A great blog from Iraq - "just another soldier"

I was up until 2am last night - not studying, of course - reading a blog written by a soldier who is currently serving in Iraq. It's called "Just another Soldier" and is written by a fellow named Jason. This guy is a fantastic writer - hilarious, perceptive, and offensive all at once.... this blog reminds me of "Catch 22".

Unfortunately, the stories he tells remind me of the stories I've read of Vietnam. Rumsfeld's highly-trained "superhero soldier" who can always tell friend from foe is nowhere to be found. Instead Iraq has the same scared, heavily armed kids, the same inability to tell friend from foe until (and after) the shooting starts, and the same civilians caught in the crossfire that Vietnam did. Jason candidly estimates that for every "bad guy" the US kills or captures, the US *also* kills three civilians by accident. The insurgents probably care even less about civilian casualties, but they have much less firepower, so the amount of collateral damage caused by both sides is probably about equal.

I don't think that Iraq will have the same number of American casualities as Vietnam or require the same number of troops.... the US military is much better equipped now, and the insurgents do not have large-scale external support as the VietCong did (the Americans can easily interdict large scale movements of supplies or men in a way they couldn't 35 years ago). But it's pretty clear to me after reading this blog that Iraq is going to drag on as it is now, a miserable, violence-ridden, failed state, for years to come. I expect Bush or Rumsfeld to start channeling Nixon any time now: "it's their war, and it's up to them to win it or lose it." Unfortunately, it's now *America's* war, and it will be for a long time.

Such are the results of the "faith-based presidency". Enjoy yourself, America... you've got four more years of this shit coming up.

But anyway, the blog is great. If you are anti-war when you start reading this blog, you will probably be twice as anti-war when you finish, even though the blogger himself seems to genuinely enjoy being a soldier.

I hope this guy doesn't get killed, because I'd like to read more from him.