3rd ID is back, well, some of them, anyway. What were dozens now have become hundreds, if not thousands. They’re in the warehouses we once called home. Now they got air conditioning in them, too, so I’m very happy for those that returned. All of them deserved it. Today, it started to get ready humid. It was so hot that as soon as I walked out of them building or the tent, that my glasses fogged up from the mere heat and I started to sweat immediately. I’ve never been in such heat and humidity before. I was fine with 115 degrees, as long as it was dry. Sure the wind actually made it hurt but I didn’t sweat as violently before. This really sucks. People say it’s that time of the year and it’s actually been a little late. They say it should last about a month. And I sincerely hope it doen’t.
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I’m currently a postal clerk in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, and I wanted to address a few things. Some have claimed that we shouldn’t be complaining about the quality of life here comparing it to WWI, WWII, Vietnam and Korea (as if most of us have gone through that anyway). But that reasoning is invalid, solely because it discourages improvements. Or should we stop looking at better alternatives and still employ bows and arrows?
The president’s hope that Saddam’s sons’ deaths help justify this war is flawed and dangerous. War shouldn’t be waged where ends justify the means, it’s other way around. In one sense, we have another Vietnam, because many of us do not feel the purpose. We are smart enough to know that this was not a humanitarian effort (we invaded a country), and we are smart enough to know that this war wasn’t completely justifiable; all it showed the world was that US was more than conveniently capable of eagerly believing in false statements (uranium) and that we know how to construct mobile labs for WMD. Like many of us on TV interviews and newspaper letters, my loyalty isn’t shaken, just my faith. I believe the command doesn’t realize the distinction just yet. We don’t need the government telling us that Al-Qaeda threat is very real or that diligence is key to defeating Al-Qaeda (did anyone actually think impatience was the answer?), we need something concrete. And finally, I wonder, what is the price of freedom, when our freedom wasn’t even under immediate threat from Saddam’s disappearing WMDs? Should our spouses tell their kids back home, that their father/mother died defending freedom from nothing? Is that too much to ask, still, for a purpose other than to simply obey orders? But look, it was worse in Vietnam, so it must be ok… right? Therein lies our frustration, because we don’t have an answer nor purpose.
I wanted to say thank you for all the letters of criticism, encouragement and gratitude that we postmen receive almost daily. We all suffer from lost and delayed mail: my credit card is now lost and my shipment home took $50 and 2 months. Thanks for your patience. We are doing our part as best as we know how from our end like everyone else, but of course we will continue to improve.