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Edited on Fri Oct-21-05 02:28 PM by d59cy6
A lot of friends of mine all have cell phones over there (asia -cell or something like that). They call their wives/girlfriends all the time, even when we're on the road. I have often thought of buying one just so I could call a talk show. But they constantly threaten us that we can be fired if we compromise OPSEC (operational security) over the internet or phone.
And the sad thing is that I really don't have much insight into the issue except what is well known. What I can tell you (quickly because I have to get going) are a few things maybe people don't know:
1. We live in a complete bubble over here. Basically an American colony. I have absolutely no contact with Iraqi's except those I see while we are speeding down the road. There were a few I came in brief contact with while working at another base. They were part of a construction company doing a project on base but were very hampered because of all kinds of limitations - they had local contacts for supplies yet if they brought in a load of gravel or something, the whole thing had to be dumped out and then reloaded for security. Also, they couldn't live on base by the work site and had to commute for hours and hours (only a short drive but checkpoints and IEDs cause extreme delays). Yet there were Turkish contractors who could basically do whatever they wanted, so they got the majority of the work.
2. The purpose of my job is supposedly part of 'Operation Iraqi Freedom' - so to help the local people. Yet it has NEVER had anything to do with that. We strictly re-supply the military. And believe me these bases are like huge cities meant to last for decades and decades. People used to write me and ask if I needed any basic goods like candy or whatever. But these bases are now so well built up we have Burger King, coffee shops, massage parlors, internet, huge PX stores, and on and on. There are movie theaters, giant full service gyms, lounges, libraries. I live a higher lifestyle on the base here than I did in the USA as a cross-country truck driver.
3. Lastly, this is not meant as a slam to the soldiers. It is hard to even talk about this without people jumping to conclusions. But being over here has really confirmed my view that the soldiers are just regular ordinary people. Many and stupid and superficial. Some are jerks. And there are unbelievable mistakes and screwups all the time. When the units are in rotation, crazy stuff happens like when they are leading our convoys, they miss turns, accidentally take us into bad areas, etc. In fact since there is virtually no press around, a lot of stuff has been censored. Again, I am not against the military, but it is only exacerbating the problems by the press constantly hyping them all up as patriots and heroes. That is what leads to all this torture and other crap. And after my time here, none of that surprises me in the least. When I heard about the Italian journalist's car being shot at and people killed, I knew instantly her account was true as I have seen firsthand how crazy and disorganized stuff is over here.
4. Again, the amount of money being poured into the bases is unbelievable. There are brand new SUV's (hundreds and hundreds) of them on all the bigger bases. Actually they have so many that a lot are just parked gathering dust. Meanwhile just outside the razor wire the Iraqi's don't even have clean drinking water. Yet inside we have 24/7 air conditioned housing units, unlimited hot water, giant cafeterias (the food is better than the colleges I went to). A lot of it is again everyone is afraid to question any kind of spending or comfort item regarding the troops because suddenly you are questioning these 'heroes' and 'patriots'. Meanwhile the reality is that all the ones I've met got into it because it was a job with certain benefits or whatever. Bush has screwed everything up so bad that things like this can't even be discussed any more without being shouted down or called a traitor.
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