Rant

I was in our MWR hut waiting to make a phone call. That's the hut where the big screen TV is along with multiple computers and, obviously, telephones. While I was waiting on the phone, Nightline was on asking the parents of fallen soldiers if they thought their child would be alive if they 'just had the armor they deserve.' I have a specific point that is worth mentioning in light of such reporting. Our military has never been more protected, better armed, or better trained than they are right now. We've lost not quite 1800 personnel in Iraq over the past 2 YEARS. In wars past, with less armor, we've lost that much and more in 2 HOURS. To digress a little, each loss of life is catastrophic to families, to sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, and so many people. I'm not going to say 'that's war', because that is a pat answer, but at the same time it's true. War is an ugly, dirty, evil thing that saps both young and old. But it's not going anywhere and we can't not fight. Our survival as a country depends on us keeping the fighting elsewhere. If we give up here in Afghanistan or Iraq, what will the terrorists do? Where do you think they will go? I'll give you one guess.Anyway.To say that our troops aren't being given what they 'deserve' is stretching a little farther than people understand. Speaking as someone in country, I see the number of armored vehicles, the quantity of uparmoring operations, the number of troops with a lot of really cool equipment, I think we're are much better equipped and armored than people realize. It just doesn't make for good press. People wont buy the paper to see that we're doing good. It has to be an 'Oh No!' reaction. Before I go any farther I need to say that I don't speak for everyone here, for the Army, for my fellow soldiers. I'm just speaking for me. That's one of the good things about a blog, I can say what I want. As long as I don't mess with operation security (OPSEC), I'm good.Now that I'm done with my rant, I'm exhausted. Not really, it just sounded kinda funny! That and this is a topic that I could go on and on about. I just wont subject you guys to that. Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to SEE my own blog again. The Army has restricted internet access from "Message Boards and Clubs" so I have no idea how things are going on it. I know my wife is working it so I'm sure it's doing fine. I stopped by the place that is supposedly going to run the internet and cable TV to our compound and they told me that it would be next month. We'll see.