Thanks for the thoughts and prayers as all are welcome.  Have not yet decided what to post on the Carroll Message Board and a little bit hesitant.  Thought I might get through this period and then reflect back once I have had time to take a breath.  I do not want my thoughts to be misinterpreted and do not want to say something I would regret influenced by emotion.

  It is the peak of Ramadan and we are so busy.  The Insurgents are still shelling the base but no organized attack as of yet.  I thought that once we got to the end of October all this would calm down but Intelligence is saying that once the holiday ends there will be two weeks of celebration in honor of Allah answering Islamic prayers.  Just what we need two more weeks of Crazed Jihadist.

The city, Mosul , is getting Hammered unmercifully.  Multiple car bombs daily in markets, Police Stations, Bizarres, anywhere civilians are gathered.  We sometimes get the wounded.  The insurgents are so trying to start a civil war. 

 The following is an excerpt from a letter addressing a friends opposition to Bush's decision to invade Iraq ,  I thought you might be interested in a ground zero observation.  Thanks for the Ping .

 "It is truly Fall here now as the temps are in the Low 50's and peak at 70.  Truly magnificent weather in this high dry desert.  It is so much like West Texas that I want to go camping.  I don't think the Eucalyptus or the Pine trees will lose their leaves as they don't seem the type.  This is such a unique area.  Here in the Tigres River Valley it is so lush with vegetation and so beautiful with lots of wildlife.  Go a few miles to the East or West and it changes to Desert so abruptly.  Little grows and nothing lives.  Death is so close.  To the East is the former Front line and old battle ground of Iraq 's war with Iran .  Unbelievable destruction and desolation.  The Iranian border is 89 miles East of my position.  I think the nuclear threat from Iran is equal to are greater than the Terrorist.  The entire Middle East is so volatile.

 I understand why Karen as well as many others believe the way they do about the war and it is because they are mislead by the Politically motivated Liberal Media.  They are skewing the information to keep the Republicans in office or get the Democrat elected.  Whatever the motivation, the American public has been misinformed and essentially lied too by all politicians.

 President Bush is right, there are many weapons of mass destruction over here, they are called Terrorist.  Jihadist, Al-Qaida, Taliban, Insurgents,  Saddam may not have had WMD's but we don't know that for certain as the military is still searching this country and finding weapons we didn't know that he had.  Why hasn't the media reported on that aspect?  Iraq is as big as Texas with less than half the people, imagine how many places there are to hide weapons.

 But to elaborate on the Terrorist.  Look on a map and you will see that Iraq is between Syria and Iran .  Both countries are known to fund, train, and support Terrorism.  Iran created Hezballah, the Party of Allah,  they are the mortal enemy of Israel and America .  Syria created Hamas, again mortal enemy of the West.  Plus both countries are openly supporting Terrorist operations in Iraq .  They do not want a Democratic country between them.  They want it the way it was with Saddam, A Triad of Terrorist Nations lined up together fighting the West in the name of Islam. 

 The leaders of these countries are misleading their people the same way the politicians in America are misleading Americans,  it is all about completing their political agendas.  They could care less about Islam but they use it to get their people Fanatically Enraged about religious persecution, so much so that they are willing to Martyr themselves against the great Satan, the U.S.   It's all Bull Shit but it gets their political agenda completed.

  Iran and Syria are trying to de-stabilize Iraq by igniting a civil war.  There are Iranian and Syrian death squads working with the Insurgents and they have infiltrated the Shia and Sunni factions which are basically the two political parties, like Democrats and Republicans only much more violent.  The Shias' and Sunnis' are both believers in Islam but interpret the Koran differently and thus the conflict.  The males of the Arab race are very Macho and to have their beliefs in question is a blow to their masculinity, and they settle their differences violently. 

The Shia and Sunni death squads snatch large groups of hostages from the streets, markets, bizarres, schools, Mosques, wherever members of the opposing faction are congregating.  These hostages are then tortured horribly and each Squad uses a different method of torture so as to trade mark their work and claim credit.  The victims are then dumped in front of their homes for their families to discover or dumped in a public place for maximum effect.

 The Shias use drill motors to drill into the joints, muscles, and eyes of their victims until they die.  They are found riddled with hundreds of holes after it has taken days for them to die.  Sunnis skin their victims alive, ripping their skin off with red hot pliers and burn their eyes out with torches.  Many times each group will take victims of their own faction and torture them using the other group’s techniques so as to cast blame and enrage the public.  And many times large numbers of victims are simply taken out into the desert and shot, just for the Hell of it.

 It is common knowledge and females processing into Theater are made aware of a special threat that has been launched against them.  The Insurgents are offering a multi million dollar reward for the capture of any and as many Western females as possible, preferably blonde but not to make a difference as their hair will be dyed blonde by their captors.  They are to be taken to "Rape Rooms” operated by Insurgents where they rape and torture Iraqi men and women.  There the blonde captives are to be gang raped, beaten, tortured to the edge of death, and then be-headed in front of cameras' to be shown on the Al-Jazira Network for the world to see.

 Is this not the most despicable, decadent, obscene behavior you have ever heard of?  Ask those that say "Bush lied to us" if they want these Animals loose on the streets of America .  And we all know about car bombs, homicide bombers, IED's.  They do this SHIT to their own people!  Imagine what they will do to us if we pull out of here now and show Weakness!  These Bastards' only understand two things, Strength and Weakness.  To stay and fight is the message We Have To Send!  We are in this war because we pulled out of Vietnam , Somalia , Beirut and the world perceived us as cowards.  Osama Bin Laden said it himself that "Americans are paper Tigers; they have no stomach for war!"  We must stand our ground, reeducate the world and thus declare that “ America will not go quietly into the night.”

 It doesn't matter what Bush said.  He could have declared that Martians have landed in Iraq and are threatening to conquer the world or that Giant Earth Eating Dinosaurs were devouring the planet.  It doesn't matter!  Iranian/Syrian sponsored Terrorism is a Weapon of Mass Destruction and we are the target.  Has September 11, 2001 been forgotten back in the states?

 It is extremely dangerous to sit back in the states, 9000 miles from the front lines, comfortably watching FOX, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS and listening to what they want you to hear, skewed by sponsors, politicians, family members who don't know SHIT! 

 But it is quite another to be shelled night/day by the same Bastards who want to import their ideology to America and be told we were lied too by our President.  Lied to about what?  These Sons of Bitches are trying to kill us!  We see their atrocities everyday!  Tell those who claim Bush lied, to come join me at the Front and watch these young Americans stand their ground fighting against the most Horrible Evil ever visited on this planet.  If we pull out now, the Front Line will move to their Front Door!"