Retort: From Anonymous on Milbloggin

Anonymous writes:

"yeah, doing everything over there as you would over here? How is it that you are partying so close to combat areas? or is it really far between the two? I would only assume the places you are enjoying, being large targets... "

This is presumably to comments I made about going to dance clubs in Sadr City.

Anonymous,

That was a flip remark I made. I apologize that my dry sense of humor may be evasive. Sadr City is the Shiite stronghold in the northeastern sector of Baghdad. I have not personally been there, although my hoochmate has and he called it "a little depressing", since he saw young boys splashing in sewage while they were playing with a soccer ball. It is also home to large portions of the Mahdi Army or Jaish al-Mehdi (JAM) which is Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's armed militia. Currently, Sadr has called for a ceasefire for the militiafor 6 months and it has partially contributed to the security situation improvements throughout Iraq. This was done after Shiite on Shitte violence erupted at the Karbala pilgrimage in late August. The coalition and Government of Iraq have welcomed this ceasefire but continue to target rogue elements who are engaged in criminal activity.

As for drinking, all US military personnel are prohibited from drinking under general order #1 while in-country. If you had visions that Iraq was like the Vietnam movies with mama-sans and booze flowing freely, I hate to dissapoint. I admit to being a drunken bum while stateside, however here I have been clean and sober for almost 6 months, which is the longest stretch in my memory.

I apologize if you found the remark offensive, I didn't mean to disparage the troopers and Provincial Reconstruction Teams working to spruce up the joint, but you should never, ever take my rants seriously (see disclaimer). Hope that helps!

LT Nixon