My New Politics Blog

Since I have nothing new to contribute in the way of straight observations and in order to keep this area clean of politics I have created a new site.

Enjoy it... I am sure everyone will love to hate me.

Abu Yusef

Beirut

Israel's attack on a civilian airport in Beirut is essentially a war crime and an act of war against Lebanon. It is unjustified, foolhardy and quite frankly; criminal.

Salaam
Abu Yusef

Nuremburg and Wise Guys

Plans never go as we intend, though we get through and things usually work out somehow. I have a habit of being over confident about my memory. My wife can’t read maps with roman character with enough speed to be useful and gets… frustrated when we get lost. The typical question is how long does a man have to be lost before he will ask for directions. In the case of Nuremburg the answer on Saturday was about an hour and a half.

My poor wife had to put up with my stubbornness while I had to bear her sharp sarcasm. The word mutahekima (sarcastic) hardly does justice to my wife’s tongue in such moments… which I am sad to say was justified due to a crying baby and our state of mismanaged location. It still didn’t help me think and look around for signs. We finally came upon a man of African origin with his German wife? Girlfriend? Who were walking in a residential area. He spoke English very well and they gave us perfect directions. Finally after an hour and a half driving around the city we got to the zoo or “Tiergarten”.

On a humorous side note when I talk about kindergarten to my wife in Arabic I almost always accidentally say rudet al-hiawan which means “animal garden” rather than ruwdet al-atfal which means children garden… It is of course especially funny for my wife when I am referring to my own past and my attendance at the “animal garden”.

I am going to side track a bit more actually. Arabic has a similarity in semantics to English. It has relationship between being wise and being sarcastic much like in American English. In American English we sometimes call a sarcastic person a “wise guy” a person who is wise could be a “wise man”. In Arabic the word for Sarcasm also has a root in wise… the word “mutahekim” meaning sarcastic or if you like “wise guy”… and hakim meaning wise, or referring to a wise man… Ok I’ll be quiet on the semantics.

We pulled into park and noticed many people were there that day. It was a nice day with a cool breeze and the sun was shining. Leila had been looking forward to this day since the day before and she was not disappointed. The zoo which is quite famous in Germany had everything you hope for in a zoo you would take children to.

Leila giggled as she watched the monkeys, stood in awe at the massive silver back Gorilla and squealed with delight when she saw the Giraffe. Leila is old enough now that she can say almost all the animals we saw by name. She saw kangaroos and wallabies (who were unfortunately napping until we came by later) swimming polar bears and seals. The elephant was being fed by some kids so Leila got to get within only a couple feet of its long trunk. She loved the big cats, the lion, the tiger, the snow leopard and the cheetah.

Eman was particularly excited about the Cheetah. She had been watching Cheetahs on TV since coming from Syria on the nature shows and is completely enamored by them. She held Leila and they watched the Cheetah for a long time in silence as it pranced back and forth in its Garden. She told me once that she was willing to move to Africa just so she could get a baby cheetah.

We finally left after seeing the condors and eagles, to include the bald American Eagle. I had to talk a good talk to convince my wife there was no threat from bird flu in seeing them. She has been going nutty about that lately. We decided to get dinner in the city and we went to the market where there was an Iraqi stand among the hundred or so craft shops. A man there was selling incense to another so I continued on.

We finally reached a restaurant called Vapiano. It was an Italian place where you pretty much told them which ingredients to use or picked one of their pre made recipes. We both ate for a reasonable price. We sat outside and a man off in the vegetable market below the beautiful church (I think it was the Marien Dom) was playing the accordion and it was surprisingly a nice addition to the atmosphere. Leila ate most of Eman’s fish and loved her pasta. She also ate from my chicken and salad, but the pasta was very spicy and I didn’t give her any. My pasta was chicken and linguine, in tomato sauce with hot peppers, garlic and pine nuts. We left the city, with Eman driving, down a country road heading into the sunset.

Of course that wasn’t as nice as it sounds we could hardly see for the glare in our eyes. But it sure would have made the whole end sound good if I hadn’t decided to be a wise guy.

Salaam
Abu Yusef

Voting and Boycotting Elections

A common trend in the Arab world this decade first in Israel and now in Iraq is the boycott of elections. While this is done usually as protest to show that the election and its results are illegitimate the action does little more than ensure that their political voice that believes a government or election illegitimate will not be heard at all. If you feel it is pointless to vote you are a defeatist.

Let’s look at Israel. Israeli Arabs are 20% of the population but rarely make up a proportionate amount of the electing populace. If that 20% showed up together they could have nearly equaled the labor party and surpassed Likud. That is the kind of parliamentary power the Muslim and Christian Arabs could have in Israel and they refuse to exercise it. Imagine a 20% Arab block in the Israeli parliament. It would beat out each and every orthodox party. Chances of a satisfactory administration and agreements with Palestinians could be greatly improved. If I was a Palestinian I would protest the poor voter turnout of Israeli Arabs with signs saying things like “Be my voice idiots!” They are after all the only people in Israel who actually care about Palestinians in a more than “ya haram those stupid poor uneducated Arabs are in squalor” sort of way.

In Iraq the same happened to Sunni (though they showed for the referendum) they complained that the election was a sham (ironic considering that Bush and Jafaari are butting heads like two goats suffering from severe… never mind…). Ok maybe it was… but that never stopped them from showing up and voting in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon on referendums to extend the term of the presidents tenure… so why suddenly not show up to an election that while it may be a sham is at least a pretty sham with more than just one name and a yes and no block.

I have always voted even when I didn’t like the candidates because I always felt that at least I could help influence a few issues that I care about. At least I tried. I feel the same way for Americans who say “oh it doesn’t matter” but then go complain about the president. If you don’t like him why didn’t you go vote against him!? Enough said on that.

Here is an interesting article BTW

Salaam
Abu Yusef

I am Still Here... No Really...

Friday is here and we continue shutting down our unit. There isn’t actually all that much to do. But that is the Army. Sudden crisis and long waits in between with monotonous paperwork. Usually a crisis is also followed by monotonous paperwork. Sometimes we have invented crises. For example about a week ago our logistics officer called the commander frantically after we had all already gone home. I had been planning to take my daughter to the little German circus that night but ended up spending the evening making work calls from home. Apparently someone in the next higher unit wanted some information that they couldn’t use for anything whatsoever just because they wanted it. So much for my evening.

My wife sat frustrated and kept asking “are you going to be done soon?” I had no choice I had to continue. Oh well. Such is life. We ended up showing at the circus on Sunday (late we only saw half the show). My Leila has been raving about the horsies and pretending to be an acrobat and a juggler all week.

I have tried on several occasions to start writing but every time I resort to either politics or religion, two subjects as we all know I try to avoid on here. I have written a long rant or essay (take your pick) about the cartoons and the poor handling of it from multiple sides, about Israel and how eastern ethnocentrism by Arab Israelis if separated from religion could actually return an eastern and Arabic flavor to the place by creating a dialogue and friendship with the lower class mistreated Arab Jews (almost half the Jewish population of Israel). Of course Arab Israelis don’t actually show up to vote

I also wrote complaints about various versions of politics about the Iraq conflict that would probably annoy just about everyone of any side that visits or used to visit this page in one way or another (if anyone at all visits it these days… a smaller audience is best anyway in my view…)

I went through my email and I had received on my Maktoob account the link to a soldier support page. It turned out to be a neo-con apologist site with links to anti-Islamic pages. Thanks guys. Of course there are factions in America who believe that the war on Iraq and Afghanistan are nothing less than a new crusade meant to usher in a new age of Christian evangelism in a so far mostly untouchable part of the world to Christian conversion: the Muslim world.

Go ahead go to Pat Robertson’s page see the hateful stuff he says about Islam. This guy and his people are main stream too! The Grahams who are just as bad are by the way the personal spiritual advisors to the president.

There was a former soldier now in Congress who once compared the religious fanaticism of some people in the US government as nearly equal to that of the Taliban. I imagine were it not for our constitutional blocks that might not be far from the case. But I digress.

Another off topic rant. Lou Dobbs (who I am not particularly fond of) wrote up an article and he discussed something about the war and immigration and port security and how leaders don’t listen to the middle class and how they are the backbone of the country. It is kind of interesting but technically speaking we don’t have a “lower class” in America. Nobody would admit to being part of it. Instead we have the middle class. Many people who are well to do also don’t want to admit that statistically speaking they are in the upper class. They are upper middle class. I guess to be lower class you have to work at McDonalds or pull welfare checks, and to be upper class you have to have a million dollars or more. The other 90% of the country is apparently middle class making the word have no real meaning except for “Just about everyone”.

We were planning on trying to go to the zoo in Nuremburg tomorrow but it looks like rain all weekend. Maybe next weekend will be better. In Iraq I couldn’t get enough rain hear I wish I could see the sun occasionally. Is there no balance? On that note there are fears that Germany and Czech will have floods again this year.

Salaam
Abu Yusef

Long Time Coming

Last night as I sat down to a tall glass of hot Ceylon tea from the Ahmad tea company (made from loose leaf with a couple cardamom pods) in an old canning jar instead of a real glass because I just like doing that, I thought about my old blog, and the commenters and the fact that I had neglected it for so long.

I guess I owe an update. Last anyone heard I had gone on vacation back in early September. It was wonderful but short, and it was hard to leave. The hardest thing being singing my daughter to sleep the last time. Joseph or Yusef however you prefer was pretty unresponsive at that point though amazingly large and (thank God) very healthy.

That seems so long ago now. Since returning little Jojo (that is our nick name for him) is a smiley baby, a flirt and is starting to eat regular foods. It is hard to believe this is the same child, but he is. Honestly my time in Iraq now seems a distant memory (as did this Blog since it is part of my Iraq experience in a way) and I often feel like I have memories from another person planted in my head.

It feels often as if there has been no separation for me and my family… but sometimes it is confusingly obvious. My wife who used to want more salad after a year in America craves it less… while I more. I drink my tea with a little sugar. I drink it almost scalding and now she waits until it cools off before drinking it, the reverse was once true. We have created new habits. We drink tea every night together after putting the children to bed and either talk or watch TV on the couch.

I guess I owe a bit of an explanation for what happened to me. I think it should be fairly obvious why I didn’t Blog while I was on my first vacation. I wanted to see my family. After I returned it was two weeks of transferring authority… and then I had to turn in my Army Laptop back to the unit and return to my own unit. The AO was turned over to 101st and I proceeded to Kuwait. From that time computer and internet connectivity was extremely limited. I returned from Kuwait to find I had a new mission. To work setting up a training school for the Iraqi Army for the last month of my deployment. It was like a dream. After a year of being stuck behind a desk I would finally have a full time opportunity to work with Iraqis as my primary job.

We stayed on an Iraqi Army base and had no internet no normal phone lines. We could still go to the American side for that in our Russian vehicles given to us by the Iraqi Army… and eat there… but it was a trek. There was a lot to do. Receive equipment, prepare classrooms, and the finally to prepare the Iraqi instructors. I left just as the first group of students arrived.

After that I returned to my base and waited for two weeks for a plane to get us out of the country and returned to Germany. My unit had made it. We went a year in Iraq without a single death, and with only 1 combat related injury! So we thought.

Unfortunately fate had other plans. On Christmas Eve night a group of soldiers went out to a German club, and returned late at night. One soldier who was only 19 years old went to bed (I believe with significant help) and died of alcohol poisoning. A colleague of mine, a good guy, returned from Iraq to this news that he had lost one of his subordinate soldiers. He had tears in his eyes. While earlier groups to return (I was in the first wave of the unit) returned to joyous reunion, the commander of the dead soldier in his unit reunited in a somber mix of melancholy and joy.

Over the next couple days there were two more hospitalization and several detainments for drunken driving. Now my unit has around 500 people in it give or take. So this is not so large a number in some ways… but as the Colonel says one is too many. It is my understanding that alcohol related incidents like these are actually fairly common for returning single soldiers and even for some married soldiers.

The truth is after a year of regimented living the soldiers simply could not deal with the fact that they were now free during certain hours of the day. Young foolish and invincible they run full force into their old pursuits of pleasure, fast driving on the Autobahn, and drinking games.

Of course the Army is dedicated to not losing soldiers but there is only so much it can do. Before any of these soldiers were given several hours of interactive classes about readjusting to family life, and over an hour dedicated exclusively to alcohol.

My reunion would come later… and the week before I could go back to America to get my family was actually very difficult and lonely for me knowing that everyone else had their families, while I had just an empty house with my family still in America. The week, though it seemed long, ended. Delta gave me a free change to my flight time (I had bought earlier tickets on the hope I could get back earlier and get to my friend Sara’s wedding… I didn’t but my wife made it) I came back through New York and returned home to the air port to be picked up by my brother.

The reason I was picked up by my brother is a long story. When I was still in Iraq I had a lot of time to think in the three weeks with almost nothing to do leading up to my flight to Germany. I realized that I would be hard pressed to remain in Germany alone from the return date on the 23rd of December until the eleventh of January. I had already told my family that I wasn’t coming. The scheming wheels turned in my head and I thought to myself… What if I surprised everyone (more exclusively the women since I would need accomplices for my plan) and showed up unexpectedly.

We bought the tickets and canceled my brother’s ticket (he had been planning to accompany my wife to Germany to ease the hardship of traveling with two children, spend a week with us and come home) When I came at 1100 at night on the 1st my Grandma was playing cards with my mom and sitting at the table. My mother couldn’t see me as her back was turned to the door and thought it was just my dad. My grandma started gaping and staring like something was wrong with her. That was when the hugs and kisses began. They woke my wife telling her Leila had awoken sick and she came upstairs surprised as well. I held her for a long time. It turns out that while my mother, grandmother and wife were unaware that I was coming… three out of my four brothers, my dad, and all my dad’s friends and even some of my mom’s and my wife’s friends did. That was how I returned to my family. The next morning Leila who recognized me was happy to see me, though she acted as though nothing had happened.

We had a good ten days together and then my wife, Jojo and Leila departed for Germany. That was when Leila became colder to me for two weeks. She wasn’t so shocked at my return as much as the uprooting from Ohio and her uncles and grandparents. That was a shock. For a time she wanted Mommy, her only constant for everything. She has adjusted now, and we have lots of fun. Thanks to my seven year old brother she is obsessed with Starwars (it must be every American man of Generation Xs dream to have a daughter who wants to sit and watch Starwars with him). I bought her some plastic light sabers that we play with. The one issue we do have is that her iron is low. The doctor gave us Iron drops but we can’t get her to swallow them. We aren’t sure what to do.

In the meantime my unit is shutting down and we are working on that. It is going smoothly. I got a cholesterol test and I no longer had high cholesterol… though I do need to lower my bad cholesterol and increase the good. Easy enough. Get rid of the vegetable oil, and use olive and canola oils switch to non-hydrogenised tub margarine instead of real butter for toast and frying, and take some flax seed oil pills everyday. I have already increased my salad intake by a large amount.

The truth is now that I am home and with my family I realize how much I want to live so that I can see them live. The scare with my father this year and his cardio myopathy was enough for me. Maybe doing these things can’t stop it. I don’t know. What I do know is that I will try my best to keep my heart and body as healthy as I can. I figure it is easy to change ones diet if you learn what is good for you that you like. Now if only I could get myself to exercise more.

My wife has started reviewing chemistry books from the library to remind herself what she once learned and to teach he the English chemistry vocabulary. Unfortunately this is more difficult thanks to the nationalist measures put into place on Syria’s education system that were meant to stop the brain drain and to tout the “superiority” of the Arab language no doubt. Syria is the only country from my understanding that teaches science completely with Arabic terms. While this does help the brain drain problem it cripples science in Syria two fold. First it makes new research less accessible to Syrian scientists due to a deliberate language barrier, and second that science which is new “discovered” by Syrian scientists is often actually stolen from other nations science programs, and since there is less familiarity with research in other nations thanks to the language barriers people get away with it.

Despite this barrier she is doing well and is also starting to practice for her English proficiency exam so that she can start to take classes. We don’t know where we are going after next January but at that point I will still have about two years left to serve (by my own choice) and my goal is to get her citizenship and well on the way to a degree before I get out. I also plan to take some classes of my own in the meantime. My intent? Still Speech Pathology. This is the longest I’ve stuck to an idea about a Masters in a while and I think that that is really what I want to do.

We bought my wife a Mercedes. It was 3000 dollars and it is her first car. She is driving very well for someone who just learned and I am proud of how she is doing. Certainly she is a different woman in many ways than the one I left here a year ago. But some things never change. When I’m in the car smelling the musty smell of manure in the fields and listening to my wife complain about the village living being so remote (despite the fact that she can now drive herself), I often smile and think to myself; I’m home… I am finally home.

Salaam
Abu Yusef

More Fire

A group of Iraqis arrived at the hospital a few days ago. Their injury happened to be my specialty: burns. As we all recall I can empathize with a burn victim quite easily due to my own experiences. The group came from an Iraqi Army unit to the north of my area. There truck was hit by an IED and they lost three of the comrades at arms. The rest had second degree flash burns over there face and hands nearly identical more or less to my own ancient injuries. None were quite as deep as myself or Naqeeb’s burns had been in the face at least. On the arms however some got burned on the under side of the arm where my own burns had been on top. The area they were burned on was decidedly more painful.

In the meantime the translator Salim was back. I made a point of eating the Iftar with him last night. He had gotten engaged and had a new ring. I congratulated him and apologized that I hadn’t been there to get the baleh he had brought for me to take on vacation. Unfortunately I had flown out for vacation before he returned, but he hadn’t forgotten me. For those who don’t know baleh are dates, though they are not the dry ones. They are yellow, and though a bit sour and grainy, still sweet. My wife loves them, and I was sad that I was unable to bring any back for her. Another translator told me that he brought me some regular dates for Ramadan, an important tradition because it gives the body the quick sugar fix it needs after the stomach has been essentially asleep all day. Tonight I will call on them and retrieve the gift.

Many of the Iraqis I know have been watching the trial. The Iraqis I know from Hullabja are the most pleased, as are the Sunni Arabs… even the cynical ones. Unfortunately from what I heard of the city of Tikrit and in Palestine there were pro-Saddam rallies. I suppose on some level I understand why that is… knowing a bit about the attitudes and the political situation… but for the most part I do not. To me Saddam was a sadistic dog. By any objective standard that takes facts into account there is nothing about him that is honest or worth protesting. I would be hard pressed to be upset about anything that happened to him in the negative. But then I do have some standards so it would not be impossible.

My previous comments about Sunni Arabs in Iraq might have seemed a bit broad stroked. The truth of the matter is that it is true that many Sunni did suffer under Saddam, particularly those who were more religious or had ulterior political aspirations than the Ba’ath party line, or those who stood up to the corruption (that hasn’t changed with the Shia). In many cases the Sunni in general have become scapegoats for what the previous government did. Shia and Kurds recalling that there were no mass Sunni uprising against Saddam, and seeing Sunni faces as the main perpetuaters of the crimes that were commited. Unfortunately racist and ethnocentric repression can easily reverse if the dominant group changes.

That still doesn’t omit the fact that the government posts, and promotions gave special consideration to a person if they were a Sunni Arab… especially a secularist one, or one in the party. It is well known that even when some cities were only getting a couple hours of electricity during sanctions that the privileged sections of the city had 24 hour power, a section that was predominantly Sunni. It is a fact that if you were a Sunni of the right tribe (had the name or tribe Tikriti or the name Duri or a few others) that you could expect to benefit in anything and everything. That the officer corps of the Muhabarat and as well as the agents and the officers in the Army were predominantly well connected Sunnis. Thus we have the Tikrit riot, for Tikrit was Saddam’s shining star, being his home town (as well as the home town of his opposite, the great Saleh Addin, one of the few men in history who was praised by his friends and enemies alike).

Just like in Syria membership in the Ba’ath party, at least nominally, was the easiest way to get a job. If one wasn’t a member, then one better be able to explain why. Most members of the Ba’ath party were therefore not loyalists. While some areas in Iraq understand and employ former Iraqi military to the new military and police or to government offices thanks to Chalabi and his crew it is impossible for many to find jobs. One of the reason many former Ba’ath party members end up in the insurgency is not because of loyalty… but desperation. They do not care about the party, much like in Syria most of them signed up just so the could get a government job, rather than face unemployment after graduation. So here we have the people with the credentials and experience to do the jobs but that are barred because they were a member of a mostly meaningless party. Sure many people got their jobs do to nepotism and graft… but nepotism and graft to not necessarily assume incompetence, they make it more frequent certainly (FEMA) but don’t guaranty it. Further the long term experience of the Ba’athist in the government offices, which they gained on the job, is a valuable asset and the country is crazy to replace Sunni nepotism and graft where at least the individuals had developed SOME skills and knowledge of their jobs, with a Shia version of the same where the recipients have no experience.

Thus that is one reason I am not found of Chalabi despite the fact that he is at least somewhat popular within certain Shia circles.

I’ve been talking to my wife on the phone (tonight I will talk to her again) It sounds like she wants to be an RN. She could go to school at night, and in a few years (more like 5) when she graduates then maybe I can go back to school. I’ve been thinking about speech pathology, though writing is still my dream. I guess we’ll see. On that note I am about two thirds done with the written section and the description of the pictures in the children’s book I thought of. This is pretty exciting. I’ve never tried to write a children’s book before but it seems to be coming out quite well.

BTW I advise visiting Fairouz’s website. She has a pretty funny post about New Orleans.

Oh one more thing I actually learned that Japan has the death penalty. Many claim that civilized nations don’t have the death penalty and that countries that have it have higher crime rates and that it doesn't deter crime, but I would say that Modern Japan and Singapore are modern and both have low crime rates. I am actually an advocate of expanding the death penalty to serial rapists, child molesters, for those found pedaling hard drugs like LSD and Heroine to children and piracy (human trafficking etc.). My mom says she feels that way but her heart tells her that it is better to forgive.

Last night I started talking to a soldier who was injured by an IED and an Iraqi soldier who had been in a car accident. As I translated back and forth it turned out that the soldier had actually seen the Iraqis accident from a distance and that it was his unit that had called the helicopter for them. They both smiled at each other and nodded.

Salaam
Abu Yusef

Rain

Yesterday I woke up at about five in the morning, I ate a large granola bar drank a Gatorade and sat back and read a few Ray Bradbury short stories from the collection “A Medicine for Melancholy”. The stories were cute and I later went outside only to discover that I had a stomach flu of some kind.

After going to work for a couple hours I went to the hospital to get my temperature taken and get some Ibuprofen. I didn’t have a fever, but I didn’t feel very good either. I spent the rest of my day in my room eating microwave noodles and drinking lots of water. I watched “The Kingdom of Heaven” which I enjoyed despite its lack of historical accuracy in dealing with many of the historical persons it dealt with. It was still entertaining.

I woke up again at five to the sound of thunder and to the din of rain drops galloping down the metal roof. Rain. Finally. While they say it did rain once while I was gone on vacation it had not rained here since March as far as I was concerned. I went back to sleep and dreamed.

I have read complaints from Christians about the movie Kingdom of heaven. People who complain that the near agnosticism and lack of fury from certain characters is an anachronism, some Christians still see the crusades as a glorious fight against Muslim aggression. I know that among the movies faults this most certainly was not one. The third generation of colonist crusaders, the descendents of the initial crusaders, were by all accounts much more willing to make not only peace with the Arabs but also alliances. They had learned to embrace the culture and even learned the local languages and the local customs. The only fault on this is that Balian had this attitude, and came from France, where as the new colonists to Palestine who came from France at this time were more fanatical, intolerant and bloody.

The real Balian had not come from France however and the attitudes he displays about the value of saving the peoples’ lives over keeping the city were real. His attitude in my opinion is well displayed. There were many leaders at the time who would have preferred the whole city died fighting as Martyrs rather than save them. What the movie also didn’t mention is Salah Addins release price, where he asked for a certain amount of gold to release the western inhabitants of the city, but he had to pay his Army somehow for their trouble and this was the norm.

People complain that the characters were not religious enough and that this is also an anachronism. I disagree. Chaucer wrote not so far from this time and himself displays a reasonable about of skepticism toward the church and religion. Leaders often feign religion in history to gain their own ends of gold and riches. It is not uncommon then or today. Even the Romans privately questioned the reality of the myths they were taught and the same is most likely true, sometimes more sometimes less, in every generation. Certainly the regular declaration of blasphemy and heresy would have led to more doubt rather than less… but certainly a doubt that was less public. Is it such a far cry to imagine that there may well have been many others who questioned the established church and hard-line doctrine as Chaucer did? After all the precursors to the Protestant reformation were not far off.

I have read several books about the crusades recently and they sat beside me as I watched. It was fun doing a comparison, much as I had done early with “I Claudius” and Tacitus. I of course would have finished Thucydides history of the Peloponnesian war, but the translation or maybe simply the work itself bored me to near tears each time I tried.

I have come up with an idea for a children book. I will write it and see if an old friend of mine who is an art teacher would be interested in illustrating it. The idea actually came from a dream I had and I think it is actually quite an exciting story. Another story I had from a dream one time I never actually finished, but I have the idea recorded in case I ever get around to it.

When I got up this morning there were puddles of water standing on the drive way. The once fine dust in the front yard was dry already, but was now crumpled, almost curdled. The rainy season is on its way.

Salaam

Abu Yusef

Politics Wednesday

First I am going to apologize that today I have been less a-political. I will get back to normal I promise.

We are going to call this politics today for the next few posts because I am annoyed and want to vent. I have decided to include just enough in this and the preceding posts to make skin crawl on both the conservative American hawk side of things… and the consistently socialist yellers of the word “imperialism” side. I am myself my own animal. I disagree with Republicans on religion (at least the way the do things in American politics… I agree with their issues on the subject when it comes to foreign policy… but not when it comes to their lopsided view in favor of their evangelical constituency) but agree on issues of social and sexual morality. I disagree with Republicans on the environment and on how many Republicans ideas to reform our social programs means to cut funding to them or do away with them altogether rather than restructure them. I agree with the Democrats that the programs are necessary. But disagree with the amount of resistance they often give to improving their efficiency.

I think labor unions need to be more wide spread internationally, and that the US government and the rest of the G8 should influence foreign governments to stop putting down their peoples’ right to organized labor, and should impose heavy fines on companies found to be bribing individuals in foreign governments.

I am not opposed to trickle down economics… if the companies who gain tax breaks are creating jobs in the US. In principle it works. It doesn’t work in the environment of outsourcing… in out sourcing Americans do not get jobs from tax breaks to corporations, and thus unless measures are taken to discourage outsourcing I am against it.

I am against corporate bail outs and government subsidized industry through anything other than tariffs. Bail outs reduce the efficiency of corporations… and in the long reduce the competitiveness and viability of companies and of a nation.

I am opposed to free trade agreements with countries that are not on a near equal economic footing as the US because these agreements inevitably create a situation where imports and exports are not roughly equal. I am particularly opposed to it if the labor rights of people in the countries with whom the free trade agreements are made are not on par morally or more stringent than with those in the US, for that just makes a system where people from a country with respect for labor rights actually encourages its companies to go to other countries and find labor whom can be legally abused.

I am against the system of mineral rights as it exists worldwide, and against giving farm subsidies to corporations. In fact I am for higher taxes on corporate farms (not conglomerates like Ocean Spray mind you). I am against subsidies going to the same farmland to not grow for more than a certain number of years per piece of land. I am against the privatization of government owned lands and resources in countries that nationalized their industries as a result of a prior feudal system. I don’t believe someone’s grandchildren, or a nation two generations later should be held responsible for the debts and trade and mineral agreements and contracts made by their grandparents.

I am against the stringent and complex patent and copyright laws that are inevitably crippling efforts at innovation when they are applied to computer software.

I believe in Democracy and freedom of speech but not freedom of action. People have the right to talk about banning or making legal any act or action… and the democratic right to play a role in deciding whether or not to ban any action or act, or make legal any action or act, or discriminating against anyone who takes part in an action or act. I agree with this so long as due process is not violated in the process.

I am against rapid social change but also against forced social stagnation.

I am not against war or “preemptive” war per se. Force should only be used not as a last resort, but also not a first resort. Force should be used only if a reasonable and logical analysis of a situation shows that the use of force whether preemptive or defensive will cause less human suffering than not using it. The use of force should also be well planned, and should take into account the opinions of experts in the subject. Military should never be consulted about whether or not to go to war, but at the same time they should always be asked and listened to when it comes time for them to tell those in charge HOW to go to war.

Salaam

Abu Yusef

Iraqi Bloggers

I am going to go off on my beefs about some Iraqis Bloggers and some political opinions that I find particularly annoying. So let us discuss it in terms of the Jarrrars and Riverbend. What the Jarrar’s and Riverbend represent is the perspective of upper class Sunni Arab Iraqis who were well to do during Saddam and even through the economic sanctions. In the case of the Jarrars they are in fact so well off that today they maintain multiple residences have high educations, and even have their own personal computers. They write in English as well if not better than I do. Riverbend actually has a yard in a crowded city like Baghdad.

Perspective: It is a fact that Baghdad and specifically the rich parts of Baghdad (where these guys live if I recall correctly) were not affected by the power and water shortages that were present in Iraq before occupation. Baghdad was particularly spared over other areas that were neglected. This is of course a proof of the need for federalism in Iraq despite the moaning and screaming of the Sunni Arabs claiming it will cause division. Iraq despite the comments of these bloggers IS divided, and was during Saddam. The US did not create division and the invasion didn’t create division in Iraq. The division was already there.

Lets take the very popular Kurdish Nationalist movements. One could claim that the US is creating the division but the fact is that the Kurds as part of their political ideology embrace division! This is a fact for just about every Kurd I have ever met save a couple. So how can the US possibly create more division? They were fighting the government even before Saddam.

Now if you say that the US is creating division then you should look at Saddam’s army and the demographics of Iraq. The majority of the Officers were Arab and Sunni. Arab Sunni areas got the best government education, Sunni Arabs made up the majority of the major government positions. There were no Sunni Arab uprisings to speak of though there were several Shia and Kurdish uprising that were smashed into the ground.

Those are facts. How about this… Even when Sadr’s group was actively attacking US forces the Sunni Arabs still made up a majority of the insurgency. Now days with little to no Shia resistance movement Sunni Arabs make up close to 90% of the insurgency.

Lets go further. Ok so Faiza is a Shia, but she is definitely not a typical Shia. Shia turned up in droves to the election that she boycotted. Every Shia I have met like either Jafaari, Chalabi or Alawi. The Kurds I have met all voted too. Yet even the Sunni Arabs I know who work for the US government boycotted the election! Did the US create the Boycott or is this an example of Sunni Arab leaders initiating a boycott that created ethnic division?

Personally I think the boycott was utterly stupid. Yeah they claimed it was a fake election and all that… but what good has boycotting elections done for Israeli Arabs other than guaranty their party would lose seats in the Knesset?

I have sat with Sunni and Shia when they are in front of each other and say “Oh no we are all Muslim” and ten seconds later when the room is clear bad talk each other to me, and what can I say? No division between Shia and Sunni in Iraq? I am well aware that there is intermarriage and even that many tribes cross over, but the differences and divisions on political and religious levels are completely apparent. The fact that Faiza doesn't see shouldn't be surprising either? Who in her family would even consier bad mouthing Sunni in front of her? Who in her husban's family would dare bad mouth Shia in front of them?

Certainly many Sunni did not like Saddam, but it is readily apparent that there were no Sunni orchestrated uprisings against Saddam. Why not? The Shia and Kurds had no problem orchestrating revolt. I believe this is because Saddam was very appeasing to the tribal leaders, for they were the only ones who maintained the authority, organization and prestige to challenge his authority. Lets face it Saddam’s base of power was his tribe, and to a lesser extent the already previously more well to do Sunni minority. While many tribes are across both faiths a discussion with Shia and Sunni shows that Sunnis are far more loyal to their tribes and consider it far more a part of their identity than do Shia. I am not the only person to make this observation. This is reality.

At any rate they can try to lead on the world that there is a united anti occupation front. Zogby’s poll shows otherwise. Sunni’s and Shia show a distinct difference when it came to US forces. For example Sunni’s are more inclined to desire an instant pullout and view insurgents favorably. Shia on the other hand prefer a timetable for withdrawal, or even a restoration of security prior to withdraw.

Now let us talk about their analysis of US forces. One thing Faiza suggests is that we are all foreign born looking for citizenship. A completely false rumor. Also I love how Raed tried to accuse some bored soldiers who wanted to make some kids smile of trying to use kids for human shields.

Of course I can’t stand how Riverbend talks about street rumor like its news… suggesting that US forces are conducting operations in certain areas not because they have unusually high rates of attacks in those areas… but suggests it is because we want to keep Sunni Arabs from voting! Forget that Samara is one of the most disorderly and one of the most dangerous small cities in Iraq. Constant accusations are made of the US meddling in elections… but in the end they turn up false. Sure there is a certain amount of corruption in the elections… but it isn’t the US doing it.

Further additional laughs I get from Riverbend’s direct claims that US forces know about civilian killing IEDs beforehand and stay quiet or that we actually place them there ourselves. While not all attacks are suicide bombs many of them hold certain telltale signs. The idea is that once again we are trying to create division. You find me a single US soldier who would purposely do anything like that. You find me a commander who would accept such an order.

I can imagine a lot of things. Scared soldiers shooting Iraqis, and occasional maniac who shoots someone on purpose, a commander or soldier in anger summarily executing a prisoner. I can imagine these things happening. I can even understand an argument from someone that says people are scared because of racial stereotypes and that an Iraqi would not have made the same mistake. I can understand regardless of whether or not I agree criticisms of the operation in Fallujah. What I cannot tolerate is people denying that the same Fedayeen who disappeared into the woodwork and who were completely loyal to the leader who Gassed Kurds, invaded Kuwait, had his own relatives executed as well as tens of thousands of others, are not also responsible for continuing their madness in the post war era.

They live in a world where Al Qaeda doesn’t exist. Where the Bali bombing, the Nairobi Kenya bombing and numerous other real Al-Qaeda attacks don’t exist. They live in a world where Shia in Iraq and even more so Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan were not mistreated. No it must be the US trying to bomb Shia and create division. There was no division in Iraq before.

The double standards are all too apparent. The US is blamed for the violence in crime either directly or indirectly. If a bridge collapses due to barriers put into place to prevent car bombs from taking out bridges then the US is blamed for that.

Riverbend makes cryptic comments like “We hear” constantly. Relying on street rumor. She reports things that Al Jazeera has too much journalistic integrity to report. As much as Al Jazeera and the Arab media is criticized by the American government and press I have found that mainstream stations like Al-Jazeera, Abu Dhabi and Al-Arabiya to be fairly responsible. Of course they cater to their constituency, but what news network doesn’t?

She refuses to attribute Suicide attacks and attacks on civilians to the insurgency, and blames the USA. This is a difference in our mindsets I guess. I find it plausible that Al-Qaeda or former Ba’athists would orchestrate such attacks she does not. She sees America as next to Shaitan himself. I see us in a totally different view (I even say us).
In the case of Khaled he makes claims of CIA being in his office though never actually admits to seeing anyone from the CIA but rather just hears rumors. He also assumes that all those incarcerated with him were honest in their claims to innocence, even though prisoners always declare their innocence, regardless of whether or not it is true.

Faiza used to be more responsible until she went to that ultra socialist anti-American conference in the states. Now she seems to think based on the street rumors she was told from people from other countries those things that she had previously suggested were from parts of the insurgency.


One thing I appreciate from Faiza and the rest is that they bring up the fact that corruption is still very high. Another thing they bring up that I appreciate is the discussion of the brutality of the new government, though I think it is often exaggerated and usually based on rumor. I have no love for the Bader Brigade that is for certain. On that note, however, due process even by their first hand examples is far better than it had been under Saddam. What I have not seen them bring up and to their credit are

1. Accusations of chemical weapons in Fallujah…
2. Claims of masses of secret US deaths in Iraq…
3. Exaggeration of the effects of depleted Uranium…

Which are typical of some of the crackpot elements on the internet, and all of which are easily laughed at and discounted.
It is sad that the story that is believed in the Arab world is the story of the Sunni Arab minority in Iraq. I wish it were not true that this, the most skeptical of all the viewpoints of Iraqis, were the most common in the rest of the Arab world. The majority of the Arab and Muslim world are also Sunni and it seems there is a certain amount of credibility that is derived from this group over the rest. This is not surprising. Whites in America are more likely to believe that a white is being wrongfully accused of discrimination by a black, while blacks are more likely to believe such claims are true. It is still unfortunate even if it is normal.

It is also sad that Americans do not understand how badly things have actually gone. Sure the economy is looking up in some areas, but joblessness in Iraq has been at a horrible state thanks to the collapse of the socialist bureaucracy that had been employing most people. Crime is through the roof, women’s rights and the security of the Christian minority is worse than they ever were under Saddam, and the corruption has not gotten any better (my measure for this is that Sunni’s say it is worse and Shia say it is better, since the Shia are in power they will view corruption that didn’t benefit them before as worse, and Sunni the opposite). Wasta (jobs through nepotism and friends rather than ability) is about as bad now as before, except that before the wasta was tiered, new people would get their position by wasta, but the old wastas in some case had actually gained competency at their jobs, where as now nearly everyone is new. The infrastructure was already bad but little has been done to improve it, we are currently at prewar sanction levels for electricity and water is worse. Less oil is flowing then under Saddam. Of course it would help if the terrorist attacks didn’t attack the infrastructure almost daily.

Further let us remember that we had too few troops, and no UN backing. We invaded not only with a hundred or two thousand short of the number of troops needed to bring order and stability, but actually cut an entire division out of the plan and said it was “not a problem” when Turkey wouldn’t allow us the northern front. While we did a good job locking down Tikrit, knowing that Saddam’s home town would be a likely problem we didn’t secure Baghdad early and properly, and went into Fallujah too little too late. The overall optimism going into the invasion and lack of preparation assuming the best rather than as we say in the Army “plan for the worse hope for the best” was almost criminal. The lootings could have been prevented, and the bureaucracy of Saddam’s government (including the police and Army) should have been preserved though purged, rather than built from scratch.

All in all I hope my rant is enjoyed by many

Salaam

Abu Yusef

“Stop Loss”

“Stop Loss” as many people know and as many don’t is a situation where if a unit is going to war, then at a certain point, in order to maintain the consistency of the training and quantity of personnel in that unit, no one is allowed to leave that unit except if they are found physically and mentally incapable of going to war. Goetz of “All the King’s Horses” is a an example of someone who is “Stop Lossed”. Many people who are “Stop Lossed” are bitter about it. Understandably, they signed a contract which they believed was for a certain number of years but it wasn’t. My Brother and his wife who are now out of the Army were “Stop Lossed” in order that their unit could keep them when it deployed to Iraq. Many people around me who I know are either “Stop Moved” (a situation where someone who is supposed to be reassigned to another unit due to new orders and is staying in the Army is forced to stay in the old unit) or “Stop Lossed”. Some agree with it some disagree.

The key is that the government is not breaking its contract through “Stop Loss” but rather that people do not actually read all their contracts thoroughly. The majority of those affected by “Stop Loss” are lower ranking. Most of them have less than eight years of service. The truth is that ALL military contracts require eight years of service, with one, two, three four or five years of active service and the remainder of the eight as what is called the “Individual Ready Reserve” (IRR). People in the IRR can be called back to the Army in time of need, for example a military conflict. In the case of “Stop Loss” they are just maintained on Active Duty rather than put in on IRR one day and told to come back the next. It is a formality true, but it is hardly a draft per se.

My brother didn’t like being “Stop Lossed”. He deployed to Turkey for half of OIF 1 and ended up back in Iraq “Stop Lossed” for OIF 2. Most people don’t like it in truth. The issue however is not a breach of contract but the degree to which recruits are made to understand their contracts before signing up. And that is really the kicker ain’t it?

I for one cannot imagine going to Iraq with a unit that didn’t have all the people in it who we “Stop Lossed”. They are generally more experienced and more mature, then those who are not “Stop Lossed” thus from my perspective I would hold onto the system. On the other hand I do think that people should be made

Halliburton

Now let us discuss the elephant in the room. I have issues about the Halliburton subject and they are namely this: I don't believe that things would have been any different if the war was conducted by another administration... and here is why.

1. Halliburton started its work with the military during the Clinton Administration... during operations SFOR and KFOR in the Balkans.

2. It was at this time the Cheney had come on board, and Halliburton most likely was able to get its relationship with the US military thanks to Cheney’s connections to the DOD and a good sales pitch (Halliburton did have a lot to offer the down sizing military that would allow it to keep its combat capabilities... while still going through the required military downsizing required in the post cold war Clinton Era...)

3. Cheney was no doubt hired in light of his DOD connections thanks to his previous government position...

4. When it became time to contract logistical services for a soon coming Iraq war... Halliburton was therefore the logical choice for the Army because of the Army and Halliburton’s previous working relationship and knowledge of their capabilities... that in addition to the fact that Halliburton constantly hires former military of various levels and ranks... this gives them an in...

What I mean by all this... is that Cheney was instrumental prior to being Vice President to getting Halliburton an in with the Military under Clinton... that other connections also helped... and that the only question about Halliburton is not whether or not him being Vice President got them the contract (It seems apparent at this point that it did not) but rather whether or not his previous connections were one reason (of a great many reasons) influencing the decision/desire to go to war in Iraq...

I think no... But that is just my opinion... and I know that many people differ on that count. I think the facts show reasons for concern about the connections... but not the reason the contract was gained in itself...

I have also heard some idiot conservative types who are just as hysterical as the idiot liberal types... who say "No one else could do what Halliburton does" I say that is crap... It came because Halliburton engineered connections to the military over many years… but that contract still did not come from Cheney’s position as Vice President... for why did the Clinton administration also allow large Halliburton contracts if that were the case...

As usual truth is in the middle.

But I hope that clears up this Halliburton mystery from some people... and if anyone wants to know I have other very large problems with Halliburton that are completely separate from this and have more to do with the trend of outsourcing US military logistics and to a lesser extent even privatizing some security functions… in some cases also example of outsourcing.

Ask me if I like KBR or Halliburton… and working with them. I would say that depends on what day you ask me. I have become pretty good friends with a couple people working there so far, and sometimes some people are willing to bend over backwards to help you avoid red tape and get stuff done when it needs to be done…

I would like someone to actually show me an official document that shows what assets and stocks etc the president and vice president actually own. It should be public knowledge… This should spark as much interesting debate as when I stated the fact that the Patriot act has done nothing to make us more secure from terrorism and everything to make us less secure from the government.

Salaam

Abu Yusef

Fire!

So here I sit in my little plywood box of an office and I hear a sound that put a sense of dread in my bones; the screech of a smoke detector that was being installed. I panicked. I got up and quickly I went in protest to the Lieutenant Colonel who was installing it. I told him only half joking “you can’t put a smoke alarm in here”. He looked at me, he is used to joking around with me, but he is the safety officer for the entire base. “Why not” I looked at him dismayed “because it will go off constantly” his curt reply was of course the punch line that we both knew the conversation was leading up to: “stop setting things on fire”

Now there are those among the readers here that may think that this conversation is entirely in jest. Then, sadly, there are those who actually know me and my long history with things burning. All readers be warned: I have a long and begrudged relationship with fire.

On a previous entry I described events of blowing myself up foolishly with black powder at age 16. That should of course be remembered. Then there were the remnants of the scented candles that had melted into their tin holding case in my dorm room, and that I decided to reignite with tooth pick wicks, that also caught on fire in my first year of college, making a fiery brazier of liquid wax that I foolishly put out with water, once again singeing my hair.

We should also not forget the tea kettle I left boiling (more than once) and forgot about for an hour which contained fresh sassafras roots from our land, that became a charred and smoky mess that took hours to clean out.

Of course there is the unrelated incident where I was forbidden to ever throw a hand grenade in training, though that was due to a trainer’s evaluation of my coordination and ability to throw it… but we won’t go there…

Further, through no fault of my own, while I was leading a training mission while I was still in school… the simulated artillery round that had been set off by one of the instructors caused the dry leaves in the woods to burst into flame in a circle of fire that burned all the under brush and leaves in a one acre circle. All the other trainees were pulled off their missions to dig trenches, bat at the flames with their shirts (an act that destroyed the watch that I had put in my pocket) and taxi water in. Thankfully we finally managed to put out the fire in the end.

Other than that in the woods I have always done well at building fires, and always safely. My problem with fires is that I create them accidentally. I am actually quite talented at making the fires I desire if I am doing it deliberately.

When I say I have a long and begrudged relationship with fire, I hope everyone can understand exactly what I mean and I will not explain how it relates to Iraq.

When I first got my Iraqi hotplate people became nervous. These were people who were unaware of my history with Prometheus’s gift. The hotplate made them nervous because it wasn’t truly a hotplate. It was more or less a glorified cigarette lighter with heating coils wrapped out between a ceramic back drop. The thing didn’t look safe. My wife told me casually on the phone after I got it to keep it far from anything flammable, because she said they tend to spark and burst into flames occasionally.

Recently my talent for creating fire has spread to my coffee. About once a month I forget about my coffee for a minute and it boils over. The first time… everyone was sticking there heads around to find out what had happened. The second time half the people did. After that everyone knew what it was and simply laughed about it.

After I moved offices… I was sharing the same room with a Lieutenant Colonel who started making me take the burner outside until it stopped smoking. I did so, though with an unquelled defiance. Eventually I had to throw out the burner and get an actual hotplate. The plug had started to melt in the wall after I had left it outside to burn off the remaining coffee (burning was the only way to clean the thing).

And now there is a smoke alarm. Good thing its Ramaddan and I’m not making coffee in the office anymore I guess…

And that is why anyone who has ever known me has learned to associate my name with fire.

Salaam
Abu Yusef

Refreshed

A nice trip is over and normality and working have returned. Fine. I’m used to it. I am reenergized, with the exception of jet lag, and I have a coffee grinder and some Tanzanian coffee that make a killer brew. Here comes Ramadan as well.

I have done some reading on my time off, I read the first Harry Potter book, and became bored with a poor translation of Thucydides “Peloponnesian War” which I was incapable of finishing. In addition I finished a layman’s books on Particle Physics, Cosmology and General relativity. It was very interesting. I tried to read some “Military Sci Fi” books by William Dietz that were given to me as gifts, but they were so horrible that I have been unable to complete them. Just some light reading really.

Currently my mother is reading a book called “The Kite Runner” I have it but I haven’t read it yet, but it is about Afghanistan. She recently read a book called “The Birth of Venus” which seems to be a modern liberal take on the situation in renaissance Italy when one of the precursors to the Protestant reformation, Jerome Savonarola made his debut, and challenged the corruption of the church. Of course the book focus’s more on his draconian methods for dealing with moral decay, instead of on the fact that it was daring men like he who were responsible for eventually creating the protestant reformation and for molding the Catholic church into the much more positive organization that it has become today.

But enough on books. Leila is great, her hair is ever more curly. We should call her Goldilocks. She says cute things like fetatin (vitamin) potato (Tomato) toptico (popsicle). I spent a lot of time carrying her and playing with her. I also spent a lot of time forcing her to go to sleep, something she never wants to do. She was sick part of the time. Also an unrelated incident at a Mexican restaurant left her gnawing on raw chicken for a short time, but this didn’t affect her, though it made me a bit sick thinking about it.

My wife is driving ever so gracefully, and has a proper learners permit. It was good seeing her again and she is looking great. Joseph is growing at an amazing rate, and is wearing double his clothing size. Ma Sha Allah so they say.

My Cousin is in Chine teaching English. I’ll have to contact her and see how she’s doing. We haven’t seen or spoke to each other in almost six years if I recall correctly.

And now I am back. It was hard to leave, seeing old friends and family, but like all things it had to come to an end, and now, here I am. Many people are glad to see me (or pretended to be anyway), in both my regular work, among the Iraqis Laborers, and at the Hospital.

One laborer who I spoke with often lost his daughter. He had approached me about it once, and I had done nothing. So many people beg and ask for me to put a word in at the hospital for treatment and medication. I felt like the lowest piece of scum on the earth upon learning that. Could a word from me have made the difference? I will never know. I couldn’t speak after he told me I was so upset by it.

On the way back I ran into a Bangladeshi worker that I had smuggled food for while I was in Kuwait the first time. I couldn’t believe it when I saw him and we greeted each other.

One little girl, who was in the hospital when I left, is still there. She is quite cheerful these days. She should be called Goldilocks too. She is nine, and in good shape now. Also a gentleman who we thought for sure would die is doing great, though emaciated from his long near coma and heavy bodily repairs. He will be fine, he works well with the staff to build up muscles and will soon go elsewhere for physical therapy, the only thing he still needs. A couple others were still there and some new people. I will keep going back as much as I can.

Now comes Ramadan. I will have to figure out how to schedule my exercise routines with my meals so I don’t dehydrate. It will be difficult but I will do my best. Maybe I can use the skipped lunch time to work on my books.

Salaam
Abu Yusef

Disaster

A lot has happened in recent times but I will be brief. First we have both the hurricane in New Orleans and the stampede in Baghdad. For the most part between the two we have the worst week in both Iraq and America in a long time. For Iraq the stampede killed close to a thousand and is by far the single most catastrophic day that can be measured since the beginning of the Iraq war. Ironically I don’t think anyone can actually be said to be directly responsible for it, though certainly many things played into it indirectly. The Hurricane, an act of nature was also not directly caused by anyone’s individual acts, though certainly indirectly various things can still fall back on someone. 911 was an insignificant event compared to this.

Both events are unfortunate. One is the worst event in the wake of the deposing of Saddam Hussein, the other possibly the worse natural disaster in American history. Thus too nations who are currently closely intertwined are shown to have fates even more parallel than we would have believed. Hopefully the hurricane will make America humble. Remind us that though we are the world’s sole super power that we are vulnerable to God and nature, the real super power. It reminds us that our system is what keeps us inline, and that the collapse of that system reveals that we are much like any other people in the world.

It is not surprising that the situation in New Orleans is reminiscent of the situation in Baghdad after anarchy befell it. By this we as Americans are reminded that we respond to Anarchy in mass much the same way other people in other parts of the world do. We are reminded as that some people only obey the law out of fear of punishment from the system… and that when that system collapses they will act as they like. It is sad but true.

I hope that we can straighten up the situation, and feel for those families. We should always use events like this as a reminder, much as John Donne says in his essay “For Whom the Bell Tolls”. Those who do not learn from the past or take lessons from events are destined to repeat the sufferings and mistakes from the past. Society is a combination of both learning from past mistakes and remembering and duplicating past achievements. This is nature of both social structure and technology.

It is important that while referencing the past we do not dwell on it. Mistakes have been made in dealing with the situation in Louisiana. That being said we could hardly have expected otherwise. How does one deal with a situation that is beyond both their experience and the nation’s experience without them? I am not a supporter of many things in this administration, but I do not expect perfection in the face of disaster. The truth is it is the system that was unprepared for this, it would have been unprepared eight years ago as well as twenty. Now is not a time for partisanship, but for pragmatism. The time to worry about individual error and failure will come, but right now is it is simply put senseless bickering.

Of the Iraqi event… Maybe it will open some eyes. The people who died were killed by fear. Fear created by forces that have taken advantage of the pseudo anarchy in Iraq over the last couple years or who stubbornly refuse to compromise. Fear created by every suicide bomb and car bomb in Baghdad. It is sad. What I hope it does is teach those close to whoever are bombing mosques, funerals, weddings and shops to turn them in or destroy them, and teach them what effect these things are having on the people of their own nation psychologically. What Iraq needs is order. Indeed many surveys show that ending occupation is not the number one thing that concerns Iraqis. It is security.

It has been a sad week.

I have been visiting the hospital lately, and some people are still there. I have been trying lately to alter my routines. While routines bring comfort to some… to me they bring monotony. At any rate in less than a week I get to go on vacation and meet my son, and see my wife and daughter for the first time since early January. Maybe I will write between now and then maybe I will not.

Salaam
Abu Yusef

Why not Abu Leila?

I return after a not so long absence with a great deal changed. First I am a father twice over now. Second, the contractors I was working with have finished successfully and moved on, making my days a little more laid back once again. Finally, tomorrow I will try my best to make it to the hospital once again, something I have been unable to do due to the hectic nature of the last couple of weeks.

The poor camel in his small pen (about 15 meters by 15 meters) approaches the fence every time he sees me. He has figured out that I will pet him and scratch his ears. I of course wash my hands afterwards. If I get to close he tries to kiss me. He can also chug water directly from a bottle. It is quite a site. It is good to see domesticated animals now and then. Maybe those who go out on patrol see them far more frequently than I do, but for me it is a nice thing.

Leila is being a wonderful big sister. She talks all the time about the baby. She kisses him on the head and carries around her own little baby doll so she can be like mommy. Thank God she is not the same kind of big sister that I was a big brother. Little Yusef eats… and eats… and eats… and eats. Leila hardly ate at all and grew slowly. Yusef is turning out to be much more like daddy when it comes to food than mommy.

I want to thank everyone for the nice comments. I am glad too have visitors who got to see pictures of the baby. In about 4 weeks I will meet him for the first time. My family is already planning all sorts of things to do with me for when I come back. I just hope they keep it slow and let me get the relaxation and family time I need. Who knows maybe I can even get some writing done?

There is no more internet access at my house as of yesterday. Apparently things have gotten to the point where there is actually something “more important” than my evening recreation. What could possibly be more important!? OK now I am finished with my poor attempt at sarcasm. It is funny. For months I had the option of internet, but I refused, thinking (rightfully so) that if I had internet access in the evenings I wouldn’t do anything else. I told myself later “well one line, just in case, wouldn’t hurt anything, I’ll use it sparingly”. That was when any major work on any of my writing other than the blog stopped pretty much altogether. A mixed blessing has arrived in the form of the absence. I will certainly read more, write more and visit friends more. No harm done right?

One of you asked “why not Abu Leila”. I had actually been meaning to do an explanation of that but never got around to it.

When my daughter was born, I said proudly that I was going to be called “Abu Leila” in Arabic, despite the fact that such a title was usually used for a son in Arabic culture. I thought to myself that I didn’t care. Abu Leila it was going to be and that is that. Well… had we chose ANY other name but Leila that would be no problem. I could be Abu Fatima, Abu Aisha, and there wouldn’t be a single problem. But Abut Leila… well Abu Leila is different. Leila in Arabic means “night” more or less. So Abu Leila comes out to be “the father of night”. Well that is when my wife explains to me that Abu Leila is a term of “endearment” for the bouncer for a club with female dancers… or sometimes even a house of as they say “ill repute”. Thus no Abu Leila. I am not much for being called a bouncer, even in an endearing way. If there are any bouncers reading this… I mean you no disrespect, but that is not the image I want for myself, though you are perfectly entitled to it if it suits your fancy… far be it for me to upset a bouncer.

In other news… it appears that my blog has actually had over a thousand visits! Thank you all very much for your visits, which I do try to return when possible. I will end here, and hope to be returning with more to say at a later time.

Salaam
Abu Yusef

Yusef/Joseph

Well I am now officially Abu Yusef. Yusef was born at noon Eastern Standard Time, on 10 Aug 2005. It was the day after my parents thirtieth wedding anniversary. He was a screamer the first few minutes, which was great because I could hear him on the phone not long after everything was finally finished. Leila had decidedly been a lot quieter. He also apparently likes to suck his thumb, just like his big sister.

I was not present, still being over here in Iraq, but I was there in spirit. The labor lasted seven hours, which I am told is rather fast. Labor was induced, since she was about four days past due and the baby was already quite big. At birth “little” Yusef was 21 inches (53.34 centimeters) long and 8 lbs 14 oz (4 kilograms). My wife is a tiny woman so sooner is most definitely better than later for her. She used an epidural, and that helped considerably.

I sat on the phone for about the last three hours of the labor, and checked in regularly from the first. In the end as I sat on the hard plywood stool in an open phone bay I ended up snacking on peanuts and drinking near-beer as I waited in anticipation.



And what does the big sister think of all this? I don’t know yet, but she better be good!



Alhumdullah
Salaam

Abu Yusef (for real now)

Absense

I have been gone for a few days mainly due to a lack of time. On Friday I worked from about 0800 in the morning until 2330 at night, when I called my wife only to say I would call her again on Saturday. Yesterday entailed the same amount of running around. Currently I am tasked with making sure a group of civilian contractors staying here get everything they need to do their jobs. That was in addition to my regular duties and about four other tasks that were piled on me at the last minute. Now for two days I have got up at 0500.

Yesterday when the contractors started working their boss told us his people would be fine. Later one of them started getting dizzy, and almost fainted. He was given an IV. It turned out he was taking diet pills, which were probably the contributing factor. When I later found out, we took him to get checked at the hospital (I said a quick hello to everyone) and he got another bag of fluid. He is back to work today as usual. One of the other contractors stayed outside, working the entire twelve hours without a single break and eating only fruit. When he got on the bus his brown t-shirt was a crusty white from all the salt.

I drank way to much coffee on Friday. After I finally got off work and then the phone with my wife at about a quarter to twelve I couldn’t sleep. It took me until 0130 to sleep in fact! Now that was a long day. Now combat troops have it much harder. I am glad to have an office job on a fixed location. The fighters work those kinds of hours… and without air conditioning and with shots being fired at them. The Iraqis who have jobs don’t work that many hours mostly, except on the farms… but almost no Iraqis have air conditioners… Of course if Iraq is anything like Syria they never really have air conditioners except the rich anyway, they are more used to it and adjust their schedules to the heat of the day.

One thing I was thinking about is the food here. We get it from KBR, who is owned by Halliburton, you know the Company that Vice President Dick Chenney used to head up. Now I am not a real fan of the commercialization of military logistics. There is a reason for it though. It saves money. If the Army buys what we call MREs, the Army’s prepackaged meals… then it would actually be more expensive per soldier than feeding them fresh food from civilian contractors. Further it is cheaper to hire civilian contractors than to train soldiers as cooks and to move around and obtain the food ourselves.

Now either way someone is getting rich, whether we eat the prepackaged meals, or use KBR, with KBR we get to eat fresher food, and it is cheaper. The problem is that the only reason KBR is cheaper is because the outsource all their labor to subcontractors, who they pay peanuts. We have enough trouble losing industry in the states to foreign countries… but now we are using masses of foreign labor to take feed our national military! That just doesn’t sound like the beginning of a very good trend. Enough on that though….

The baby still hasn’t been born. The doctor said it will still be a little while, as the baby hasn’t dropped into position. The baby is now one day late.

One picture is of lightning that we had on the base in Spring. The other is a tributary of the Tigris River.

Salaam
Abu Yusef