secret courts or secret cases.

In the nation’s capital, which has had a serious problem with drug gangs murdering government witnesses, the secrecy has reached another level — the use of secret dockets. For hundreds of such defendants over the past few years in this city, should someone acquire the actual case number for them and enter it in the U.S. District Court’s computerized record system, the computer will falsely reply, “no such case” — rather than acknowledging that it is a sealed case.

I can understand the necessity of secrecy prior to and during military operations. But the drug war should not be treated like a military operation. Government has an obligation to operate in a moral and forthright manner.

Criminal proceedings should always be public and courts should always be accountable for the judgements they hand down.

Baghdad is a city of 6 to 7 million souls, from what they tell me. Flying over it in a helicopter gave me the sense that it is an endless sea of humanity. In a city of such a size one person can never record all that happens. One person can only see and hear a small part of the whole in a megapolis, at least from a personal standpoint.

My small part of the whole has been marked by patterns and routines since my arrival. Those have recently changed. The meaning of the change is not clear to me, but the pattern of the sounds of war to which I have become accustomed has shifted. I rarely hear explosions during the day anymore, now, they happen at night. We have not been attacked on our compound recently. The evil and the fury seem to have shifted elsewhere for now. I think that Iraqis are mortaring one another, but for all I know it could be a bombmaker or seven blowing himself up in the wee hours due to an error of concentration. I am behind concrete walls and layers upon layers of men with guns large and small, so the sources of those disturbing noises are a mostly a mystery to me.

What I’m almost sure of is that every explosion means people are dying somewhere nearby. I wonder if they know what they’re dying for. I wonder if, in their last moment, they curse those of us who remain behind to continue the battle or whether they are simply glad to be given a chance to escape the madness and darkness that hovers like a menacing storm cloud over much of the city.

There are so many challenges ahead. The road is steep and rocky. I remain optimistic because, by God, Iraq needs optimism. There is nothing civil about killing another man, and I hope that Iraq can learn to trade the gun for the pen as the primary tool for solving the problems of generations to come.

Another important read regarding current and past events in Iraq:

Sometimes it is difficult for people to look at events and their causes objectively. People tend to live in the moment and events which maybe news today are usually completely forgotten a week or two later.

A semi undeclared Iraqi civil war is more or less here, it might not be a full blown out faction v faction war in the classical sense, but it is a civil war none the less. Civilians are dying on all sides simply to serve the whims and greedy corruption of the few people at the top.

There is enough blame to go around:

I think the root of the current problems started way back when the American administration refused/ or were unable to capture Sadr and his gang back in 2004. That failure gave a very loaded message that there is a weakness in the coalition’s ranks and that has allowed a rag tag gang of 1000 or so criminals to escape, only to become now a very well armed militia of 10,000-20,000 men whom are well armed and emboldened by political and logistical support from Iran and it’s people in the current government.

Not a very hopeful read, but one worth absorbing for the context and perspective it provides.

It is past time for al-Sadr to go:

The rising star of Moqtada al-Sadr has been the subject of much recent speculation: how his bloc became the biggest in the Shia UIA alliance, how he controls one of the most extremist militias in the country, and how he has become one of the most important politicians in Iraq’s development toward democracy. And also one of its biggest threats. Avowedly ready to stage an uprising should Iran give the order, some military commanders must be wondering why the hell they didn’t get rid of him a long time ago when they had the chance. Now his prominence is being compared to the rise of Hitler.

Read the whole thing. al-Sadr is not an elected leader, he is not a positive force in Iraq. He is not interested in human freedom. He is the typical amoral politician interested only in his own power. The United States has made many mistakes in the war. Perhaps the biggest has been allowing al-Sadr free reign to grow the Medhi (also spelled Mahdi) Army to its current size

Editor’s Note: SFC John Holmes served at FOB Spiecher, Iraq in 2005.

July 2, 2005

In several days, Americans all over the globe will celebrate the birth of their nation, a nation forged in war, yet dedicated to the highest ideals that man has ever aspired to, that all men are created equal. I am a soldier of this unique nation, and I have been asked why I serve. I have a reason, yet not one that would immediately come to most people’s thoughts.

It is not out of blind faith. I know that my country has done many terrible things in its history, things which can be held up as a record of shame equal to many other nations. Every cause that men have fought for, right or wrong, has been wrapped in a flag, leading honorable men astray.

It is not out of obligation for the blood that other soldiers have shed. Every country, good or evil, has had it share of good and evil soldiers. They are, after all, only men, and men are created equal.

It is not out of religious fervor, because I serve alongside Muslim and Jew, Christian and Atheist, Buddhist and Agnostic. I know not what religion the man or woman who stands next to me professes, nor does it matter.

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This sort of garbage is typical of the Daily Kos:

There are times when the disinformation matrix and the right-wing echo chamber work to perfection.  And there are times when it provides a wide open window into the soul of a corrupt disinformation campaign, if we only take the time to see inside.

On January 19, General Lynch briefed the media in Iraq, and provided snippets from a letter from the mayor of Tall’afar (PDF Format) to General Casey.  In the letter (On Iraq letter head with a seal), the mayor thanked the 3rd ACR for their attempts to rid his city of terrorists.  The second half of the letter reads as a plea from the mayor for the troops to stay in the city, so terrorists do not return.

Cal Thomas picked this up and wrote a column about it, and so did the New York Post.  Since that time, it has been widely covered on Conservative blogs like Powerline and LGF.

However, the version of the letter covered by Thomas, the NYP, and the right-wing blogs is NOT the version that was released on January 19 by General Lynch.  Not even close!  Complete comparison below.  PLEASE READ!

There were two different letters to two different people. How hard is that to fathom? There is no “campaign of disinformation.” There is a campaign to ensure we lose the war in Iraq though, and the Daily Kos is at the forefront of that effort. Thanks, Daily Kos for your help in dragging out and making this war more expensive and painful for all of us.

I’m the guy who posted the letter handed out by MG Lynch at the press conference. I have no reason to doubt its authenticity, and I’m disgusted by the attempts of the left to disprove it without a single person having actually contacted the mayor of Tal’Afar to ask him in person what the truth is. Irresponsible garbage information dissemination is, sadly, typical of the mindset of the anti-war kooks.

Just sit there in your comfy chair and undermine everything positive that gets done over here. Minimize the sacrifices of good Americans and good Iraqis at every turn. Question every step forward and doubt every moment worth celebrating, and yes, if enough if you do that, we will lose the war. Thanks for nothing. You disgust me.

I know I’m a nerd, but I wasn’t expecting this:

I love little quizzes like this. They’re fun. I guess that’s part of my nerdliness.

Hat tip: Reverse Retina.

Another good Iraqi gone…

Because of his tenacity, character, and loyalty, I recommended him for command of the whole Iraqi battalion in our area of operations. He was eventually given the job, (we had to get rid of his politically connected, and utterly worthless, boss). MAJ Kareem was given the job, and recently promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. A few days ago he was killed by a suicide bomber in the Old Baqubah Market. I don’t doubt that he was doing his job, looking for shitheads, being a warrior. I will miss him dearly.

Goodbye, Ra’ad (Major) Kareem.

–Chuck

I want to go back, right now, just to be with his family and his men. And to find and kill the sons of whores who planned and resourced this attack. And their families.

The story of a new Iraq is still unfolding. Allowing the terrormongers, the murderers, the foul-minded and craven religious fascist statists to rule Iraq by fear and guns, by death and bombs, by blood and sword would be a tragic historic mistake with generational consequences for your children and your children’s children. Some Iraqis fear for the future. They should. Evil men and evil memes have deep roots in the soil of this land.

I believe that despite the legions of the dazed and confused, regardless of the armies of the book of fear, unfazed by the platoons of merciless murder and undaunted by the pens of the craven and gutless self-proclaimed pundits of doom, we are and will continue winning in Iraq. I refuse to despair like so many others, even though I want too sometimes. The task is daunting. It is tiring. It is necessary.
For every black-robed fool with a gun, we need an armored knight with a bigger gun, better training and something that the men in black robes will never have – a moral code that values human life and individual choices. Don’t allow yourself to be led astray by the daily details, as I’ve so often been tempted to do. There is a big picture in Iraq, and if it can be properly framed, then the road ahead can be made out through the storm of unproductive and mostly useless information about what is happening here in the land of the two rivers.

What is happening? Good and evil men are battling for the soul of Iraq and it’s a messy, ugly scene that rends asunder human lives every day. When your heart is breaking for Iraq, you must ask yourself if you’re willing to abandon her to another sociopathic, psychopathic madman because there is a long line of them waiting to step up and work hard to make the tyrant Saddam’s 30-year litany of horrific crimes against humanity look minor.

Those of you who would rather go back to the days when the murdering and raping was done behind curtains and out of the public eye are fools who deserve a lifetime of bad dreams. You deserve no comfort for aiding and abetting evil men. I hope you have a nightmare every time the Mahdi Army murders someone for being born into the wrong religious sect. I hope you toss restlessly everytime al-Qaeda blows up a nightclub full of innocents, or a group of children at school, or some GIs trying to make the roads of this land safe for Iraqis to conduct commerce. I hope your dreams are haunted by headless hostages who were only trying to help Iraqis have a chance at lives worth living. I hope that when Wahhabists move into your neighborhood you remind them how helpful you were to their cause just before they fine you for being an infidel and offer you a choice of conversion or death.

If the Christian Identity movement had the same resources, membership, tactics and ultraviolent history as fundementalist Muslim groups do, I would preach sermons against them with the same force of conviction. I have no room in my life for fanatics who wish to impose their worldview on me. I would have stayed in Georgia and minded my own business if it hadn’t been for the calling card I received on television September 11, 2001. My days of innocence and bliss are long gone. I went through a period of introspection where I wondered if perhaps it was somehow my fault, or the fault of my society that we have been getting attacked by these madmen for several decades now. The answer is no. Nothing justifies their methodology or complete lack of regard for the sanctity of human life. They must all be put down. And good men will die while undertaking the dangerous task.

Editor’s Note: This runner-up entry is from Sgt. Walter J. Rausch, who is currently on his second tour of duty in Iraq. It arrived in the form of a letter to his mom, Maggie, and that is how I’m publishing it. Minor copy editing and changes have been made to improve readability.

Mom,

Be my voice. I want this message heard. It is mine and my platoon’s clarion call to the country. A man I know lost his legs the other night. He is in another company in our battalion. I can no longer be silent after watching the sacrifices made by Iraqis and Americans everyday.Send it to a congressman if you have to. Send it to FOX news if you have to. Let this message be heard please.

My fellow Americans, I have a task for those with the courage and fortitude to take it. I have a message that needs not fall on deaf ears. A vision the blind need to see. I am not a political man nor one with great wisdom. I am just a soldier who finds himself helping rebuild a country that he helped liberate a couple years ago.

I have watched on television how the American public questions why their mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters are fighting and dying in a country 9,000 miles away from their own soil. Take the word of a soldier, for that is all I am, that our cause is a noble one. The reason we are here is one worth fighting for. A cause that has been the most costly and sought after cause in our small span of existence on our little planet. Bought in blood and paid for by those brave enough to give the ultimate sacrifice to obtain it. A right that is given to every man, woman, and child, I believe, by God. I am talking of freedom.

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Maybe this story will make some of you fearless drug “warriors” reconsider your foolish approach to problems of substance abuse:

According to Maye’s testimony (pdf), he went to sleep between 9:30 and 10:00 p.m. Sometime after 11:00 p.m. he was awakened by “a loud crash at the front door.” Cory, understandably frightened, ran to the room his daughter was sleeping in, found his pistol, and loaded it. Maye positioned himself lying on his stomach in the dark with his gun ready to fire when he started hearing kicks at the back door. As the intruders broke inside, Maye fired three rounds in the direction of the noise.

Moments later, he learned that he in-fact did not shoot a burglar or someone wishing to do bodily harm to him or his daughter but a police officer lawfully searching his home. To make matters even worse, the police officer he shot was Ron Jones, the Chief of Police’s son. Jones would eventually die from his wounds in the hospital.

Government force should always be the last option used to solve problems, and it should never be one of the options to solve substance abuse problems. Government force should be reserved to deal with crimes of fraud and force, unless we all want the term jack-booted thugs to become part of the national vernacular in relation to our own government. Sadly, that’s already happening.

If the government broke into my house in the middle of the night without announcing themselves, I would defend myself. I have an innate right too.

Allowing the state to execute a man for defending himself in his home is a perversion of justice, no matter how tragic the death of a police officer may be.
More on Cory Maye:

The Agitator: Cory Maye
The Agitator: The Maye Case so Far
Maye is Innocent
Instapundit entries related to Cory Maye

Please, if you’re in a position to do so, donate to the Cory Maye defense fund.

I’ve historically been pro-death penalty, and I do think violent criminals often deserve death if for no other reason than to keep them from a repeat performance. From all appearances, though, Cory Mae is anything but a violent criminal, yet he is waiting to be executed. That’s just plain wrong.

Those who have been persecuted by totalitarian Islamist governments and individuals are speaking out against their common enemy:

Like all totalitarianisms, Islamism is nurtured by fears and frustrations. The hate preachers bet on these feelings in order to form battalions destined to impose a liberticidal and unegalitarian world. But we clearly and firmly state: nothing, not even despair, justifies the choice of obscurantism, totalitarianism and hatred. Islamism is a reactionary ideology which kills equality, freedom and secularism wherever it is present. Its success can only lead to a world of domination: man’s domination of woman, the Islamists’ domination of all the others. To counter this, we must assure universal rights to oppressed or discriminated people.

Meanwhile, you’re still waking up to the worldwide threat because YOU haven’t been personally persecuted yet. Freedom of religion, freedom of speech and the freedom to bear arms. They’re all tied together – everywhere.

Read this. It’s a good reminder about the power of bad memes and sociology. Lengthy and worthwhile. Don’t join mobs. Ever.

Wordsmith at War is the winner of my first ever essay contest, but there were several good entries. I’m posting the winning entry below and will post the runner-ups over the next two days, so check back:

Why am I here?

I’m in Iraq because I raised my hand and swore to defend my country against all enemies foreign and domestic. I’m here because I believe, odd as it may sound to those who have never served in the military or fought in a combat zone, that service to one’s country is an important part of being a citizen of that country. I ask you what nobler way to serve than to join the military and agree to go wherever they send you to defend against those who would harm your family and your neighbor?

Some might say I should serve by doing community service or other volunteer work, addressing our country’s inherent problems from the bottom-up, at the local level first. But there is no shortage of volunteers at the soup lines and foster homes. There is, however, a shortage of Americans who are willing to depart the normalcy and comfort of their lives and fly around the globe to fight a brutal and religiously fanatic enemy. These are tough choices – the sofa or the cot, the restaurant or the chow hall, the company of your own family or that of your fellow soldiers. Ergot, I see soldiering, juxtaposed with the massive effects we can have on our country’s (and children’s) safety and future, as the right choice for me.

I’m in Iraq because I believe the attack on September 11th, 2001, ushered in a new era for terrorism. I agreed that it was best to go global right then and establish lines of demarcation across our humble little planet, clearly exposing those who stand against terrorism and those who would harbor and aid terrorist groups.
Most importantly, I’m in Iraq because of my children, and all the children of the world. It’s ironic that I would agree to leave my children for 18 months and fight in a land that has no more substance to their innocent little minds than a fairy tale. But one day they will read about what we’ve done in their history books, hopefully find themselves in a society relatively free of terrorism (there will always be some violence), and understand the importance of what we’re doing here. This fight is physically in Iraq and Afghanistan, but symbolically and historically it stands for much more. We’re fighting in the present, but for the future. We’re fighting in Iraq, but for our own country as well. We’re fighting adults, on behalf of children.

Yes – as a human being I care about the Iraqi people and the future of this country free from a violent dictator. Yes – I volunteered to come because I think that all people deserve freedom such as we have in America, and as a citizen and soldier it was my turn to serve my country in combat. Yes – I felt it was the least I could do considering all those who have given their lives in past conflicts to assure the freedoms we all enjoy today. But I am also selfish. If our children live in a safer country because of what I’m doing in Iraq, and terrorists are afraid to attack us because they know the consequences first hand, and we dissect the nuclei of terrorist cells, making them run for cover and never feel safe, then that’s reason enough for me to be here. If I tell myself I’m making a safer future for the kids, I can sleep better at night, although I don’t sleep in my own bed, anywhere near my children, and am often awoken by the sound of mortars and rockets exploding with kinetic violence, as if out of spite for the earth itself, rather than the sweet chorus of my children’s voices calling for me in the night, afraid of the dark.

I’m not a warmonger. I was not the kid you knew in high school who joined Junior ROTC and dreamed of becoming a soldier. I was not that guy. I prefer intellectual debate to violence every time. I believe in the power of pen over sword. When I completed my first Active Duty enlistment, I accepted my honorable discharge and had no intentions of re-enlisting. Alas, I re-enlisted after a four year break, and then decided to become an officer and a citizen-soldier. And a few years later when a Lieutenant Colonel from a sister unit asked me to come to Iraq as his Signal Officer, I agreed.

I’m in Iraq because this is the war of my generation, and somebody has to volunteer to travel across the planet and defend America against people who will fly airplanes into buildings on an otherwise average sunny morning in downtown New York City. Through that act alone, terrorists declared war on the United States of America, and I’ll be damned if I’m not going to take some action. I’d rather be a soldier, an active participant against such a cruel enemy, than a critic who enjoys the flavors of American life but isn’t willing to put on a uniform and say, America. I am your humble servant. Send me where you will.  I don’t mean all citizens need to fight. Everyone is not supposed to be a soldier. But if you aren’t willing to do so, then your criticism lacks substance.

I’m in Iraq because regardless of my religious preference, or lack thereof, I know the universe will unfold exactly as it’s supposed to. The long string of moments and experiences that make up my life, and that impacted my decision to become a soldier, coalesced into this tiny fulcrum of time and space, colliding with perfect entropy and placing me in the midst of this war, in the Al Anbar Province of the western deserts of Iraq. And like every other great victory or tragedy in our sordid history, this too shall pass.

Quite simply, I’m in Iraq because right now, I believe it’s where I’m supposed to be.

I used to think John McCain was a hero, and maybe he used to be one. But heros can fall just like anyone else, and John McCain has fallen farther than most.

The only senator I trust less is dour, sour Hillary Clinton.

McCain has become a performance master at the art of using positive, moderate sound bites to push the worst legislation to come out of Washington in decades. For example, McCain-Feingold, which is as perfect an example of the pot calling the kettle black. Purportedly a piece of campaign finance reform, McCain-Feingold is actually an illegal, highly unconstitutional bunch of gibberish designed to allow the same corrupt power structure that is already in de facto control of Washington to ensure that it remains in control.

McCain-Feingold is so draconian and far reaching in its attempts to curb political freedom of expression that is has spawned an insurrection. Legislation that is so blatantly bad for freedom and so obviously good for legislators should be disobeyed whenever necessary. This country was founded on freedom and not legislation.
Senator John McCain isn’t satisfied with his success in the battle to curb freedom of political expression though. He’s not only blatantly anti-first amendment, he’s also anti-second amendment.

I just received the following alert from Gun Owners of America:

Now with the Gag Act (S. 2128), McCain wants to target his wrath on groups like GOA — requiring them to register their “grassroots” communications and to file twice as many frivolous reports.

If McCain succeeds in pushing an expansive interpretation of his bill (as he did when he convinced the courts to regulate the Internet under McCain-Feingold), then we could see a host of draconian restrictions affecting both GOA and you.

For example, if we wanted to alert you to (a) gun ban that is moving in our nation’s capital, we could first have to tell McCain (and all his other buddies in Congress) about what we’re planning to do, who we’re planning to alert (that is, grassroots folks like yourself), how much money we plan to spend, etc.

So basically, John McCain wants to legally require anyone who is anti John McCain to report their anti John McCain activities to John McCain. It’s all about John McCain, after all. Hey, John McCain, the answer is no. Americans should ignore John McCain from now on. If ignoring him doesn’t work, then throwing him out of Washington might.

Senator John McCain – from war hero to near zero. I’m saddened and disgusted. America deserves better leadership. We should demand it. A civil insurrection is a good start.

Columnist William F. Buckley says the war in Iraq is lost:

One can’t doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed. The same edition of the paper quotes a fellow of the American Enterprise Institute. Mr. Reuel Marc Gerecht backed the American intervention. He now speaks of the bombing of the especially sacred Shiite mosque in Samarra and what that has precipitated in the way of revenge. He concludes that “the bombing has completely demolished” what was being attempted — to bring Sunnis into the defense and interior ministries.

If the war is indeed lost, then I’d like to know what he proposes we do. Should we abandon the country like we did in Vietnam? Leave everyone who cooperated with the coalition to their fate? Let the country devolve and destabilize further? Let the evil men run the show?

If Iraq was a patient in a hospital and you were the doctor you certainly wouldn’t say, “We’ve lost,” and go play a round of golf, at least not if you were an ethical man. I think Iraq is a lot like a very sick and delirious patient who hasn’t been properly restrained and is banging his head against the wall repeatedly. Sure, the medical team can just give up and say “nothing we’ve tried has worked.” But that would be plain wrong and the patient would eventually severely injure or kill himself. What’s your prescription, Dr. Buckley? I am over here with 130,000 others, waiting to find out.

Lately I’ve been feeling overwhelmingly fatigued. My body has been demanding a lot of sleep but even when I sleep 12 hours, my sleep isn’t deep enough to leave me feeling refreshed. Life seems to be passing in a blur, and every day blends together.

The background harmonies here are always the same. In the distance, explosions make dull thumps. Nearby, sirens wail constantly. Helicopters fly low over our hooches, vibrating me in my bed and making the roof, floor and walls shake momentarily as two or three Blackhawks fly by a few feet overhead. When you add these noises to the karoake parties that are held outdoors at night, it’s sometimes still very surreal after three months in theater.

I sleep restlessly in this place. Something is always waking me back up as soon as I drop off. Even when I am wearing my noise canceling headphones, something always shakes the hooch as I’m dropping off or going into REM sleep and forces me back into alertness. The only thing that seems to help is working out to the point of exhaustion. Once I’m sufficently drained, my body shuts down and allows me the rest I need. Despite this, I feel tired all the time. I think I’m tired of living in a sea of concrete and metal surrounded by a city that seems to be filled with madmen. I can only imagine how much worse it must be for common Iraqis.

Easy solutions and leisurely existences are a pipe dream for most people in land of the two rivers. Until Iraqis move beyond the legacy of religious strife that is their heritage the problems will continue. The power squabbles that are the backdrop for life here are a major reason for the snail’s pace at which Iraq is able to rebuild and add the basic infrastructure required for a decent quality of life.

It’s well past time for Iraqi leaders to put aside their real and petty differences and all start pulling together. It’s time to root out the evil sociopaths among the various factions so the sentences of life in Iraq will no longer have death and war as their punctuation marks. I’m ready to sleep soundly again, and I hope most Iraqis will be too in the near present future.

Iraqi Blogger’s Central has a great roundup of the Iraqi discussion of who was behind the bombing:

Perpetrator: Al-Qaeda In Iraq (aka Zarqawi/jihadis) or ex-Saddam Regime criminals (aka Saddam’s Orphans) or both (aka The Return Party).

Purpose: To start a civil war for the purpose of general mayhem in the midst of which they can jettison the Iraqi democracy as unworkable and step in as Iraq’s nationlist, unity, and security dictatorship and protector of morality.

Who believes this story: Hammorabi does:

The barbaric and savage attack on the Shire of Imam Al-Hassan Al-Askari in Samara is a continuation of the barbarism of the Saudi Wahabi terrorism, which started such destruction against the entire ancient heritage.

Five theories and the various proponents are presented for you to digest. My personal theory is a compilation of two of these – Al-Qeada in Iraq is being supported by Iranian interests and the combination of the pooled resources was used to perpatrate these recent events.

Moqtada al-Sadr took advantage of a situation that happened by saying one thing while his followers did another.

As if the world doesn’t have enough lunacy, the Irish are rioting and looting in Dublin again.

I haven’t figured out what they are fighting and looting over. I know it started with religion a long time ago but what keeps it going is a mystery to me. Must be something in the water, or something in the memes the idiot parents are passing along to the idiot kids. From Richard Delevan:

2.55 – Heading up towards Leinster House. Two Garda vans are parked on the traffic island in front of the Screen, next to Pearse Street Garda Station. One van’s windscreen has a sign’s base through it, clearly done after the van was parked here. People are queueing up to have their picture taken in front of it. At least 20 stop to take pics with their mobile phones.

So far, no one killed and no one talking about Ireland being on the brink of civil war. Maybe we can fly some of these Irish looters over to downtown Baghdad and just drop them off for a week. The survivors can then be flown back to spread better rioting memes to their ignorant lout brethren while fake American Indian professors find reasons to blame President Bush for the spread of the violence from Iraq to Ireland.

When will the circus come to your town? Hopefully never.

Read the full news story. Keep in mind, no head choppings, ransoms, bodies found tied up and shot in the head or mortars dropped in on random neighborhoods were reported. No one blew up a church either, that I am aware of or murdered priests.

Today’s honorary merchant of hope is Suzanne Nossel, because what the world needs most is hopeful thoughts like hers. Offering criticisms without offering solutions seems kind of useless to me.

Trevor had a contest about “why we’re here” recently. It’s too late for my entry, but I can tell you why I’m here.
I’m here for SUV drivers, bodywash users and America’s dependance on foreign oil.

Make no mistake about it, forget WMD, or a third world nation’s stability. If it was for those reasons, why isn’t the United States in Iran or Korea?

So why SUV drivers and bodywash users? SUV drivers is fairly obvious. SUVs are gas guzzlers.

Bodywash users is a little harder to explain, but I’ll try with one word – plastics.

Plastics are made from oil. The proliferation of plastic containers is staggering to me – from soda and water bottles to bodywash bottles. Why change from soap to bodywash? Is soap really that harsh on skin? It worked for hundreds of years. Why change? I live with three other guys, soldiers, in a trailer and they all use bodywash! What? Soldiers even use bodywash? We’re in Iraq for crying out load. Skin needs to be soft to impress the girls over here? Hardly. These guys use it though, and I don’t really understand it. I didn’t even have room in the shower to place my re-usuable, plasitic soapdish. I’ve been coerced by these guys to use bodywash.

It’s really quite nice, though, I must say, but I feel kinda quilty going through these plastic bodywash bottles.

BTW, send more bodywash to Trevor, we’re running low.

Today was very quiet again in the International Zone. I normally hear more sounds of Baghdad flowing in from across the river. Not today. The curfew has quieted things down a lot. Very little gunfire punctuated the day, which is very unusual.

Tonight I went and worked out at the gym here. My iPod and Tracy Chapman kept me company on the low impact running machine as I pulled a 5K run out of my old bones. Then I hit the weights for a while.

As I was leaving the gym and taking off my earphones, I heard BOOM in the distance. 30 seconds later – BOOM followed by BOOM and another BOOM. I think it was mortars being fired, a highly unusual sound to hear after dark in Baghdad. The land of the two rivers has a troubled soul.

I know that many good people are working for peace here but there are also cunning, ruthless killers working for their own agendas without regard for the human toll. Luckily the good guys have all the best tools. The bad guys have an advantage too though – it’s easy to stir up trouble among people with no jobs, no education and a seemingly bleak future. This is why, as I said earlier, Iraq needs merchants of hope.

Hope is hard to muster when pieces of your city are blown up every day and people around you just disappear. The Iraqi government needs to weed out the thugs, but how do you do that when your nation has a tradition of thugs that predates anyone alive? It’s a big job that will take time, and sadly, more human lives. Iraq needs to take a long hard look at some of its so called leaders and hold them accountable for allowing and tacitly encouraging atrocities. The impression I get is that some of Iraq’s powerful men are negotiating at tables or sermonizing on television about peace while their underlings murder people at their behest.

In the mean time, everyone seems to take pleasure in blaming the coalition for every misdeed and horror Iraq is facing. Sometimes I wonder if maybe we should just plop Saddam back into one of his palaces and leave. That’s a juvenile fantasy of course. Staying the course is our only choice. An Iraq governed by all Iraqis is the only outcome that fits the 21st century.

I’m watching Major General Rick Lynch (who I work for) doing a live press conference on the Pentagon Channel right now, wherein he suggested that the violence in Iraq is being overstated, and the the Coalition thinks the number of attacks and murders is much lower than what has been reported thus far. He suggested that the insurgency/terrorists are manipulating the media to make the situation sound worse than it is.

People are certainly scared and violence has definitely happened. But full scale civil war doesn’t seem likely at all at this juncture. Some reports are saying the curfew that has been in effect the last two days is helping. Others are saying things are still out of control. Not from where I am standing. Iraq is still plagued by evildoers, and sectarian violence is still an endemic problem. But there is hope, despite the fact that violence sells better on your local nightly news show. We need more merchants of hope in Iraq.

Free Iraqi opines that Iraqis are still thinking like Saddam:

The main problem is us, Iraqis whether we’re She’at, Sunni or Kurds. And the problem is also the American administration’s ignorance on many of the facts on the ground with the exception of the American embassy and namely Khalil Zada who I think is doing a great job, but unfortunately it seems like most of the influence is still in the hands of the military and some people in the white house who seem to still think that Sunnis are the enemy.

But I don’t want Iraqis and Americans to blame each other, as that’s not productive at all. Americans have been doing us a HUGE favor and we need each other and we need to trust each other and part of our cooperation is to tell each other when we’re wrong, and I believe some Americans are not seeing what’s happening in Iraq very clearly and many decisions were made based on this blurred vision.

I think we should all look at ourselves first and for me I think the major problem is that Saddam’s mentality is still running this country through people like Sadr, Al-Hakeem, Adnan Al-Dulaimi and Barzani. It’s those people who keep inflaming those already existing divisions for their own benifit, as they represnt nothing but ethnic and sectarian hatred and they feed this fear and hatred among their people so that they vote for them. We Iraqis need to see that and then Americans need to see that too. The solution is certainly not even visible now but I think it helps a lot to identify the problem first.

Read the whole thing. It’s worth your time. Especially if you’re in Iraq right now.

Why couldn’t President Bush have simply hired Mansoor Ijaz to tell the story of Dubai? I’m certainly nearly convinced the Dubai deal is OK after reading this editorial in the Christian Science Monitor:

Dubai’s business environment is the Middle East’s only meritocracy. Young men and women compete openly with ideas and ambitions to make their nation a model example for Muslim societies besieged by high unemployment, low literacy rates, bad trade policies, and authoritarian political structures. They run businesses transparently, with integrity and with an increasingly democratic and accountable corporate culture.

Known for innovative investing and one-of-a-kind megaprojects, Dubai should not be antagonized. Rather it should be encouraged, for example, to fund and deploy a revolutionary array of security initiatives at the US ports, such as neutron pulse scanners and smart chips for tracking containers. US technology already exists in prototype form to scan containers without opening them or materially affecting port management economics. The Department of Homeland Security should find a common investment and implementation basis with Dubai Ports World for the rapid development of such technologies.

The television signal that we receive in our hooches here in Baghdad comes from Dubai, or at least a lot of the television commercials advertise events in Dubai. It does appear to be a very modern, business oriented Arab city-state, at least on TV.

Now that we have a national dialogue on Dubai, I’m becoming more comfortable with the idea of the port deal. One question I would want to ask Mr. Ijaz about Dubai is – can a Jew and an Arab sit down in the conference room of any hotel in the city and work out a business deal in peace? Is that an ignorant thing to wonder about or use as a criteria for judging whether or not an Arab city is also a modern city that I would want to do business in or with?

Anyhow the point is to look at all the decisions we make in life in a rational way, whether they are individual or collective decisions.

The Instapundit weighs in with some comments in the Wall Street Journal on the UAE and Dubai Ports World deal. The comments are, of course, mainly related to where the blogosphere fits into the picture. As usual, Glenn Reynolds in right on target.

Iraqi bloggers are reporting on the post mosque bombing situation from their perspective. Events are playing out in rapid fashion here. From Zayed at Healing Iraq:

Fierce streetfighting at my doorstep for the last 3 hours. Rumor in the neighbourhood is that men in black are trying to enter the area. Some armed kids defending the local mosque three blocks away are splattering bullets at everything that moves, and someone in the street was shouting for people to prepare for defending themselves.

There’s supposed to be a curfew, but it doesn’t look like it. My net connection is erratic, so I’ll try to update again if possible. The news from other areas in Baghdad are horrible. I don’t think it’s being reported anywhere.

The news media are pushing doom and gloom as always:

But in their sermons and public statements, both Sunni and Shiite political and clerical leaders also betrayed an ominous polarization of attitudes about who was at fault for the outbreak of violence, along with an increased hostility to the American role in Iraq. Iraqi leaders and American officials seemed acutely aware that the conflict, which began Wednesday in Samarra after a bomb shattered the dome at one of Iraq’s most sacred Shiite shrines, could still push Iraq into a catastrophic civil war, with implications for the entire region.

And as usual, the Iraqis who just want to be left alone to live out their lives are stuck in the middle of this centuries old legacy of hatred and self-destructive memes. There are three kinds of Iraqis right now – those working on rebuilding Iraq, people in the middle who just want jobs, and what I think of as the Martyrs of the Old Ways. The Martyrs of the Old Ways want to destroy Iraq. Their ideas don’t work, have never worked and won’t suddenly start working. But some of them haven’t learned that yet. Like the IRS in the United States, they are dinosaurs and will become extinct. The only question is when.

Are we winning hearts and minds? I’m not sure we’re fighting that battle with the right resources, or with enough seriousness. When I read Iraqis blogging stuff like this it concerns me:

The one who did this, entered the mosque comfortably carrying explosions, he had all the time to study the construction of the building and find the perfect angles to set the explosions in a way that only the dome will be destroyed.

This is a professional, controlled demolition and the bombs set by demolition experts.

If you read the whole entry, and it was the only information you had available about Iraq, you would think the coalition was for some unfathomable reason orchestrating recent events in Iraq. Of course, that isn’t true, but perception is reality. If the coalition’s intentions aren’t properly perceived by Baghdad Dweller, how many of the neighbors on his block have a similar attitude or outlook? How many Iraqis really understand all the players in this war, and their varied agendas? I’m sure most Americans don’t have a clue and that bothers me too.

The Iraqis I’ve talked to recently are mostly tired and jaded. From what I gather, life in Baghdad is tough for them right now, and that might be an understatement. The situation is fluid and the rules change as they move from one neighborhood to another. Everything is politically charged in this city and death is all too often a fact of life. In the U.S., we have the luxury of being able to ignore politics and politicians if we want too (although it’s not a good idea). In Baghdad (and the rest of Iraq too I would guess) being ignorant of local politics is a good way to get yourself killed.

I hope that by the time I am twice as old as I am today, Iraq will no longer be a place where Shiites and Sunnis have to worry about being killed just for being one or the other. If you want real perspective on just how deep the divide between Shia and Sunnis is, the closest thing we have to compare it to in the United States is the legacy of slavery. The comparison isn’t perfect, but it’s the closest thing I can think of.

Iraqis, please listen to the calls for peace. More bloodshed does nothing to speed up the coalition’s departure. It does nothing to ensure jobs for your young men. It does nothing to ensure your children have better lives than you do. When you learn to stop thinking in terms of Shiite and Sunni, then Iraq will begin to grow and prosper. The coalition is less and less a part of the daily affairs of your nation. You may love us or hate us, but ultimately, what Iraq becomes is up to you, the Iraqi.

The situation remains tense here in Baghdad. A day time curfew was announced last night:

Residents reported fierce clashes in at least two areas in and around Baghdad overnight, both in areas where sectarian tensions are exacerbated by communities in close proximity.

Gunmen stormed a house and killed two Shi’ite men and a woman in Latifiya, just outside Baghdad, at dawn on Friday despite the curfew. Two children were wounded in the attack.

The streets of the capital were quiet at mid-morning but residents feared the violence could boil over. A spokesman for radical young Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said his followers planned to march to mosques in his Baghdad stronghold despite the curfew to worship at the weekly midday (0900 GMT) prayers.

The situation is violatile. Iraqi security forces are doing the lion’s share of the hard work now. Iraq’s government is under pressure to show that they can perform. I think this storm will pass. What remains to be seen is how long it will take and how well the government will do. In my time here, I’ve never heard it this quiet.

We all see the world through colored glasses, but this news story is particularly slanted, in my opinion. Clerics’ authority growing? No, it’s been in place for at least 13 centuries. The difference is now it’s possible to report on the situation in Iraq without a government minder.

The dominance of the political scene by clerics on both sides of the Shiite-Sunni divide marks a dramatic reversal of 85 years of secular rule in Iraq.

“The clerics are the kingmakers, the peacemakers and the war makers,” said Ismael Zayer, editor in chief of Sabah Jadeed, a moderate daily newspaper. “People are marching by order of clerics and stopping by order of clerics.”

Iraq’s political leaders and U.S.-led forces can shut down the country for a time and reduce the violence by flooding the streets with checkpoints and soldiers. But few doubt who really holds the cards.

Saddam had to deal with deeply entrenched religion too. All the time. The difference between then and now is that the government is much less likely to murder a cleric it disagrees with. Iraq has a long way to go but let’s not pretend the influence of clerics is some new thing. What’s different is that clerics, along with other Iraqis are now allowed to utter their opionions in public. Iraq has TV stations and radio stations that are free to run whatever programming they want to run. That’s different too.

If anything, clerics are going to find their authority diminished over the next few generations, assuming Iraq stays the course and becomes a nation blessed with more free thinkers than it has today. Remember the Dark Ages? People get tired of that sort of existence. Iraq is no exception. Clerics as moral leaders – good if the morals are sound ones. Clerics as politicians and warlords – bad.

It is going to be a generational change. Young Iraqis will grow up exposed to more ideas than their forebears and it will change Iraq for the better. How about a news story covering that?

Some days, I want to give up. These legislators are killing me. Every time a bad bill is shot down, they just resurrect the law by hiding it inside something else.

Even assuming that the drug war was something I supported (it isn’t), how many wars do the dimbulbs in Washington think we can fight simultaneously? How can they possibly try and merge the Drug War and the war against terrorism, as if we’re all mentally retarded, and they’re going to slip one over on us just by claiming that drugs and terrorism are a duo much like the Captain and Tennille? I want to throw my hands up and just walk away from this idiocy:

If you thought al Qaeda or Iraqi insurgents were the major threats facing America, Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) says you’re wrong. According to Dent, “The growing availability of methamphetamine is a form of terrorism unto itself.” Many of Dent’s colleagues apparently agree, so they’ve attached surveillance, “smuggling”, and “money laundering” provisions to the reauthorization of the USA PATRIOT Act.

The war on drugs is an abomination, and so are the leaders who insist on continuing to prosecute that war. Inept bureaucrats destroy more lives than drugs ever will. The Patriot Act is trash because of garbage add-ons like this. Legislators who throw random unrelated crap into their bills should be tarred and feathered. Mr. Dent, I’m disgusted. You should be ashamed of yourself. Apologize to the American people, you’re hurting and making a mockery of people who are actually trying to fight terrorism.

These vast new police powers, contained in a new “Combat Methamphetamine Act” (CMA) and other provisions, serve no purpose in the ongoing and serious struggle against terrorism.

If Washington wants to be taken seriously, it should stop diluting the good things government does with rancid pieces of garbage like the above. By God, if I have to sit in Iraq having mortars and rockets shot at me on an almost daily basis, I want to know that my legislators back home have some common sense. I’m not feeling it. Words can’t begin to describe how angry this makes me. You are dishonoring my service with garbage leadership.

The drug war, is, at its heart, a war against Americans. I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it until I’m dead. Using government as the primary tool to deal with people’s drug addictions is like using a hammer to do brain surgery. You might stop the addiction, but the patient usually ends up dead.

We need to have serious dialogue in this country about treatment and prevention options, not more growth of the police state.

If you disagree, watch this video of a DEA agent lecturing children and then shooting himself in the foot. That’s your government fighting the War on Drugs. OK, now go to the comments section and tell me the “drug war” has been anything but a travesty and that we need the important bill make America a better place to raise a family.

Hat tip: Instapundit, again.

No rioting allowed.

Simply here to offend.

The port security scandal isn’t really about port security, as reader and fellow milblogger Green pointed out. He called the controversy a Red Herring. I disagree. It’s not a Red Herring because our President is accountable to America. If a lot of Americans express concerns over something, then his duty to allay those concerns, or at least address them properly seems apparent to me. That’s not what has happened thus far. I certainly believe the press tells the story of what’s happening in as poor a light as possible, but the President could have handled this very differently. I wish he had.

No one at the White House, in fact, seemed to know about the sale of operations to the state-owned Dubai Ports of the United Arab Emirates until it was a done deal. Twelve departments were involved in the decision, but none made the White House aware that security concerns could have bubbled into the controversy it is today.

On the port security turmoil, our President sounded defensive and hostile. I can understand sticking to your guns, but sometimes, especially when you are a public servant, the correct solution is to answer the question.

When did American government in general become so arrogant? Public officials serve the people, not the other way around. When President Bush fails to be a humble, articulate servant of the people, then he fails to meet my expectations. Threatening his first veto over demands from a wide cross section of Americans for evidence that this port deal is in our best interest seems like a mistake any way you look at it.

An expectation of humility coupled with accountability in leadership shouldn’t just apply to President Bush and his administration. I would think Senator Ted Kennedy and many other senior American politicians on both sides of the aisle would benefit from a lecture on what it means to be a good steward of the people. As a member of the U.S. military, I am required to attend annual lectures on all kinds of issues from sexual harassment to ethics. Our top leaders might also benefit from regularly scheduled mandatory attendance lectures geared towards their own unique positions of stewardship. After all, God created all men (and women) equal so let’s have the same high expectations from our elected leaders as we do from anyone serving in uniform.

Some annual mandatory workshops I would like to see self-imposed by our Legislative and Executive branches:

Avoiding Rhetoric and Doublespeak
Staying in Touch with Constituents
The Right to Redress
Rights Reserved to States and the People
The Meaning of Accountability
Stop Avoiding the Question Just Because you Don’t Like The Question
Responsibility Starts at the Top

President Bush could have dispelled this hubbub by having the White House produce a nice color report with some bullet points in it convincing us the Dubai company taking over the ports is completely safe. Instead he threatened a veto which made him appear hostile and secretive. For a man already beleagured by critics, it was an ill advised move, in my opinion.

Indications from the blogosphere and various pundits do seem to indicate that the uproar over Dubai is much ado about nothing. But perception is reality, and I hope the President will work harder to build a positive perception of his administration. Although, to be fair, nothing he could possibly do would convince a certain intellectually damaged segment of our population that he is doing the best he can in the face of an incredible cacophony of yammering fools.

Iraq the Model reports on the situation in Baghdad after terrorists blew up a Shia holy site yesterday:

Ayatollah Sistani reacted quickly to the escalating anger by issuing a fatwa that forbids his followers from “Taking any action against Sunni sites” obviously to discourage his followers from carrying out retaliatory attacks on Sunni mosques.
Sistani has also demanded a 7 day mourning and to consider it a week off but the government so far has announced only a 3 day official mourning.

Muqtada cut his tour in Lebanon and is heading back to Baghdad, he called on his followers from Beirut to “have self-control and refrain from violence”.

Right now there’s heavy deployment for the police and other security forces with more frequent checkpoints that are stop-searching cars more often than they usually do.

Sporadic gunfire is heard in different spots in Baghdad but no one knows for sure if the firing meant clashes or mere angry shooting in the air.

There are bad guys and there are good guys, and in Iraq, it’s very confusing trying to figure out who is who. What is important to note is that Iraqi leaders both spiritual and politicial, are calling for calm and trying to minimize the violence and bloodshed. It will be important for authorities here to quickly determine whether these acts were perpetrated from outside Iraq as many suspect, and to deal with those involved harshly.

Iraq can’t heal if old wounds keep being ripped open. It’s easy to hate America, but America has nothing to do with this particular form of sectarian cancer. It has infected Iraq and the Middle East for generations and centuries.

Morally bankrupt terrormongers continue stirring up trouble in Iraq.

The day after a bomb on a Baghdad street killed 23 people, another bomb in the mainly Sunni city of Samarra destroyed the golden dome of one of the Al Askari Mosque, one of the holiest Shiite shrines in Iraq. The Associated Press reports that although no one was killed in the blast, the destruction of the mosque’s dome sparked demonstrations and calls for revenge.

More importantly, voices of reason were heard in Iraq today. While idiots fired mortars at the U.S. Embassy and tried to spread more seeds of hate, other leaders called for restraint and peaceful protest:

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the spiritual head of Iraq’s Shiite Muslims, called for peaceful demonstrations, and urged his followers not to attack Sunni Muslims or their holy places. The Sunni Endowment, the government agency in charge of maintaining Sunni mosques and shrines, also condemned the destruction of the mosque. The agency said it would investigate

There are powerful voices calling for reason, dialogue and constructive debate. Those insurgents who don’t listen to these calls will not live to see a peaceful Iraq. Human rights are for humans, not animalistic murderers whose only negotiation tool is death.

BAGHDAD — Amid growing tensions between U.S. officials and Iraq’s pro-Iranian Shiite political parties, America’s ambassador warned Monday that unless Iraq’s factions unite to form a non-sectarian government free from ties to militias, the U.S. will withdraw funding for the nation’s security forces.

The warning came on a day of bloodshed that underscored the dangers of the deepening political stalemate that has taken hold since Iraqis voted in December for their first permanent government since the fall of former dictator Saddam Hussein.