Friday, May 23, 2008
Imperial Life in the Emerald City...a review
When I told people I was going to Iraq, several of them recommended this book. All of those that recommended it were civilians. When I got here I went on Amazon and ordered it. It came in Monday and I finished it last night.
This book is one of those pieces written by a journalist for the Washington Post who tries to say that EVERYTHING done in the early days of the Iraq War was done wrong and those in charge never had a clue. Now I am not a politician...I loved the West Wing but that hardly qualifies me.
However I would like to speak to a couple of points in this book:
In it he says that Military members eat daily on food provided to them, by Haliburton, for free, while local business suffer due to our having these meals "given" to us.
OK...this isn't something radical and new. Many of us live and work right here in the Green Zone so having food near by is a blessing. Here is another point. It is DANGEROUS out there! In the three weeks I have been here I have had to "duck and cover," at least 20 times. One of them was a little too close for my liking. So you are saying we should risk our lives and go outside the Green Zone, where the bad guys are, just to get some Chinese Food? No thanks, I will eat in here where it is safer than out there.
In the book he goes on and on about how people sit by the pool in their off time.
So what! It is 120 outside everyday by noon. We are thousands of miles from our loved ones. Some of the Soldiers spend days and days out in the desert on convoys, so if they want to chill by the pool what is wrong with that...yes there is a pool here....yes it was Sadam's...damn right I am going to swim in it if I want to it is here so am I so what is so wrong about that?
In order to give this book full representation I am going to buy Paul Bremer's book about being the viceroy in Iraq in the days following the fall of Sadam so I can have both sides of this coin.
If you ask me it is people like this, Rajiv Chandrasekaran, who wrote Imperial Life in the Emerald City, that are making this war so bad in the eyes of the world. They want to make a quick buck and the best way to do that is to expound on the bad and drum it into the ground.
Yes mistakes have been made...the President has even said that, but WE are HERE and WE are TRYING, what are you doing Mr. Chandrasekaran? Oh yes...you are cashing checks.
This book is one of those pieces written by a journalist for the Washington Post who tries to say that EVERYTHING done in the early days of the Iraq War was done wrong and those in charge never had a clue. Now I am not a politician...I loved the West Wing but that hardly qualifies me.
However I would like to speak to a couple of points in this book:
In it he says that Military members eat daily on food provided to them, by Haliburton, for free, while local business suffer due to our having these meals "given" to us.
OK...this isn't something radical and new. Many of us live and work right here in the Green Zone so having food near by is a blessing. Here is another point. It is DANGEROUS out there! In the three weeks I have been here I have had to "duck and cover," at least 20 times. One of them was a little too close for my liking. So you are saying we should risk our lives and go outside the Green Zone, where the bad guys are, just to get some Chinese Food? No thanks, I will eat in here where it is safer than out there.
In the book he goes on and on about how people sit by the pool in their off time.
So what! It is 120 outside everyday by noon. We are thousands of miles from our loved ones. Some of the Soldiers spend days and days out in the desert on convoys, so if they want to chill by the pool what is wrong with that...yes there is a pool here....yes it was Sadam's...damn right I am going to swim in it if I want to it is here so am I so what is so wrong about that?
In order to give this book full representation I am going to buy Paul Bremer's book about being the viceroy in Iraq in the days following the fall of Sadam so I can have both sides of this coin.
If you ask me it is people like this, Rajiv Chandrasekaran, who wrote Imperial Life in the Emerald City, that are making this war so bad in the eyes of the world. They want to make a quick buck and the best way to do that is to expound on the bad and drum it into the ground.
Yes mistakes have been made...the President has even said that, but WE are HERE and WE are TRYING, what are you doing Mr. Chandrasekaran? Oh yes...you are cashing checks.
Labels: Imperial Life in the Emerald City, Iraq, kuwait, Navy
Saturday, May 03, 2008
The Kuwaiti Facilities
Sorry this post took a bit of time to post...I started it two weeks ago and never got around to finishing it. OK...now lets do this thing!
Ok I am now in Baghdad, but first a few words on using the "facilities" in Kuwait.
Ok I am now in Baghdad, but first a few words on using the "facilities" in Kuwait.
To begin with There is alot of desert in Kuwait. I know all of us have seen deserts in movies and on TV but there is no real way to wrap your mind around one until you are in one. Sand blowing around you and it is all you see for miles and miles...sand! The sun is at 120 degrees by 10 am!
Now your living in a tent and you have to go...Well then you are going in a port-a-potty. Because, you see, there is no indoor plumbing in the desert.
I have known some people in my life who would never, ever use a outdoor toilet...I men they would probably go in their pants before going out in a port-a-john.
No such luck in Kuwait.
In these there is graffiti expounding the wonders of Chuck Norris and others. There is not alot of room and if you are lucky there is toilet paper. They hired these locals to come in every few hours and clean them up but some days are better than others. Now here is the real kicker. They didnt position some of these near lights. So if you gotta go and it is night time you have to go in the stone dark of the desert....so bring a flash light.
Now I am in Baghdad...where in this area they have in door plumbing....I never thought I would be so happy to hear a toilet flush in my life!
Labels: I/A, Iraq, Iraqi Freedom, kuwait, Navy
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
