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Pro Deo Et Patria- An Army Chaplain

I am a chaplain in the US Army, serving in Iraq. I'm keeping a blog to share my thoughts and experiences while deployed. They are my thoughts and they don't necessarily reflect the opinions of the US Army! :)

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Different Sights, Juxtaposed

Earlier today, I was standing outside the building in which I work, talking on my cell phone to my son, and I saw Fox Report Geraldo Rivera in the parking lot. After finishing the conversation, I went over and got a picture with Geraldo. It's interesting the different people and sights you see over here.

This evening, while walking home, around midnight, I saw what looked like flares overhead. I assumed they were coming from a helicopter, but I then heard the roar of a jet engine, and saw a a jet streaking across, just overhead. I couldn't tell what it was... whether a fighter like an F-16, or something larger like a B-1. But there was a certain beauty as it turned and streaked past, with part of the underbelly lit up by the flares. I don't know what it was doing, and, well, wouldn't say if I did, but it was an interesting sight to end the day.

One last thing. In my post from yesterday, someone asked "how do we win the war." I wrote up some thoughts, but I'm going to wait to post them. I want to be careful how I word it. As an Officer, I cannot promote political causes online (and may have tread on thin ice a few days ago by highlighting the plights of Iraqis), so I need to think about how I word it. I didn't promote either political party in my response, but I want to still be careful how it is worded. But essentially here are my points: 1) Prepare to have troops here for a long time- show we have fortitude to see it out, 2) Use the tactics we have just begun to use with this troop surge, 3) Spend money to build infrastructure and the economy in Iraq as we did in Europe after World War 2, 4) De-politicize the war, and finally, understand that we have a moral obligation to see this thing through. We may all disagree about why we came here, but we're here, and it won't work to simply leave.

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nice post. Hey, I just wanted to let you know, along with every other member of our armed forces in Iraq and the surrounding theater, that I truly appreciate what you guys are doing over there from the bottom of my heart. I hope our politicians have the courage to let you guys finish the job and come home, honorably, as you all should be able to in my opinion. Thanks again for all that you guys do!

7:28 AM  
Blogger Ron said...

Hey Sir...just want to let ya know as an ex-Gulf war vet, I support what you and the rest of the troops are doing there.

Keep up the great work!

3:24 AM  
Blogger sarah cool said...

That is a GREAT MUSTACHE!! Wow, Geraldo!!

2:24 PM  
Blogger __air said...

"3) Spend money to build infrastructure and the economy in Iraq as we did in Europe after World War 2"

What is the progress of the infrastructure and the economy thus far? Are there towns or communities that could be used to as a model of what can be achieved? Engineering-wise are there Iraqi's who have the where-with-all to generate chainreactive business investments?

7:36 AM  

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