So I've been in Iraq for about a month now. Its getting hotter here. I think the highest its been yet is 115. Coming from Wisconsin, that's quite the difference. I've been doing pretty good. Keeping busy with missions and everything else going on. Can't complain too much, its been going pretty quick so far. Its quite a unique culture over here. For starters seeing the way males interact I would think a lot of them are homosexual back in the states.

Iraq is also very dirty. There is a lot of trash every where on the side of the road. Can you imagine your daily commute to work going past 20 or more armed checkpoints? I imagine not. Iraqis are pretty bad drivers too. There isn't a dmv over here where they go down to take a drivers test and get a license.

I would be happy to answer any questions you might have!

holy crap it's John!!!!!

you've survived so far!

seen any action?!? Come close to dying yet?

have you had to kill anyone? I honestly hope not. I can't imagine killing someone.

And yeah, I know what you mean about the men.... in America it's almost taboo to touch another man unless you're playing sports.... but in other cultures they hug and sometimes kiss (1 kiss on each cheek).... it's strange to us but very normal for them.

I can't think of what else to ask.... it's just nice to see you're alive.

At first I thought he was talking about the military. But yeah, very strange to hear about men holding hands and not being gay...either way I think it'd be a little creapy.

Glad to hear things are going good over there though and nice to chat with you on MSN.

Are you actually needed down there or are you mostly for show?

Oh and, you got good superiors or some of those hell-captains from the movies?

Yup I am alive and well so far.
Stuff is hoppin' and poppin' over here. Violence is up a little bit, but we have been fortunate to stay safe so far. So no I haven't killed anybody, that's a ridiculous question to ask anyways.
You say you're happy to see me alive like Iraq is a death sentence, lol. Its not that bad.

DM, for the most part my superiors are alright. And no my captain isn't like the captain from band of brothers, if that's what your referencing.

maybe it is silly but maybe you forgot what sort of news we get out of Iraq over here. All we ever hear about is "95 killed in roadside bomb" or " 250 injured and 130 dead in suicide bombing in a market".... we don't know how safe it is or isn't because we don't get much news beyond how deadly things are.

I'm sure it's a lot safer than the media makes it out to be but when all you hear about is death and destruction it's hard to imagine it being anything else but that.

It's nice to see you're alive! How've you been? Have you run into any camel spiders? Have you been in any gunfights?

Nope I haven't seen any camel spiders yet. I don't know if they are in my area. There are some nasty beetles around that are supposed to be incredibly painful if they bite your toe. One of the most painful insect bites or something.

Yea geeogree, the media is terrible. They like to blow it out of proportion quite a bit. I don't know if any of you have ever heard the song "The News" by Jack Johnson. Its a good one, pretty true about the news.

Iraq isn't safe, but it has made leaps and bounds. Especially since the summer of '06. Americans(i say that cuz there are hardly any other coalition forces left in Iraq) are handing over almost all control over to the government of Iraq. Jan 1 2009 they signed a new SOFA(status of forces) agreement. It mandates US forces do many things "with, through, and by" Iraqi forces.

But as I said don't let the news fool ya. Its not generation kill type of stuff over here(not to down play it and say its a walk in the park)

That's a good thing then! No camel spiders. No consistent bombings. I think that the media makes it seem like something more than it is...you would think that something as serious as a war wouldn't be edited! Media(sometimes) = Retardation.

Also, how would you rate the violence over there? The media makes it out to be a 9/10.

What do you sleep in and does it get really cold at night?

I wouldn't know what to rate the violence. I don't get enough info about the country as a whole to make that assessment, but its not as bad as the media has it out to be.

I sleep in a two man CHU(combat housing unit) Gotta a wall locker, night stand, bed, some shelves i made out of old crates I found, and my tote.

Here is a picture or three
http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs003.snc1/4403_1137743358678_1080194621_30405756_518286_n.jpg
http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v4403/52/85/1080194621/n1080194621_30405750_2849962.jpg
http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs031.snc1/4302_1141891342375_1080194621_30421476_7252969_n.jpg

awesome! you've got the whole bad ass military dude look going on.... 10-4 out...

hehe, you have a head set and stuff too.... can you take a picture of your gun???

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs107.snc1/4613_1146664421699_1080194621_30440886_3306056_n.jpg
There you are

that's a big gun. I wasn't expecting such a big gun. That's pretty aweomse.... I mean that in a "I don't actually think about the kind of damage a gun like that would do to someone" sort of way. If you actually consider the sort of damage a weapon like that would do to a human it's really not a cool gun.... but if you just ignore that then it's cool

That's an M240B machine gun. Its one of the machine guns used in theater by US forces. Its a hell of a weapon. My favorite machine gun hands down.

First time I saw the Gun, pretty sweet. I can't imagine what it'd be like to be holding a gun like that, or even a real gun all together lol.

Nice to have these updates John, and it's good to get views of what's going on over there from you rather than the Media because I can't stand how liberal bias the media is and how they blind us from the truth.

allllllllllllllllllllahhhhhhhh

[sigh] nice spam....

Yeah, that is a sweet gun. The only gun I've ever held is either a shotgun or a small .22 rifle. And I've only shot the .22.

Still, I can't imagine the sort of damage that would do.... I'm picturing limbs coming off but not cleanly... in like exploding chunks.... it's bloody and gross

If you are a soldier then i thank you for defending this country i have 6 buddys serving right now (all Marines) and the say the cant imagine doing anything else

I wanna kno what think about being over their?? Ive been thinking of joining the marine core n what not but i still cant get up enough nerve. i guess i just want to kno is it worth it?