“I’m tired. This is the beginning of week 12 of my second tour in Iraq. Its not any better than the first time. This time, a lot of things have gotten even worse. The last time, you knew the Iraqi Police were corrupt, but they weren’t all militiamen. Now the IP around here are almost entirely followers of al-Sadr. Or members of the Badr Corps. Or simply corrupt, black-marketeers who’ll siphon off weapons and body armor to be sold to the same. The last time you didn’t have to worry that an Iranian-built (oh yes, they are) EFP (Explosively Formed Penatrator) would tear right through your HMMWV. You wouldn’t worry about the fact that the need to house the extra soldiers of the ‘surge’ has left you living in a KBR built mobile home with no overhead cover in an area prone to rocket and mortar attacks.
So I’m a little tired of the worrying, sweating, and the smell. I am one of your soldiers, writing from the front line in a war without any, and I’d really like you to bring me home…I don’t even wake up during mortar attacks anymore. I’m tired of the heat, of carrying an M16 everywhere, of listening to the local Iraqi government rep explain why he needs more money to advance a project that’s a year behind. I’m tired because I just came off of one shift at the battalion TOC, and have just a few hours downtime until the next one. So I send out this diary, this first post on DailyKos and ask everyone back home, and the people who just voted to keep me here for months more; bring me home. (read the rest)“