This was a new sight for me today. I’ve heard explosions nearby during my time here (mostly mortars and rockets), but never actually seen one. I have no way of knowing, but my assumption has to be that this was an IED of some sort (or maybe not, it might just be a house fire for all I know). The size of the blast and general direction (downtown Baghdad) lead me to that conclusion, but as I said, I really don’t know. Either way, it tends to bring things home a bit. During my time here, I’ve been somewhat secluded behind the walls of the camps here. You know stuff is happening in the world around you, but most of the time you don’t see it. This can be a scary place, but it makes my job all the more important. I truly believe the people I work with (and for) are making a difference. People at home just see the CNN end result, the number of IED attacks remains at a high constant. This is what you see when all you see is the mainstream media. When you’re over here, you realize that, despite the fact that the numbers remain high, we’re making it more and more difficult every day for the enemy. Every time we ratchet up our pressure, they have to become more daring in how they carry out these attacks. Eventually, they have to expose themselves in the face of the pressure, and this is when we get them. Kind of makes me proud of the folks I work around.
As is the way with things over here, change is a constant. Just yesterday, I was telling you that I was going to get the job and location that I had been gearing for … not so fast. It turns out that I am getting the job, but the location has changed slightly. I will be staying here for the duration, and not moving to the ‘Green Zone’ as I had originally thought. Oh well, say goodbye to the pool and all of the nice lady reporters, and say hello to a trailer here in Camp Victory. As it stands, it’s probably a good thing – I know the area here well, so I won’t have to start over. Well, I’m off to the gym. Until tomorrow.
-Grease out.
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