Safe in Kuwait

It is deja vu all over again.

I'm sitting in the MWR computer lounge here at Ali Al Saleem Airbase in Kuwait, at exactly the same computer where I wrote from almost a year ago. The key difference, however, is that this time I'm waiting for a flight back to the States instead of a flight to Baghdad. (I should be airborne and headed back to Ft. Bliss for demobilization sometime in the next 24-48 hours).

When our C-130 touched down in Kuwait, and the rear ramp opened as we taxied to the pick up point, I thought, "And with that, my war is over." It is a strange feeling to realize I'll likely never set foot in Baghdad again. I'm eager to be permanently reunited with Marya and David sometime in the next week, but leave behind a lot of mixed emotions about the war and the politics surrounding it.

Well, at least I'll have something to write about for my four weeks of leave after I get home. But the most important thing IS that I'll be home soon and in one piece.

Ma'asalaama

My apologies for the sparse posting recently. By the time our technical problems were resolved last week, I was caught up in a frenzy of outprocessing and awards (I won the Bronze Star) and couldn't find the time to post.

The bottom line is that I'm now less than 24 hours from leaving Baghdad and Iraq, and depending upon the vagaries of demobilizing at Ft. Bliss, hopefully about a week and a half from getting home to Marya and David for good.

There is so much I want to say, but not enough time in which to say it. I will try to write some while I'm in Kuwait for the next few days, and maybe while I'm at Bliss.

Until then, thank you to everybody who offered words of support over the course of the past year. I leave with a very heavy heart knowing that some better men than I aren't going to make it home to their families. I pray for the safety of every servicemember I'm leaving behind, and for the common goal for which we are all making sacrifices . . . victory.

Success in Iraq is not guaranteed, but it is still possible. Although I'm slightly burnt out on the politics surrounding the war, I'll try to offer my final observations in the coming weeks before I return to a normal civilian job.

Ma'asalaama, and G-d Bless all our servicemembers fighting the terrorists and bringing democracy to Iraq and Afghanistan.

BEN

Technical Difficulties

Sorry for the even lighter posting than before, but for some reason on Thursday our information management people here decided to block almost every website on the internet from our computers. So for the time being, I'm unable to access this blog (or worse, my wife's blog with the newest pictures of David) on a regular basis.

As soon as I can figure out a workaround, I'll be posting the pictures of me dropping off the care packages at the Combat Support Hospital, pictures of the orphanage where the children's toys went, and some other pictures of me doing touristy things in the IZ again when my friend came to visit last weekend. Stay tuned . . .

(Oh yeah, less than two weeks to go now!)

P.S. In case I don't get to blog about it later, once again, Ann Coulter has proven what an absolute idiot she is.