Three months down...

...nine (in theory) to go.

Howdy all. Tomorrow marks three months since Ed left on his 12-month, all expenses paid trip to Iraq. That would make it 1/4 over, most of which was spent in lovely Fort Dix.

Now, I'd be hard pressed to say which he preferred. Despite doing some fancy maneuvering, and volunteering for several jobs nobody else wanted, Ed has ended up "at division." Basically, that's the headquarters - full of tedious busy work and fires to put out when people mis-speak. And he gets to spend 10 to 12 hours/day there, "chained to a computer."

Given what been coming through the Internet to me, he's alternating between bored and frustrated. I.e. he was recently told to describe the Yazidi bombing as "last gasp of a desperate enemy." Sound vaguely familiar?

Yet, despite the reports of horrific bombings and assassinations, Ed swears there is some good news to speak of. For example, just this past weekend leaders of two of the most powerful tribes in the Diyala area, along with many others, had a big meeting and swore to work together and help fight the insurgents (known among the Bush administration and mainstream media as "al Qaeda"). To paraphrase Ed, 'it looks like we are starting to accept that while there isn't much in the way of a strong central identity, there is a strong regional and tribal one, and that maybe we should try working within that.' You know, instead of trying to force them to be like us. (NOTE 8/23 - apparently even good news comes with bad).

Anyway, it's hard to know exactly what I can post and what he's telling me that shouldn't exactly be placed on the Internet for everyone to see. Hopefully he'll write something soon, because his take on events is often, well, hilarious.

Until then, self-censoringly yours,

Kathy