My life has resumed its normal pace. I once again find myself fully engulfed in the terminology of technology, which I much prefer to the terminology of war. SAN, LAN, WAN and others are much more comfortable than FUBAR, SNAFU and VBIED. I’m not sure why military/government acronyms tend to be longer than private sector ones, but they do.
As I absorb the changes at my company – rapid growth, a larger staff under my management and new office locations, I am busy enough that I don’t think much about Iraq. Except when I’m sleeping.
I’ve dreamed about the place a number of times. The dreams are vivid, lucid and haunting.
Once, I was with my family in a market, and a mob formed. Once, I was in a convoy desperately trying to avoid being blown up. I don’t know what my subconscious is doing, but I do know Iraq will always be with me.
The path ahead seems unclear. Could we have used more troops? Yes. Doubling the troops would change the equation drastically. Half a million troops would be even better. The problem is we don’t have the raw numbers. There simply aren’t that many available troops. Can political negotiation still solve Iraq’s low-intensity civil war? I’m dubious.
American troops are doing some good but the security situation for common Iraqis is abominable and Americans don’t seem to have the will to follow through with what we started. Iraqis pay much more dearly for our mistakes and lack of willpower than we do – for now.
And I keep dreaming my dreams.