Dispatches from the Front

Hello friends,

I'm pleased to report that I have fewer than 50 days left in Iraq; while I've enjoyed my time here, I'm truly looking forward to returning to Evansville after the first of the year!

I was able to make a trip to Old Muthana recently. Once the primary airfield in Baghdad, it is now an Iraqi Army base. The purpose of the visit was to negotiate on two construction projects slated to occupy the same piece of property. While Iraqis and Coalition partners hammered out the details, I enjoyed the scenery.

Saddam's unfinished mosque

I find the mosque to be lovely and forlorn, having remained untouched since the invasion in 2003. The rebar protruding from the top is striking to me - the ugliness of a cruel regime that would otherwise be hidden by the completed construction, had Saddam remained in power. I'm not sure why that analogy occurs to me.

I thorougly enjoyed the travels through Baghdad as well, and the time spent observing the building of a nation.

With CPT Mitchell

As always, I remain your faithful servant -
Paul