gotterdamerung

Bin Laden is holed up in a snowcave in Pakistan. DELTA is just preppin for the showdown.

So, you would refuse to serve if your country called upon you? And you would run away to another country? Which incidentally would repatriate you back to the US. And you want to try to get witty? Take some geritol and call me in the morning.

Not surprising. You have to be able to comprehend what you read first.

Oregon and Washington residents have both have been linked to several terrorist investigations. Madrid Oregon link

Cool. Then you are at least exercising your freedoms.

Is slamming Rumsfeld on CNN. McCain is a good man. I would vote for him and Colin Powell if they ran together.

I for one am all for developing alternate energy sources and getting us completely disconnected from these people once and forever. I hate the Middle East.

The UN cannot even enforce their own no smoking policy. In 1994, Kofi Annan, then head of the UN's peacekeeping operations, blocked any use of UN troops in Rwanda even though he was told by his representative there that the genocide could be stopped before it started. The United Nations? Where Libya, Syria, and Sudan are on the Human Rights Commission? The UN is crucial for feeding people and trying to deal with such plagues as AIDS; but if you had been in a Hussein torture chamber, would you, even in a state of delirium, hope for rescue from the UN Security Council?

I'm doing my part. What are you doing besides complaining on the internet?

You're pretty much a warm blip on my radar screen and getting zeroed in on. Do you actually have ANYTHING useful to contribute? I think Henry Rollins wrote these lyrics with you in mind Beck: "tension builds up so quickly, my judgement becomes affected, and without my even knowing it I have started to act like a dick"

Drivers from many nations are used to move supplies. I think the thing that most people are confused about is that we are not here to provide employment for every iraqi out of a job. In less than 60 days sovereign rule returns to the Iraqi people. We are not here to create a welfare state. We are here to stand them up so they can get on with governing themselves. Pull backs in Fallujah and many other places show a growing sense of position that the changeover is near and that these problems are an Iraqi problem. We will assist them, but they are going to have to take care of business and quit being the little Bitches that they are (and they fuckin are). They can drive trucks and in fact I would say that the average Iraqi driver is a much better driver than the average American. If you've ever driven in the middle east, say Jordan or somewhere, then you will know what I mean. It's the most accident free chaos you have ever experienced. So anyway, in our country with large unemployment and democrats screaming about shifting jobs overseas are you saying you advocate giving jobs to foreigners instead of honest Americans trying to make a living? Besides, no the majority of Iraqi's are not nutjobs and most of the time things are quite quiet and free from violence. The media has all of it all sexed up and senstationalized to give this place the appearance of anarchy. The news media is the enemy as far as I'm concerned. Twisted and biased. Nonetheless, NO I would not give an Iraqi trust over any military supplies or food stuffs destined for CPA, Mil or otherwise. At any rate in a few weeks this shithole will be turned back over to these punks, we can consolidate everyone, detach more security for our convoys and kill every Iraqi motherfucker that tries to bang heads with us.

Apacolypse Now, right? Close! Platoon, with Charlie Sheen. The quote is from Bunny.

just a slight exageration... Try about 120+ "the record highest temperature ever measured in the U.S (134 degrees F at Death Valley, CA in July of 1913), and the hottest temperature ever recorded anywhere on the globe (136 F at Al' Aziziyah, Libya in September of 1922)" When you are standing next to a thermometer in the hot sun and the damned things says 141 you tend to believe that. I believe there is a difference between the actual temp and the temp as it is affected by humidity. So if it is 90 degrees the dew point can be a certain level and the actual feel is 100. Something about refraction of light through water molecules. I'm not a scientist, but I have stood in that sun for hours a time. But hey, once again thanks for the info from the rear. You can come over here next year when they reinitiate the draft and check it out for yourself.

A question of accountability. Well as of late, a shortday for me is right around ten hours. I am not even going to try to explain the conditions under which I have to operate. I work 7 days a week. If things are busy (and they usually are) I typically will be moving 15 hours. once again 7 days a week. A long day can be nearly continous operations which is to say I usually have time to eat (not always) and get a few hours of sleep. So a slow week is about a 70 hour work week, a busy week is around 105 and a very busy week is over 120. Let me also tell you that I don't fall into the tax exempt status because of the nature of the work I do and because of OPTEMPO I am frequently rotated out. Another fun time since the flights home are long and tedious. I pay taxes at a rate that probably is equivalent to your salary. I am going to overlook the rancor in your statement and simply tell you that I'd be happy to explain to you in person my job and let you decide if you would be willing to make that statement to me at that time. In other words. Don't fuck with me knob.

Military men and women are volunteers also. Don't forget that. I told the Chaplain the truth. I like it here...getta do what you want...nobody fucks with you...

I took this picture South of Baghdad on MSR Tampa in early November of last year. Doesn't exactly look like I-5... Burning_Truck

If you work for the coalition you are making $7-$10 a day. The reasons for this economy were not created by the US, but by a deposed dictator. If peace ever finds it's way to Iraq you will find that their currency will trade at 3 to 1 with the US dollar and there will be great financial reward for the Iraqi people. Look at Kuwait and Qatar for examples. If you want to bitch about corruption look at Saudi Arabia where 99% of the wealth is owned by about 1% of the population and wages haven't seen an increase since about 1980. Iraq is going to take time. These things don't happen overnight.

One thing that isn't taken into consideration is that contractors are not given benefits like a regular employee of a company would receive. With health insurance running rampant in this country, monthly insurance rates for a two person family can run over 500.00 a month out of pocket. Likewise there is no paid vacation, overtime, weekends, sick leave, etc. With the nature of the work occuring in this environment it is also feasible to make the work day a 24 hour day since there really is no place to get away to. The living conditions are austere ( a 2 man small trailer if you are lucky-sharing a bathroom with 4 persons ), the chow is tolerable, but definitely not fine cuisine by any standards. The temps can range from about 140+ to snowing. Dust storms are frequent, and rain can turn everything into a muddy bog. A driver coming from Kuwait with a supply chain is looking at a 12-15 hour drive through some remote territory. Driving conditions are hazardous and made more so by (our standards) dangerous and erratic driving behavior. Once you get used to oncoming traffic in the lane you are going down, cars pulling off in double and triple parked areas, no traffic lights or signals and horrible congestion it strangely begins to feel sort of exhilarating to drive like a madman. This is in the cities of course and the distant outer areas are where alot of IED attacks occur. Hijackings and drive by shootings are common as well. Now they are taking hostages. A lot of those folks are never coming home. Seperation from family, friends, familiar surroundings, hobbies, and a feeling that the Grim Reaper is leering over your shoulder all the time adds to the equation. All things being considered 120K a year sounds like a lot, but there is a hellava lot that goes into earning your dollar. And we're just talking about truck drivers here. There are people with much more dangerous jobs. On top of that only the first 84K is tax free AND that's ONLY if you spend 330 days out of the United States. Spend only 329 outside CONUS and you are getting hit for about 28% of your hard earned income. I would say people should be bitching about paper pushing CEO's making 7 figures for telling other people what to do, not some blue collar guy sucking sand and deisel and dodging shrapnel, while sweating it out in 30 pounds of body armor.

The point being that there are plenty of people here doing quite well. If Iraq would pull it's head out it's ass they could be like Kuwait where the average Kuwaiti doesn't have to work because they are subsidized through oil revenue. This in turn creates more jobs for them and for other nations since the middle east is fond of importing laborers and service people from Asia.

Have you ever been to Iraq then? If you saw how good some of the *dirt poor* Iraqi's are living I'm sure you wouldn't be making uninformed judgements. You can walk into any town and pick up a SONY 50 inch, or buy a chicken sandwich on any corner for a few dinar. How about a nice new collared shirt or a Rolex. Yep, these *dirt poor* Iraqi's got em/ Along with Mercedez Benz, BMW and Land Cruisers. Get a clue. How much is YOUR life worth? If you would want to come over and put your's on the line feel free to name your price. I'm pretty sure there are no truck drivers making that kind of cash, despite what a few media reports might have insinuated. If you also think that somehow the insurgency is justified killing American's because of the fact that they are trying to make a living in a combat site at great risk to themselves, that their families aren't worried sick everyday, and that the media would have you believing that anarchy is the order of the day then the propaganda machine has worked it's magic on you. You are insane.

Dave, yes the plan was to go into an Arab country and give every Arab with a beef a chance to come meet Allah in person. Maybe you would prefer that you meet and greet them in Ballard? Probably not this generation, but somewhere down the road this is really going to come to a big head unless we just deal with it now once and for all. China will win in the end anyway. Move there.

The only mistake those soldiers made was taking pictures. The free press is a big liability in a combat site. If people are so interested in war, here's your chance. Get on over here.

No, but the PNW has long been derided as a liberal area of the country. There are other places too.

I highly doubt it. The rest of the country doesn't think like the PNW.

Better think again. People have been making dire prediction for years about this and that. Most people are just scared sheep in the corral.