Jazza

Jazza is the Arabic word for vacation. It is a frequently discussed topic at the IA chow hall and in the halls of the Brigade headquarters. The Iraqi leave system is supposed to work like this: Work for 21 days, get 7 days of vacation. They work six days a week, with Friday being a rest day. You can't go home on Friday, but not a whole lot goes on.

Like all things in Iraq, vacations are subject to corruption. Some guys get more, some guys get less. Some abuse the system. Usually on Wednesday or Thursday night, there is a pile of officers in the XO's office complaining about the leave schedule and asking to go home early. They rant on about how officer X came back two days later than he was supposed to, and how officer Y left early. There is a lot of managing other people's schedules and people worrying about things they can't and shouldn't control. If I am in there, I usually can get some cheap self-righteous shots in about how the Americans are here in their country for a year at a time, sacrificing time with families, and in the worst cases, life and health, and they complain about a day of missed leave. I usually do pretty well in these conversations.

Tonight we had this same discussion, and I told the XO I thought that if I were the Prime Minister, I would decree that all leaves are cancelled until the insurgency is over. My bet: It would take about two weeks for the IA to root out all the remaining turds and then we could get on with the business of going home. The XO loved the idea, and the rest of the officers in the room erupted with calls of unfairness. The XO kicked them all out and told them to get back to work.

Tomorrow I go on Jaaza (my leave). Been here 8 months, and my time has come around. I am very much looking forward to it, as we have some fun things planned, including a couple of days at a resort, we are going to tailgate at a Round Rock Express game, Sluggo will get her braces off, and we are spending a couple of days at a lake house.

I am anxious to get home, but at the same time I admit I am a bit apprehensive too. One, you can't just show up after being gone for 8 months and expect to jump back into your old life. There are many adjustments that many people have to make. You have been gone, and people have adjusted to life without you. You can't pretend to make up for eight months of absence in 14 days. Two, just as you begin to get comfortable, and you get back into the swing of things, you have to go back. It is an emotioal roller coaster. Three, the family has to make an adjustment too-- Who the heck is this guy, and why does he think he's my dad/husband?
If everything goes right, I will be able to see a game or two of Sluggo's softball team in the state tournament. Good luck, Blaze, and have fun.

I'll be honest-- Not sure how much I will update this while I am home, as I hopefully will have better ways to spend my time. No offense. My apologies-- the tone of this post has been a bit negative, but I am very much looking forward to going home, spending time with the family, taking a bit of a rest, and enjoying lots of things I have not done in a long time.

If you are in Austin, come on out to the Round Rock Express game on the 19th for some chow. We'll be in the parking lot at around 4, and it's fireworks night at the Dell Diamond...

Thanks for reading and take care-
Ron

He Didn't Come Here

Stephen Colbert is in Iraq taping his show.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/07/colbert.iraq/index.html

He didn't make it down to us. Victory is where the FOBbits live (people who spend an entire year in Iraq and never leave the FOB or never actually see a real Iraqi). Would have liked to seen it, though. We need more Stephen Colberts and less Anderson Coopers...

The show airs on Monday (the 15th?).

Take care-
Ron

Obama visits Muslims

I tried watching President Obama's remarks in Egypt. I was in my IA Brigade XO's office, but unfortunately, his channels are all in Arabic, so I was not that successful. He asked me what I thought about Obama; I said sometimes things require a dramatic shift to get things going. I told him so far I was mostly pleased with the direction of the country, but wasn't happy about the Government having as big of a stake in business. I followed up with a question back at him: what did the Arabic world (ok, Iraq) think of Obama? He replied with the observation that many here think Obama is muslim, and that he is welcomed (as he has not done any lasting damage to Iraq--yet). I told him I didn't think Obama was muslim; he replied "with a middle name of Hussein, how can he not be?" I let it go.

Maybe Obama, by virtue of having a muslim name, and by just being a different administration than the one who has been (some would argue unsuccessfully) involved in Iraq for almost seven years can be the change agent that causes a tipping point. Maybe. What we have to be careful of is running out on this science project oo soon, in which case President Obama will be seen as a failure to the muslim world for allowing Iraq to fail, even though conditions have been set for success. You can't ride with training wheels forever, and it's time to let go of the seat.

I am virutally convinced, though, that the US military has done all it is going to be able to do here. The skeptical optimist in me sees the US military now primarily engaged in stability operations, a good chunk of which could/should be handled by a capable and resourced State Department, which we don't have. Ironic that today our current Secretary of State requires the same military to do the State's job that her husband eviscerated in the 90s. Her hubby took us from 18 Divisions to 10 in five years. It would be nice to have those eight divisions now...

The XO is skeptical about the future of Iraq. He's pretty much skeptical of everything. He claims there are too many political parties, too much corruption, too much self interest. He said at least when Saddam was in power, things got done. He told a story of a bridge we bombed in 1991, and that within two months it was rebuilt because Saddam ordered it. There are currently bridges in Iraq that are still unbuilt, mostly because of corruption in the contract awarding process. I told him greed is a by-product of Capitalism (see AIG and Madhoff scandals for US version). I often wonder about the founding fathers, and if they really had a plan and deep vision, or were they truly winging it. What were the colonial versions of what Iraq is going through now, and is there a way to learn and pass on lessons. The problem is the audience, and their willingness to accept the responsibilites of Freedom.

Take care.
Ron