Worsening Mess in Iraq

Hi Everyone,

Just a brief report here....An Army reserve Captain wrote a letter to the editors at the Washington Post a while back. This Captain is from the same doctoral department as von Brawn and myself. He's a smart guy and a nice guy and I would never have expected him to be making his views so public on a matter like this. I can only take from this that he feels extremely strongly about it (no surprise since he lived through over a year in Iraq). Here is what he wrote:

"Letter to the Editor
Monday, July 7, 2003; Washington Post
Among the reasons for plummeting troop morale in Iraq [front page, June 20] is the fact that the Army seems unable to provide even a minimal quality of life for us. From toilet paper to telephone service, everything is perpetually "on its way." It takes three weeks for mail to arrive. Telephone service is spotty, and almost none is available for calls to the States; likewise, e-mail access is very limited. Hot showers, hot chow and climate-controlled living spaces are a distant dream for most troops. The men and women on the ground will continue to soldier on, but the Army could at least provide some taste of real life in return."
RUSSELL A. BURGOS, Thousand Oaks, Calif. (The writer is a U.S. Army captain stationed in Iraq

I've heard that Capt. Burgos has an article in a forthcoming political science journal. In the last week he's been quoted in the Washington Post comparing Iraq to the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebenon. We'll keep you posted on it.

Also, Capt. Burgos' remarks echo those of my second cousin who was a section leader and electrician in an Ohio National Guard unit in Iraq. He sent numerous emails home over the year he was there and nearly all complained about the living conditions. He also said there was a class system for living quarters. He was helping build them so he was an expert. He said the Airforce units lived the best and the Army - especially the Guard and reserve units - lived the worst. He also said that the Army had another engineer unit ready to come into Iraq an help make up the difference but at the last minute sent that unit home without deploying while my cousin's unit had its stay in Iraq extended. That didn't help his morale I can tell you.

NPR is now reporting that the Bush Administration is going to shift funds away from Iraq to pay for "security" operations whatever those are.