A Word From Our Sponsor

I just found out that the Division Public Affairs Officer and Media Operations Group have put up a blog site to talk about what is happening in Basrah. Their job is to make things look good, but it is easier to do when things are good. In his second post, he writes that his first time over here, the first thing he did after stepping off the plane was hit the deck for a rocket attack. I have heard the alarm only three times in the six weeks that I have been here and heard the explosions only once, so things are much better. Anyway, even coming from the division media spokesman, it is another source of news about the area. Maybe you will find it interesting.

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A Few Links For Yesterday

We must always remember

11 September 2008 8:46:40 AM -- American Airlines-Flight 11

11 September 2008 9:03:11 AM -- United Airlines Flight 175

11 September 2008 9:37:46 AM -- American Airlines Flight 77

11 September 2008 9:37:46 AM -- South Tower Collapse

11 September 2008 10:15 AM -- United Airlines Flight 93

11 September 2008 10:29 AM -- North Tower Collapse

Seven Years

Today we had a minute of silence at 1546, 0846 in New York. Lacking a US chaplain, one of the Brits stood in and said a prayer. This is one of those events that you will always remember, if you were old enough to know what was happening. It has been a long and sometimes uncertain road so far and will be into the foreseeable future, but that has always been our way of doing things. Jumping into an adventure without knowing the way, at least gets the work started, instead of being paralysed into inaction by doubt. Somehow, after much milling about, we manage to strike off in one direction mostly all together, and more often than not, it is generally in the right direction. I think that we have managed to leave things better than we found them. All this really needs a much longer post to cover completely, so it will have to wait for another day.

I Spoke Too Soon

In my last post, I said that Basrah doesn't have sand storms like Baghdad. That turned out to be only partially true. Last night, there was a huge storm. There was only a little rain, but the wind really tore at things. We heard that several power line were down around Basrah, and a pontoon bridge over the Shatt Al Arab was torn up. There was some local damage in the camp, too, but the biggest problem was the blowing sand. There wasn't the suspended dust that you see in the picture of the palace, but it wasn't pleasant to breathe and it got into everything. There was a pretty good lightning show too. When the rainy season starts, I think the only difference will be the amount a water coming down. People are saying that basrah turns into one huge mud bog.

In other news, if you know any Luddites who just aren't happy unless everyone is miserable, the Large Hadron Collider was started up yesterday. No black holes were produced, so the end of the world will be delayed yet again. It is supposed to discovery the Higgs Boson, which among other things, is suspected of being the reason that matter has mass. I read someone today who said that, if it is found, it might provide evidence that "ether" really does exist, at least in the sense that there is something that completely pervades the universe and touches everything in it. Isn't it funny how, the more science advances, the more closely it seems to approach where religion has been all along. Can someone recall who said that true science and true religion are never in disagreement. I have also heard and thought myself, that all truth, whether it comes from science or revelation, is a part of the Gospel. The only difference being that on some things we depend on for our eternal welfare and others only for our temporal welfare.

Breathing Sand

I never did get the original post fixed, so here are the pictures again, just to show the difference between good weather and a sand storm in Iraq. This storm wasn't even a bad one. The pictures were taken at the same location and at about the same time of day. I haven't seen sand like this since I have been in Basrah. The wind doesn't usually blow from a direction that would bring in sand like this.

Grace Under Fire

I survived my first real attack last night. I was the epitome of calm and reacted to the attack immediately according standing orders. I got down flat and into a bunker to avoid flying shrapnel and stayed put until the "All Clear" was sounded.

Don't read too much into it, especially you, Mom. The rockets finally landed close enough for me to hear them explode, but they weren't close enough to shake anything. The alarm was actually louder than the rockets were. I was already in bed and almost asleep when the attack came, so I was already as close to the ground as I could get and already in a bunker, since I sleep in a little one every night. I stayed right where I was. When then alarm was finally turned off and the command post stopped making announcements about not moving around and staying under cover, I finally went to sleep. I do wish the insurgents were a little more considerate, though. An hour earlier, and I would have had my computer out and I could have passed the time watching a movie instead of just laying there.

If you want excitement out of a war, you don't fight it on a staff. You join the Marines.

BTW, this is where I ride out indirect fire attacks, or sleep, as the situation calls for it.

A Brief Update

We have some new people in the office - a new Royal Army Captain and a Private from the Artillery. We will be getting another one this week and another the week after, probably from the Royal Navy. The weather has shifted again. It wasn't as hot, but it was very wet today. A south wind is blowing humid air up from the Gulf. It even looked like there had been rain last night. There should be some steady cooling over the next couple of months as winter approaches. It never really gets cold here, except at night, but if the highs get down to the low 100s it will be a huge improvement. My roommate seems to have disappeared. He returned from an extended stay in Baghdad for two nights, and then went off somewhere else again. There isn't much benefit to having the container all to myself, but at least I dont have to try not to wake someone up when I get up. I am a morning person, and he is not. For some reason, the Navy Unclassified network no longer blocks this blog, so I can post without any trouble now. Maybe it will mean more frequent posts too. Good luck to everyone going back to school. I will be trying to build a few of them here. BTW, Ramadan has started, and we have two Muslims working in our offices. It has been interesting. I try not be obvious about eating or drinking in front of them. It must be hard going without water, especially, as hot as it gets here.