Tsunami & Mosul Under Resistance Control

An unfathomable tragedy happened on a biblical scale. 110,000 and still counting have passed away due to this horrible event. I remember looking at some of the footage and being horrified as if I was watching a horror movie. Something like that would turn very brave men into cowards. It has even been stated that the numbers will probably reach higher and could double from disease alone. Now they are calling it Asia's version of 9/11. I just want to send my deepest sympathy to the people that have suffered from this event.
Mosul it seems has become the new Fallujah. It is apparent large portions of the city is under control of enemy forces in Mosul. So, now we are back to square one. There was recently a battle fought to take back Mosul, and it was a spectacular military success. However, due to the fact these people can blend in with the crowd they can easily slip back into society and cause trouble. That is the frustrating thing about this whole war. They have no chance in a military confrontation with us, but they just sneak back in when the dust settles and a bunch of the idiots that wanted to make a last stand are all dead. I remember when i was in Iraq, and the war ended. I had a good conversation with a guy. He said "Yeah, all the stupid ones. They're all dead now. The ones that tried to fight. All those stupid ones are dead now. Now, all that is left is the smart ones. Those are the ones we have to worry about." I think if the USA is SERIOUS about winning this war, we must grab our balls and conduct it in the necessary manner. Find out where most of them are hiding. Give no warning they we are coming with military power. This will trap them they wont be able to run, and we quickly end it now. We will also need a troop increase of at least 100,000 to be able to do this on multiple fronts. Probably the biggest problem in all this is lack of Infantryman to do the fighting. The whole Army doesn't have many trigger pullers compared to the size of the rest of it. Most military in Iraq aren't Infantry, mostly other jobs in the Army are there. No resistance has been defeated by trying to win hearts and minds at the same time. I fear this hearts and minds non-sense is setting us up for failure. We should crush this enemy now, and win hearts and minds later.

Deadly Mosul Attack

It seems now that instead of being a rocket that hit the chow hall tent, it was a suicide bomber inside the tent. When I first read the story, it made my blood boil. I came to the quick conclusion however, that it was probably a very lucky shot and was bound to eventually happen. Then, it turns out to be a damn suicide bomber. So, an Iraqi being brought into the camp was not checked by security. I'm sure an incident like this has started protocols for everyone except non-Americans soldiers to be checked for explosives. I can't help but think in the days of Vietnam and World War 2, and incident like this wouldn't even probably make it in the news. Let alone get any serious attention from the government. Now, you have the government investing this incident, which to me seems unprecedented. Not only that, it's even started a major security review. It is sad that it had to take something so terrible to really start to get the wheels moving. Hopefully something good comes out this.
I'm finally home for the holidays. I got here about a week ago. One thing I've noticed over the years, when you reach a certain age, Christmas loses its glamour. The only thing I look forward to is seeing my family. Soon, after New Years, I will be back in Iraq involved in combat operations. So, I'm trying to make the most of the time I have back with my family. It seems it's already starting to effect my mother, she keeps saying all she wants for Christmas is me to come home safe. So, I know when it's time to get on that airplane and leave it's going to be really difficult to say goodbye. Being home, makes it feel like Iraq is so distant and far away. I've already had my taste of war, I don't look forward to going back there. However, the funny thing is, if my unit said I could leave the Army instead of being stop loss, I would request to extend my enlistment to goto Iraq. No matter what, where my buddies go, I want to be there with them and face the same dangers with them.