"It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it." -Chuck Moseley

For those who are unawares of what really goes on here in the middle east, let me give you as unbiasis frontline report as possible.
Huge economy crisis state-side from what I've heard. California is not giving back state tax refunds, and might be cutting welfare checks. The stock market is on the down and down some more. GM, a hundred year old business is laying off thousands of employees. It's total barney rubble. Trouble.
Working for the federal government the one thing I know is that pay day is twice a month, near regardless of how hard our economy is crashing. With a new boss in charge, that might all change. Osama, I mean Barrack Obama, plans on having us out of Iraq in 16 months of him taking over office. This would help cut spending by as much as $10 billion. It's a nice pipe dream. The second we leave this place it will have a civil war, between the IP's NP's and IA. Not to mention Iran and every other nation surrounding Iraq's borders wanting a peice.
The National Police and Iraqi Police have all of there equipment because of US being able to buy it for them. The Iraqi army wears recycled uniforms that we used to wear in the Gulf War. I see National Police guys with better and newer equipment then I have. Chevy 3500's are about the only vehicle any of the three divisions of Iraqi Security Forces have, and they have plenty of em. And yet, when it comes to getting me new uniforms the government can only afford me the bottoms and not the tops. And when I say me, I mean my battallion.
We give away money to these people to help them build an infrastructure. The only problem is the $50,000 we give them to build a park looks like it only cost 50,000 in peanuts. The unit that was here before we arrived had given away.... this is one platoon.... approximately 1.6 million. 1.6 million dollars in your hard earned tax payers money. The higher up Iraqi's get this money and instead of splitting it equally amongst there men, or workers, they pay them as little as the equipment costs, and keep the gargantuan wad of cash for themselves. These people aren't poor despite what you may think from seeing pictures of there unpaved streets that have standing sewage and trash in them.
If you go into a house here, they often times have bigger and nicer houses then people in the US have. Because America is paying for it. These people can't have America leave. They've gotten to used to us creating jobs for them that we over pay for them to do. Their infrastructure here is horrible. There is no government jobs that are helping to pave streets or clean up trash. Hook up electricity or anything of the sort. Instead we give a guy $100,000 to build two generators for his neighborhood, that with labor cost should've only been $25,000. And yet our supply can't get enough money to order enough sunglasses for everyone.
This war here is no where close to over. We've invested to much money in this place, and continue to invest to much money in this place, to just walk out with nothing in our hands. If we don't get free oil for the next 20 years, or some kind of vacation destination package, I would only expect that my son will have to come over here to fight. Because where we're not ready to leave because of money invested, the Iraqi people don't want us to leave, because of money invested.