Do you have any?

My cousin told me last week that he's being sent to Iraq next January. Even though he volunteered more than a year ago, I don't think he's taking it too well. He's a communications specialist, and he's complaining that he won't get to work on the new equipment there, like he wanted to. I did get the feeling, though, that he'd rather not go at all, despite his best efforts to assure me otherwise.

He'll be stationed at Camp Victory. Something just doesn't seem right about U.S. Army occupying Saddam's palaces.

Well I would think that the palaces were prolly the most well equipped with defenses ... occupying such places would make sense ..

then again, I'm just completely speculating.

I understand the reason why they're occupying them, don't get me wrong. I'm just worried about the kind of message it sends to the Iraqis.

Ofcourse, that DOES make a lot of sense ..

Uh huh. That's like how Abu Ghraib was one of the biggest symbolic metaphors of the past year. Since Saddam pretty much did the same thing there.

I guess I can only point this out in an art historical fashion, but rarely after an area was "conquered" did the incoming group appropriate the older buildings. They didn't really convert all hte Roman temples to churches (as an example) instead, they just build their own new ones on top or near by, in order to create a discontinuous history. Occupying the palaces can just lead to authoritorian rule associations.

-Dolce

If you volunteer cant you get out of it? I dont know how things are over in the states. Over here i heard if you join the army and you drop out they chuck you in prison or something?????

I'm pretty sure thats how its done here, barring illness or something along those lines.

that sucks

My (now) brother in-law is training to go back to Iraq or Afghanistan or Africa, he doesn't know which yet. He was in Iraq during the initial push into Baghdad and as since come home. I'm not 100% sure what he did, but he helped with weather in the field with meteorology, because when you are launching missiles and the like, weather, sandstorms, etc. are vitally important to success.

Says he's seen a lot of things. A lot of dead people along the side of the road. He is however, not the sharpest tool in the shead, he told us of a time when they happened to be in an Iraqi school and soliders would just pick up things and take them... he said he almost took this kid's soccer jersey as a souviner but he ended up leaving it. But he said it was not uncommon for people to wind up with property that wasn't theirs.

He is only 22 though. We gotta remember that the people over there representing US (if you are American at least) are mostly 18-22 year olds, and I know this will be no news to anybody here, I trust 18-22 year olds about as much as I would trust Mary K. Lateurno in a Junior High School :?

My cuz is 22. He's a bit idealistic, though, and I doubt he would take a kid's jersey.

Yeah and believe me, my brother in law is a sacrastic guy so maybe he was just joking about thinking about taking the jersey in order to embarass my sister, but it is not the first time I've heard about the loose fingers of some of our soldiers over there, taking advantage of a situation while nobody is watching.

And crazy things happen when you take these kids and throw them into environments and situations where they are in danger of being killed at any second, walking around 24-7 with weapons in their hands for long hours in alien environments.

He's pretty okay with why he feels like he is there. He is from a well-off family, and it is the path he choose in life, and he's comfortable with that decision. Then again, he is not specifically in a combat situation (the first time), in the sense that he is support personel, not arming the cannons. This time he is going in as a black hawk rescue worker (see Black Hawk Down!) so he is going to be in considerable more danger.

How he looks at it now: He is about one year from leaving the Marines (and he is leaving once he is done) and he thinks the money that he and my sister will get (you get paid more at war!) is a better alternative to sitting around California for the next year on guard duty or working in the office.