Life in Iraq sounds kinda sucky right now. From Healing Iraq:

bq. “The situation in Baghdad looks the same as it was in the couple of days before the war last year. Streets are almost empty by seven in the evening, a whole lot of Baghdadis have remained home yesterday for fear of getting cut off from their neighbourhoods in event of Americans blocking off streets or something. There was an ongoing military operation very close to our neighbourhood almost all of Monday night till midday. At one point I imagined that the Apaches were landing on our roof (that was after I published the previous post), and explosions kept rocking our house which brought back uncanny memories of last April 10th when there was a fierce confrontation between Fedayeen and advancing Americans just outside our doorsteps.”
(Read the full post)

Let’s hope the upcoming U.S. response to the radical Islamic militia forces goes well. A lot depends on it. A marine comments in an email over at Andrew Sullivan.

bq. “This battle is going to be talked about for a long time. The Marine Corps will either reaffirm its place in history as one of the greatest fighting organizations in the world or we will die trying. The Marines are fired up. I’m nervous for them though because I know how much is riding on this fight (the war in Iraq, the view of the war at home, the length of the war on terror and the reputation of the Marine Corps to name a few). However, every time I’ve been nervous during my career about the outcome of events when young Marines were involved they have ALWAYS exceeded my expectations. I’m praying this is one of those times.”

Categories: Politics

Well, the Foreign Service seems to be a possibility. Unfortunately, I’ve already missed the deadline for taking the next Foreign Service Exam. I’ll have to wait till at least fall or next spring if I pursue this line of job employment. Once the process starts, if I pass the first test, there’s still an oral exam to take. In a smooth process with no test failures, my nearest opportunity for beginning employment with the State Department would be anywhere from summer 2005 to spring 2006.

I need to look at other opportunities, too. Hmm, maybe CIA?

Categories: Life

Condoleezza Rice testified before the 9/11 Commission today. The transcript is avialable at FoxNews.

From what I gather, she’s an incredibly intelligent woman, well educated, and a great person for her job. Her comments about 9/11 reveal a lot about the Bush administrations response to the terrorist threat and operations prior to the event itself. The transcript is an interesting read.

Here’s some interesting parts of what she said.

“The threat reporting that we received in the spring and summer of 2001 was not specific as to time, nor place, nor manner of attack. Almost all of the reports focused on Al Qaeda activities outside the United States, especially in the Middle East and North Africa. In fact, the information that was specific enough to be actionable referred to terrorist operations overseas.

Most often, though, the threat reporting was frustratingly vague. Let me read you some of the actual chatter that was picked up in that spring and summer:

“Unbelievable news coming in weeks,” said one.

“Big event — there will be a very, very, very, very big uproar.”

“There will be attacks in the near future.”

Troubling, yes. But they don’t tell us when; they don’t tell us where; they don’t tell us who; and they don’t tell us how.”

Categories: Politics