Originally Posted by adult_swim

Hey thats me! I welcomed myself back a couple of weeks ago.

Well I saw confusion, disorganization, and money being spent for equipment that collects dust in sandy parking lots. The difference I saw (as a soldier part of the new surge) was a change in the amount of attacks on Americans due to the cease-fire put in place by muqtada al-sadr... not the troops. Ask the kurds no longer living in fear? Locals constantly live in fear they'll catch stray rounds from insurgents AND American black hawks/soldiers. See, I actually spoke regularly with locals w/ American funded translators... I didn't just hear about it on a news channel and take their word for it.