Well, a whole pile of people have let me know the Republicans got thumped in the elections, the general consensus being they got what they deserved for being complacent, incompetent or evil corrupt SOBs (take your pick). No one really seems to care over here, to be honest, except in so far as it might impact Iraq policy. Actually, I lied. The insurgents cared, and their open-source web sites brag how the election was their victory and how they defeated Rumsfeld. Go figure – totalitarian jihadis pleased about a representative election process that they despise, and would never tolerate themselves. (sigh)

While there is a sense of urgency in the air about the whole Iraq project, there’s also a sense of fatalism, almost a little inshallah. What will be, will be. Give the next security plan a try but really, when the regular murders of policemen are an expected part of the negotiating process between political parties, let’s just let them get on with the real civil war, ok?

It doesn’t help that an Iranian nuclear program is seemingly inevitable, that Lebanon is about to have a Hezbollah coup and that Israel is worrying about a three-front war. Yeah, fun times in the neighborhood…

But that’s just the bad days, when everything seems to go wrong, with contractors getting kidnapped or friendlies getting killed.

Then there are days when the Iraqi government, despite the corruption and incompetence, actually gets things done. When gunmen are foolish and shoot at our bases, only to be picked off by snipers in return. Or when people thank British engineers for fixing a sewer pipe, or picking up garbage or just making it safe for a day.

Its’ a pretty crazy place over here.

Hey, first vacation pictures are available! I’ve enclosed two, a goofy picture of me on top of a mountain (about 9,000 feet) during a snowstorm and a picture of a mountain range in southern Colorado. Very beautiful country.

Tim

Fair Winds and Following Sands!