When I got back here to LSA Anaconda I, along with the rest of Task Force Konohiki, was put into transeint billeting. This is were soldiers coming in and out of the local theatre of operations stay and wait for flights home or permanant quarters. One of the first things I noticed was the very large numbers of Army ACU's (All Climate Uniform) These are the latest style of uniform issued by the Army and are desinged to phase out the current uniform in Iraq, the DCU (Desert Camoflouge Uniform). What this meant was that we had been here in Iraq long enough for the whole Army to phase us out, it also meant very many people would be starting their tours here.

One would think that this meant alot of inexperienced people were here to replace us, not so. Near the wooden shacks desinged to accomodate up to twenty peeople were two buildings most of us transeints gathered for coffee, reading, smoking and some television. As I stood there drinking my coffee I overheard many conversations dealing with many of the soldiers first trip here in 2003, they were now rotating in for the second time. Most people that do this are regular Army or full timers. I began talking to a fellow Staff Seargeant and we were very open with each other, we both expressed support for the "cause" but frustration with the loss of life. The "Takfiree" are not stupid and will never stand and fight, they will only commit cowardly acts of terrorism against us and the people of Iraq. This particular man seemed to have a certain air about him that is hard to explain, he seemed very relaxed and professional but also very concerned about the uncertainty of what 2006 will bring. We talked some tactics and talked of home, shook hands and wished each other well. I felt a closeness that felt very unique and probably shared by many soldiers throughout history.

The next morning I came across two fellow Staffs that had served out this year here on the LSA, both were Infantrymen but did very different jobs. Both of these men serve in the 442d. The first Seargeant I talked to is well respected and liked and has a very csaual style of leadership. He is also one of the few men that saw what I will call "Combat", the kind of place were rockets are landing, bullets ( thousands of them ) are cracking overhead and hitting the dirt all around and men are dying. He ran many long range patrols "Outside the Wire" and narrowly missed death several times, those that went in his stead were killed. We had both agreed that this past year wasn't what we had expected but weren't complaining, we are coming home and some never will. We also felt that we wouldn't make it a point to wear our "Combat" decorations, we both have to much knowledge of those that have gone before us and realize there was never any "Omaha beach" here in Iraq. But I think the most important thing was we both knew that there is no glory to be found "Outside the Wire", reality perhaps but no glory.

The last Seargeant I will mention is much like the last except he never really left the wire. I was walking through one of the transeint tent compounds when he called me over, I hadn't seen him since February. As we talked he said he felt that he not only wasted this entire year but the last twenty years of his life. For an Infantryman the ultimate test of what you are is determined in the face of the enemy and during the heat of battle (Combat). It is not something we look foward too it is just something that is supposed to eventually happen to all those that choose to live the life of an Infantryman. We as Infantrymen take offense to those in todays Army that believe that simply because they have been called upon to defend themselves in an Army stretched to the limit are now deserving, if not entitled the badge of the combat Infantryman. We in the Infantry have dedicated our lives to the life of the Infantry and have too much respect for those before us to simply handout Infantry awards to people asked to defend themselves, especially soldiers. I could tell that this last Seargeant felt cheated by duty on the LSA, but he doesn't have to prove a thing to to his brothers in the Infantry, he has walked the walk for twenty years.

These three men have all lived very similar lives in the Infantry and have three very different stories to tell about Iraq. But I am sure that no matter what badges, ribbons, pins and shiney objects they receive for their uniforms the most important thing we have, and will never be taken away, is respect for our comitment and each other.

December 16th was our last official night at FOB O'Ryan the next day we would say goodbye to our friends of the fourth IA batallion and head for the relative safety of LSA Anaconda. As everyone went about packing up personal items and sterilizing what had been "Home" for so long I was approaced by one of the "Terps". Earlier in the evening our , Commander "Konohiki six", had said ggodbye and gave the "Terps" a chance to say afew words. As a whole they wished us all well and said to relate best wishes to our individual families, they also thanked us for helping the people of Iraq and said they would miss us and think of us as friends. The individual standing in the door said nothing at that earlier time, I suppose they had elected a spokesman.

I can't tell you his name because his life might be put a risk if I did so. I can say that he had been with us since the very begining and I felt the most comfortable with him when I wanted help with my language or cultural studies. This man is attending a university and if it was discoverd he worked for Americans the student radicals might seek him out and kill him, he is studying Islam. I saw him standing in the doorway and knew immediatly why he was there, his eyes were quite watery and he just sort of looked at me and then said "Seargent, Seargent I want to tell you something but don't know the words". I knew what he was there to say and very much so felt the same way, we had all been through so much in our time together and were now parting ways forvever. We didn't even try to fool ourselves as we often tend to do during goodbyes. There would be no "Till we meet again" or "I'll see you around, lets reunite next year" no such things were said, this was "Goodbye".

This may sound strange to some people and I know one Army Officer that thinks it's absolute nonsense but this "Terp" told me that I was the "Only one" that truley and openly tried to respect them and Islam, I know this is not so because many people in the Task Force felt the same way I just let them see it. He went went on to say that almost everyone there tried to make them eat pork or gave them a hard time about not eating it, and he did in fact mention the 4th of July pork feast. I was told that all of the "Terps" had a high level of respect for my treatment and understanding of their beliefs, I felt very well about his comments. I do not mention this to give the "air of superiority" or be self rightchious, I just want to point out that it is very important to learn and respect other cultures, not simply divide and conquor. We must prove oursleves as willing to understand Islam for what it is, a belief shared by hundreds of millions.

The "Terp" then said he did not have a gift for me but wished he had, as is the Muslim way. I explained to him that the greatest give had been given long ago and I would cherish it forever, friendship.

I will not look foward to seeing CNN and other world news orginizations report the death to come here in Iraq, because so many of my friends, both soldiers and iterpreters, remain at risk from the action of the "Takfiree". Everytime our Task Force came in contact with the enemy the iterpreters were there. We often times were critical of them and some of their ways but I believe there is a collective respect for the duty that lies ahead for them. I can't even share a picture with any of you out of fear for their lives.

I will just say that I was also pretty choked up by our farewell and believe that earning another persons respect is one of the greatest rewards I can think of coming out of Iraq.

On the day of elections here in Iraq we had been tasked to ensure the proper receipt and delievery of the voters ballots, we would do this from FOB Mawtini headquarters for the fourth Iraqi Army batallion. We arrived early in the morning with our replacements in tow and the majority of our Task Force preposistioned in one of the larger local towns. This operation was going to be done almost entirely by the Army and people of Iraq, as it should be. This is all part of the process of downsizing and ensure the stability of Iraq.

I am happy to say that most of the day was quite boring with us just sitting around listening to radio traffic and waving to the different shifts of Iraqi soldiers out patrolling the streets.The government of Iraq had taken the steps needed to protect it's people and allow them to do what they had been waiting close to forty years to do, vote. Near the end of the evening many of the Iraqi trucks kept pulling in and filling with soldiers then, speeding out the gate. I asked one of the "Terps" what was going on because they were moving so fast, honking their horns and yelling, I thought that maybe there was some sort of trouble brewing. The "Terp" told me that they were all going to go vote and then got in a vehicle himself that was full of soldiers. I asked him if he was being escorted home and he told me he was going to vote and several other "Terps" climbed in and off they went, to vote.

I want to stress something very important about what was happening. Many, if not all, of these people were risking getting killed by going to vote. The "Takfiree" had promised to kill those that chose to vote in the elections. The "Terps" could have been signing their own death warrants by not only voting, but riding into town with the new Iraqi Army and exposing themselves as "Terps" and working with Americans. I truely wish Americans could understand how blessed we are by being able to vote any time we want, and yet voter turn out is shameful in America. Could one imagine what it would be like if our polling stations were targets for bombings simply because some radicals didn't want people to vote, it's unimaginable. And yet here in Iraq the people in our region turned out at ninety percent, I'm proud of my Iraqi friends and soldiers. When they returned from the polls our "Terps" proudly displayed their "Badges of Honor" their ink stained fingers signifying votes being registered.

The day that was filled with such excitement and joy ended in sadness. My friends had been attacked late in the day while bringing back the ballot boxes. No one was killed but several were wounded and one of the soldiers may not make it. The Iraqi Army would have to do this one on its own tonight, the American Army did not rush to the site of the wounded and the IA secured the area and retrieved the damaged vehicle on their own, it is a sign of things to come very quickly, limited and almost non existent American presence. The Iraqi Army performed well and did it all on their own, those that are so critical of our progress should have been at FOB Mawntini election night.

One thing stood out for me after the Iraqis returned with the damaged vehicle, one of the Iraqi gunners looked over at me in my gun turret and said "Ali Baba fu--ing sh-t". I was worried he was going to ask me why I didn't come to their aid but he didn't, he was just angry at the "Takfiree" for what they had done to his friends. When people back home ask me if this year of risking my life and being away from my home and family was worth it, I will tell them what happened on election night in Iraq and ask them to remember to vote.

I am now in a posistion to keep much more regular entires and will try to proofread before publishing. We are very close to coming home now and the month of December was, and still is, quite hectic. The big event for the month has been the elections that were held on the fifteenth. I have been told from higher up that in our local province the voter turn out was ninety percent, were are all very proud for having been able to be a part of something like that, I doubt that most news reporting orginizations will make as big a deal over this as they are over what "Cindy Sheehan" has to say about our support. I will put in several entries on what happened over the the election time and some of my interactions with the regular people and soldiers of Iraq, it will probably be three or four entries.

One of the nicest things I saw on the day before the elections was the reaction of the soldiers we have been working with as they pepared to do their part for this monumental day. Soon after we arrived at the Iraqi base myself and the and one of the men that will carry on what we have done so far heard some very upbeat music. As I went to investigate I saw the entire second company dancing in a circle and embracing. One of the men had what appeared to be a flute and was whistling something very catchy in their culture, or at the least quite popular from the mens reaction. I saw them starting to clap hands and other men jumped in the middle of the circle and did what I will call break dancing. It was very obvious that these men were overjoyed at what they were doing, providing their citizens with the chance of a lifetime to vote as they truley saw fit. I am just waiting for some anti-Iraq person too remind us all that the vote existed before our arrival and Sadaam did recieve one hundred percent of the vote.

I have also noticed that the IA (Iraqi Army) seem to be picking up alot of our culture as well. Near where all of the dancing was takining place there is a basketball court that was left over from when Americans shared the post with the IA. I saw several men trying to play basket ball and was a little excited to see them enjoying themselves so much. Of course they did alot of double dribbles and are horrible shots but for probably only seeing what Americans used to do, I'd say they were doing quite well. Not long after arriving the IA officers invited some of the guys to join them in a volley ball game. This was really something to see since a few months before someone had given them a volley ball and they kept using it as a soccer ball. They had set up a volley ball net in the compound on a large slab of concrete and seemed to have the basics down pretty well. One of the officers from Iraq was a real ball hog, according to our gunner who was playing for a time. I took some pictures and video of the game that, according to the officers, was won by them. There was even a crowd of specators.

I mentioned in earlier blogs that they also use alot of our expletives but they also have been saying things like "How ya doing?" and "Good-bye". I got a real strong feeling that they seemed to know we would be leaving soon and I felt a little uncomfortable since I knew when we were leaving, but was not allowed to tell them. The average Iraqi soldier still wants to get his hand on anything American even batteries. One of the soldiers had a small flashlight that required two AA batteries. I happened to have few on hand and gave him two, at which point three other soldiers held their hands out for batteries. When I asked them "Leish?' they said they all needed batteries for their flashlights. I then asked them to prodce flashlights and they couldn't so I told them "Yimkin Baatcher" "Maybe tomorrow". Well, one of the soldiers tried to trick me by borrowing the same flashlight of the soldier in reall need. When I told him I had a better flashlight ready for a gift he said " Oh this not mine, I need new". I then said" Busted" and all the other IA started laughing at his self incrimination. All in all it was a fun day hanging out with the Iraqis I am just really tired of being asked to give them gifts, I wish we could make them understand that gifts are not given on demand.

One new phrase - Layla Jamila "Beautiful night".

All of us are very anxious and excited about the proapect of being home soon and also wonder what is the reason for guys like Senators Dean and Kerry trying to deminish what we have done here. I can honestly say that comments being made by Kerry and Dean do not help our situation here or our moral. All I am wainting for is Kerry to break out his Vietnam uniform to duplicate the mularkey he put out during the Vietnam war. It seems like Kerry is counting on the short attention span most people have and doesn't think he is going to be seen as "aiding the enemy" as he is. I see more support from Hillary Clinton and Joe Lieberman and yet fully understand their concern, neither of them can be seen as "aiding the enemy", as far as I'm concerned. None of these experts have spent any real time in Iraq and should spend at least six months over here riding through the villages and talking to average Iraqis instead of talking their leads of guys lik Al Zawqari.

The thing is guys like Kerry and Dean are opurtunist and want to see the moment to make political gains, they just don't have the comitment to see things through. One thing they can't understand is the mindset that has been here for close to forty years. Recently I overheard one of our Iraqi friends having a discussion with one of our NCO's about the future of Iraq and the rapid need for Iraqs Army to stand on it's own. The Iraqi made a point of saying that in the Army of Sadaam Hussein Colonels had less power then an American Seargeant, this Iraqi has been working with the American military for three years and should know. Taking the initiative and caring for subordinates has just never been allowed, changing that will take time.

Another thing Kerry and Dean don't appreciate is the fact that every Iraqi that works with or for Americans runs the risk of death, and yet the people of Iraq take that risk everyday. I will give more examples later of Iraqi comitment and wonder if the term "Takferri" is something any of those two experts understand, I doubt it.

One last thing about my last entry "Jarhead", I was using "Jodie" as an example of what many go through. My relationship is very solid and based on trust, I just wanted to share my own experience. And know that the vast majority of Americans respect veterans.

I have written that many people here refer to bad people or terrorists as "Ali Baba" and that the easiest way to get someone in trouble is to call them "Ali Baba", this is true. But one of our research or investigators has enlighted as to what we ought to really be calling those that are commiting these people that are comitting such violent acts agains Iraqis and Americans, "Takfeeri".

Basically the "Takfeeri" are the extremist that are willing to use any means available to force their beliefs on any group of people that do not conform to their specific understanding of the Koran and Islam. They will not hesitate to kill women and children to reach their goals and have done so repeatidly. "Takfeerians", we have learned, are dispised in the Muslim world for their views and acts contrary to Islam. When we first started referring to the people we are after as "Takfeeri" instead of "Alli Baba" the look on the Iraqis faces changed dramaticly. It was very clear that these "Takfeeri" are dispised in the area and we belive in the whole Arab culture, I guess there Arabic Klansmen. I sincerly hope that more and more people start to use the term "Takfeeri" and believe it will really help to speed this "WAR" along. If one is curious this term and more information can be found on the Internet.