I would like to start of by addressing those of you that have loved ones here in the area. My comments about the anxiety and percieved danger are very real, this is a dangerous place. But the reality is, and I don't mean to diminish the losses, the chances are very slim most of us will ever get hurt. Here's why, although the insurgents are busy trying to hurt us, most people that get hit by IED's and VBIED's walk away. I've gotten up close and personal with my share and didn't receive a scratch, got one hell of a rush but no harm done. The problem for most of us is the suddeness of the attacks. If you've got all your gear on and doing what you've been trained to do things will work out. I'll try to put a number on it this way. The odds of getting hit by an IED are fairly small, if you're outside the wire maybe one in a hundred, of actually getting hurt one in a thousand. That's just the way I see it. It's just the anxiety that gets to you and people should try to understand when we come home about loud noices. I hope this helps with the worrying, just deal with the heat,wear all your gear and keep your body where it's supposed to be and everone comes home safe and in one piece.

I recently got to watch one of the medical people going through some of their training. One of the guys was viewing photos of casualties and learning what was done, right and wrong. It was amazing to see the severity of the wounds and then learn many victims were saved and even recovered fully. I saw the results of some of the terrorist attacks on children and got very angry. The medics here are somewhat different then most soldiers. They have a desperate need to help the sick and wounded but will not hesitate to take a life in the defense of others. I suppose that like the rest of us they've developed a "quick switch" that allows them to go from one extreme to the other.I suppose in the same way many of us feel a sense of impending doom on patrol but always but duty first, even if it means the worst. I like to put the medics in two catagories - Line medics and REMFs. Remember this is not meant to insult the REMFs, it's just how this Infantryman sees things. The line medics love to be "Outside the wire" and get out with the grunts,cannon cockers, gun bunnies, tankers and MPs. They want to get down and dirty and understand that where we go they go, they just have to carry thirty pounds more then everyone else, and why not?, they're medics. They almost never sleep and after along day or night are all over the soldiers like a mother hen, checking for sores, rashes, bumps and bruises. The medical people have it very tough whether or not they're outside the wire. This is because for every person killed about ten are wounded, military and civilian. And it's the medics that must endure the suffering of so many, I have nothing but respect for all our medical people REMF or not.

The REMF medics just prefer to work within the confines of a hospital or medical station and have available far more resources then the "Line medics". Maybe it's more civilized and in line with traditional medical treatment. The Army has all the state of the art equipment and still cares for a great number of Iraqi people here although we are trying desparatly to give them complete independance.

As far as just relaxing with the average Iraqi soldier/farmer I am noticing a few things worth mentioning. First I've noticed the more time we spend with them the more curse words they use. Particularly the "F" word. I recall one Iraqi soldier dropped some ammunition on his foot and, without hesitation, blurted out the "F" word. They also use a few more that I won't mention I just find it amusing what the Iraqi soldiers have managed to pick up from us.

I've also been in some of their sleeping areas and have seen quite a bit of local cable television. At time it seems as though I'm watching our very own "MTV". What really gets my attention is the women see so much like the young women of the United States. They dress very much the same and seem very much at ease expressing themselves on camera. The Iraqi soldiers put everything on hold during one of these programs. However, just change the channel and everything becomes be very conservitive and like what the press at home likes to show. When I ask the soldiers what they think of things like this on television they tell me it's very good and usually coming from Syria or Jordan. They also have infomercials and soap operas.

One day we were sitting around talking about families and the soldiers asked one of us at what age did most American women wed and that Iraqi "women" marry at about fourteen or fifteen. And they went on to say that if a woman hits twenty and is not married most people believe something is wrong with her. This explains why I've never really seen teenaged girls here, only little girls, grandmothers and those that are covered from head to toe in garments working in the fields.

When we asked about the issue of several wives we were told by one of them that it helps to replace those children lost in time of war. I know this all seems very strange and it's only what I am going through here in Iraq, but it is the truth. And all though there seems to be a genuine concern for children at times I also pick up a sense of indifference. Here's an example. I was talking to one soldier and asked him why he only had one wife, and he replied that three months ago his second wife and three kids were killed by insurgents during a roadside bombing. He went on to say that soon he would find a replacement wife and start to have more kids. I had expected him to become angry, but he just said things as a matter of fact.

However on another occasion my commander had brought some gifts for the children of Iraqi soldiers and explained that since insurgents are willing to kill twenty children to scare one American he wanted them to give the gifts to the children in their villages. One of the Iraqi officers responded by saying he was gratful to the people of America for their kindness, but they don't need toys and candy they need safe places to go to school, eat, shop and play. And he also said that they were there to defend Iraqi and kill all those that would harm the innocent, whether or not they were from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Jordan or any other terrorist country Iraq must be safe for children. We really didn't know what to say at that point and my officer finally said "And we will do all that we can to help the heros of Iraq do just that".

We tend to have light moments with the Iraqis and often times grow impatient with their lack of urgency in perfoming given tasks, but that is just the way the culture is. It always seems to come back to "Insh Allah" or "If God wills it, it will be".