Originally Posted by
zman1
http:///forum/post/2633168
Glad your safe- So you joined the darkside " A Big Government TAXPAYER income job". What contractor are you a contractor for?
I'm a Contractor for one of the US Departments.
To clear up an earlier point; I'll leave it up to God, history, and those on the ground over here to decide whether what we are doing is "noble". That's not for me to try to decide. My job, certainly however, was chosen out of a sense of patriotism. The fact that I'm getting paid (well) doesn't change that in my mind. When my training was over I stood, raised my right hand, and swore an oath to the Department I'm contracted with. I took that very seriously.
As for update....
It's hot here. Hot and dusty, with the promise of getting much worse before it gets better. The dust here is so fine it gets into everything. Sometimes the sky is literally brown with it. The breeze, when there is one, is nice, but it blows the sand worse.
I've had a couple of instances the past week that really made me appreciate being here. I've talked to a middle aged businessman quite a bit. I saw a young carpet vendor hand feeding a small bird he was raising that had been orphaned. I saw a street smart local open a car wash...
It's been good for me to put a "human" face on the Iraqi people. In one of our many political discussions a while ago someone made the comment that some people just like to live in oppressive governments. I can say, from what I've seen, these people are no different than I am. They don't want to be oppressed, they want to be happy. The argument is to how best to bring happiness to them.
The Iraqi people I've talked to are friendly people (granted, we're in the IZ). My impression is that for the most part they are like we are back home. Just like back home they have some lunatics running around in their country. Unfortunately here, the lunatics are greater in number and have access to more weapons and crazy neighbors.
Turn the table a bit... Say the Weather Underground would have been more successful in the 60's. What would our country look like today? If resources were as sparce in the USA as they are over here would our original 13 colonies really have unified and won the battle against the British? If our forefathers were of a religion other than Christian would our Constitution have been similarly written?
10 days out of Texas I've come to appreciate just how fortunate we are. War is brutal. Smart bombs can take out particular buildings with ease, but that building then has to be rebuilt. The rubble has to be cleaned up. The roads and sidewalks must be repaired. Water, sewage, power, etc. all must be maintained while dealing with checkpoints, road closures, etc.
I can't imagine trying to raise a family here. I can't imagine having loved ones here. Seeing what it takes to create a Democracy has made me come to respect our founding fathers and their sacrifices so much more.
