BartBlog

A friend of mine returned from Iraq recently. He spent only three weeks in the “Green” Zone on a specialized mission. No, he’s not Special Forces so he wasn’t there to take out al Sadr. He’s just a solider who was injured and almost lost his eyesight in one eye.

We’ll call my friend Joe, as in GI Joe, to keep him anonymous. Considering the bullshit Sgt. Adam Kokesh is having to deal with it makes sense to stay anonymous. Joe is gay and was previously discharged honorably so I don’t want to cause him trouble.

Joe went to Iraq because he’s a good solider and a patriotic US Citizen. While he certainly has questions about the occupation and the base, political motives behind the invasion he is, still, a good soldier. So when his Commander in Chief called him up to go he went.

Joe spent time in the Green Zone which he tells me is not so green. Every night there were mortars and bombs going off all night. Every night he barely slept as he waited for munitions to find their target – him and his unit.

I asked Joe about his experience there and how the other soldiers felt. He said that they get a steady diet of Rush Limbaugh and other controlled sources of information. So most of them are focused on a mission they still believe is to avenge the attacks of September 11, 2001.

I asked Joe if he thought he’d have to go back. He wasn’t sure but thought it was possible. See, he’s lucky. His eye injury will heal and he’ll be close to one hundred percent.

Joe told me he’d go back if ordered, of course. He’s a good solider. But his follow-on comment was “they’ll just have to give me some good drugs to stay there.” Recently Joe stopped having more than a couple of nightmares each night. And he was only there for three weeks.

What’s happening to those troops who are there for months and then extended? Only time will tell but I bet it won’t be pretty.

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