From the Peanut gallery - 01/07/2005

Well this is a special Peanut Gallery for two reasons. First off this is my first full month here in Iraq so that’s a good milestone the second reason is that this blog passed over 1000 views. That is extremely impressive to me that means that there are at least 4 other people that refresh this site on a regular basis. I have been incredibly surprised by the response this site has generated. I’ve met people from all sides of the political spectrum & people from all over the world. When I first started this it was really just a way for my family and a few friends to keep up with me while I’m out here. I guess it still it’s just now I have a few more friends.

I’d like to take this time to thank a few groups of people that have really been integral to me. First of I have to thank the posters at Game Assault and Gaming-Age. They were some of the first people I told and they have been really cool. Besides that they are consistently funny people (if you have a dark sense of humor) so thanks for helping me keep my sanity.

The next group I have to thank are the bloggers that have fallen into my corner of the Internet. I think it’s cool to go to other people’s sites and see my links on their sites that means people like me, they really like me.

The last group that I have to thank is my friends and family. I really appreciate the emails and I look forward to them everyday it’s the only thing that really makes these days in dullsville go by. Thank you all for checking on me it’s really cool, on to the gallery...

Q:
I have to applaud you on your editorial skills. Your writings are vivid...

A:
Thanks on that. Hell, I never even read those things to be honest with you. I just write these snippets on the fly and post them up. Maybe one day I'll go back and read them all to see if I even make sense.

Q:
When are you due for a break from the day-to-day ordeal in Iraq? I know you may think of it as something you do and yet don't like to think about for obvious reasons.

A:
I’m slated to leave out of here on May 30 but I probably won’t leave until that next week sometime in early June. I’m supposed to hook up with a friend of my who is working in Poland right now and we are going to hang in Berlin for a few days. That is all pie in the sky talk right now once it gets closer to that time we will see what’s up. After that I’m headed back to the states and I’ll be off for a few more weeks and I really don’t know what else will come after that.

It doesn’t cross my mind much not because I want to jinx myself or anything like that. The one lesson the tidal wave taught us if anything is that you can’t escape. It comes for you whenever and however, it’s much more mundane than that. Could you tell me what you will be doing 5 months from now?

Q:
You seem very superficial when it comes to women. I don't think you would like for someone to talk about you like you do the women in your posts.

A:
Depends on whom you are talking about. The Hamburgler? No, I wouldn't but, I would want someone to tell me to get some Noxzema or some stridex pads.

Superficial? No. High standards? Yes. The way I see it any woman that is going to be with me has two jobs.

1. Make me look better (I already look good). That is not just in the physical sense. That means I need a woman that can handle herself in all situations and if I need her to handle something for me she will in a manner that represents me the way I want to be represented and she will never let me slip. She is always looking out for my best interests.
2. Make everyone in the room feel like a sinner when she shows up. I want every woman in the room to envy her and I want every man to lust for her.

If she can't do those two things I don't need her and she doesn't want me. I won't even approach a woman if I don't think she can do that. If I've ever asked a woman out on a date it's solely becasue I think she can fit that build. So to me I think a woman should consider me asking them out a compliment on the highest order because that's what I'm thinking when I ask her out. I don't ask people out just because. Part 2 is the easy part, it is the part 1 you really want. If you ask people that know me I don't compromise in my values or my vision. Either I get everything I want or I'll pick up my toys and go home.

Q:
How many nanoseconds did it take for you to hit the ground after that missile attack Slick?

A:
None, it happened too fast. You don’t even realize what when on until it was over. Had it been closer to me my reaction may have been different. The rule of thumb around here is if you can hear the explosion then your probably ok. You don’t want to be the person that didn’t hear it.

Q:
It seems you should have a good assessment on the level of the security there. Do you feel at all comfortable now?

A:
Comfortable is a relative phrase. I mean I feel comfortable most of the time and I'm not worried about getting shot at or kidnapped. I may get a bit nervous if I’m out at night by myself or something but that’s the kind of paranoia that you would have anywhere. I'm not even worried about missiles and mortars so much because the combat here has changed from what it was 4 months ago.

What does worry me is my proximity to Iraqi nationals. I don't trust them and I know it's easy for one of them to hide in the bathroom or around the corner and stab someone or something like that. I walk around with a heightened sense of awareness and I work with Marines on my for self defense. I do boxing and the same stuff you get out of boot camp when they let me. I don't walk around in a constant panic but, I am aware of where I go and who I see. I am very random about how I do just about everything. I don’t eat at the same time don’t get up at the same time take different routes from one place to another. I don’t want to give anyone an excuse to try me.

Q:
Do you get scared when you have to go off base?

A:
Scared? No, not scared I wouldn't be able to focus if I was scared. I was scared before I got here and on the way here. I am apprehensive and I am more attentive to my surroundings. At the same time I have to temper that statement with the fact that I’ve never been shot at. The fact that I’ve never been in danger explains my view.

Another thing is when you get into a dangerous situation you go into fight or flee mode. I can’t fight so that leaves me with flee. I could run but where am I going to go? When you can do neither all you can do is sit back and find a happy place.

Q:
Tell me why is the Iraqi police are such a "soft" target. I mean, I would be dead inside the car and wouldn't allow anybody to drag me into the street to a predetermined ending (my death)! One likes to think one would act this way and not beg for mercy cause I think mercy is not in season. I can understand the IED problem but in too many cases it appears at least from the reports that the Iraqis are not either putting up a fight or fighting period. I remember when my wife and I were in Basque Spain. Real military personnel guard the police headquarters and I didn't think they were window dressing. In Spain, as you know, the IED was mastered long ago and is a favorite medium for mayhem.

A:
The short answer is the insurgents are better trained and better organized. I think the biggest myth that we have out there is that the military came in here and just whooped ass. Yeah we did because the Iraqi troops realized there was about to be a new sheriff in town and there was no reason to die for nothing. So they took their AK-47s, changed into civilian clothes and waited.

I can only give you a layman’s analysis. The real military personnel are playing for the other team. The nationalist insurgents were part of the military and police force. They are the ones with the tactics and skills. They were trained in intimidation, torture, and terror. They were doing things like this before the US got here its now just open season.

The way I see it someone had the brilliant idea of banning the Baath members from holding any positions in the government or holding any civil service jobs. Well, even the most casual observer of Iraqi life knows that being a member of the Baath party was the only way that you could work in Iraq. It didn’t matter if you believed it you only had to make the person hiring you believe you did. So what a particular someone did by banning Baathists from getting jobs is basically

1. Prevented the ones most qualified to maintain order and rebuild the country from working.



2. Gave a reason for a highly educated, trained, and recently unemployed workforce time to stew, plot, and plan. I believe the saying is idle hands are the devil's playthings.

The current government of exiles and halfwits are actually fighting the better-trained and organized old government of lead by the Baath party's crème de la crème on one hand and foreign trained insurgents on the other. Either way both groups have more training than the current defense forces remember by and large those in power in Iraq today are the ones the Baath party oppressed. You don't train opressed people how to fight. US forces provide the only backbone that the current government has. I don’t think I needed to come to Iraq to tell you that. The most telling thing about this whole thing came from a Marine that was talking to another Marine that I happened to overhear. When you read this put on your best redneck Southern accent and that makes it not only telling but damned funny. This discussion was verbatim

Sgt – Hey man did ja hear that they offed the governor up in Baghdad?

Cpl – Are you serious?

Sgt – Shit, yeah man. From what I saw they damn near dragged them fuckers clean out the car. Shot ‘em point blank, sure did.

Cpl – No shit?

Sgt – Nope, I tell you what man, if dem motherfuckers came up to me and said “Hey! Guess what man? You’re the new governor.” I’d be like fuck that man! Y’all can git Saddam or any other motherfucker you want to git shot up. I ain’t doing it.