Halfway. Wow. Feels like I've been here a lifetime, yet I can't recall more than two or three days here. Perhaps thats memory suppression. Perhaps it'll all come back when I'm elsewhere.
The weather is soo nice. I didn't know Baghdad could be this hospitable, livable. It heats up to about 80 at 2 PM, then cools to as low as 40 now during the night. We started using the heater this week. Mostly because Cliff's a woman.
A Milestone, and yet . . .
In spite of all the bad news, maybe because of it - some glimmers of hope have arisen in Baghdad. I can't eleborate for several reasons, but maybe CNN and FOX and others will in the months to come. Its so enticing, thrilling, seductive to be so near the center of the world's attention and to be two weeks to two months ahead of the news cycle, (on some subjects they're ahead of us - I get alot of my Baghdad news from the same sources you do). But on other subjects - the media has no way of knowing. Either its "secret-squirrel shit" within the Army, or some insider information from the State Dept. And a very rare sometimes - it develops within your grasp and runs out between your fingers like water.
Hope springs eternal . . . Its every bit as human, every bit as axiomatic, the twin - of morose pessimism, desperation, emotional exhaustion. Every action, every pebble-drop in the big pond reverberates. Its never all bad or all good. Just as when the news seems all rosy, an unseen actor - our next and future enemy is sowing discord, exploiting, crouched and waiting. Invariably, and intuitively - when the news seems all bad, it isn't. And it can never be.
The enemies of evil bide their time, lay careful plans and wait. . . For history to call. The call to unite and overcome goes out, touches every broken human heart - and the exhausted and exasperated villain-curs recoil, in a horror that is singularly theirs.
Fear and sorrow comes to us all, and soon they will know it too. They own this brand of sorrow. For all eternity. The sorrow of Judas.
. . . it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. Acts (ch. IX, v. 5)
Suffice it to say, (I can't help myself). There are folks who are fed up. There are folks who are discovering their voice. There are folks who have abandoned fear. When gluttonous fear overstays his visit, over-indulges in the heartache of millions, he becomes irrelevant and unwelcome.
He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. Proverbs (ch. XVI, v. 32)
Halfway.
All the best to all who suffer for truth. Best regards to those who labor in obscurity for love of brother; humanity. Health to those who draw lines in the sand.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Psalms (ch. I, v. 3)
God save the heroes of Iraq. May you all get to be acquainted with them. May history forget their enemies.
Remember Lot's wife. Luke (ch. XVII, v. 32)
May peace reign.
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; . . . Ephesians (ch. II, v. 14)
They that sow in tears shall reap joy. [Psalms 126:5].
Provincial Reconstruction in Baghdad.
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The British in India, on the practice of satee: "You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom. When men burn a woman alive,
we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. So build your funeral pyre, and beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows.
You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours." - Brigadier General Sir Charles Napier
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. . . A man who has nothing which he cares about more than he does about his own personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." ) John Stuart Mill
"If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquillity of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, then depart from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." - Brewer and Patriot, Samuel Adams
"Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have." - President Ronald Reagan
"There is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into babies." - Sir Winston Churchill
3 comments:
Sergeant Master Sergeant Mastin Green! I have been thinking about you often these past few months. somehow I didn't transcribe the web address properly, and I couldn't get to it like I could before, and I was beginning to have serious concerns as to your status. so, I called Adam and he put my mind at ease and gave me the address again. you don't know how relieved I was to see it come up. I shed some tears in church for you and those with you last week - my mind starting thinking the worst. but I have to ask you about this most recent blog...I was in awe to see all of the Scripture references....this is new for you, it seems. I'm somewhat afraid to ask you about it, for fear that you'll answer me with an intellectual rationalization, when what I would really love to hear is that you have found God's grace and mercy in that horrific place. but most importantly, I just want to know that you're ok, as much as can be expected. I miss talking to you. take care of yourself. I need your address - I want to send you stuff. please be well. Liz xoxo
Happy Thanksgiving Mastin. You are in our prayers.
Hi Mastin,
Matt was here this weekend and showed me your fascinating blog. Stay SAFE!!
For your benefit:
I work here and here. My email is still mcettei@yahoo.com. If you work on SIPR: frcetmm@ngic.army.smil.mil.
--Matt
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