February 20, 2005 - 1:38 PM EST

I was going to complain about how bad the food is here at school, but then, yeah - I'm not in a war zone. kinda puts things in a little more perspective.

-tim

February 22, 2005 - 2:18 AM EST

It is difficult to judge the eat-ability of food, just from the menu. But, it appears that you do have some variety. Not as much variety as the Chinese buffet places in Arlington and in many other US cities, of course. Free for you is good, though paid for by the Melican people.

Sometimes as I eat my TV dinners and feel my heart begin to beat faster as the preservatives, salt, sugar, and vein-clogging oil enter my body, I wonder if eating free food in a war zone might be worth the risk of eating TV dinners.

How many non-Iraqi people in Baghdad are being killed? Seriously wounded to leave a person crippled for life? On a daily basis? How many are contractors doing Melican or Koalition work in Baghadad? Are they all living and working in the Grin Zone? I ask these questions, because I suspect the risk of serious injury or death in the Grin Zone is very low and perhaps similar to my risk of being hit by a stray bullet shot upwards by a gangster bro' or cowboy, hit by lightning, hit by falling space debris or aircraft part, etc while I am eating TV dinner in my trailer.

Well, you made your bed and now you lie in it. In a similar sense, you and those $100,000 a year truck drivers and bodyguards from the U.S. have made a cost-effective decision to do what you are doing now. I guess I too chose to eat over-priced TV dinners watching over-the-air channels and risk being hit by sky junk, rather than eat free dinners and risk being hit by once-in-a-while mortar fragments in fortified buildings covered by sandbags.

Do you get to view television? What channels? Armed Forces channels?

February 22, 2005 - 11:34 AM EST

The Green Zone/International Zone (IZ) is definitely feels more dangerous than most ?hoods back in the States. It is not like you can stay in the good parts of the IZ and avoid any chance of something bad happening. It seems like someone inside the IZ dies about every other month from some type of direct fire (bullet, rocket, mortar, car bomb). A few months ago things were pretty bad inside the IZ; we were shelled on a fairly regular basis. Then, the bad guys decided it would be more productive to kill Iraqis associated with the police, military, and reconstruction projects.

To be honest, it's not that bad inside the IZ considering that I'm inside a war zone. Most of the bad stuff happens out in the Red Zone (everwhere outside of the IZ). Out there, people die way too often.

There are about 60-90 attacks on US/"Coalition" forces each day. The attacks range from indirect fire to RPG attacks. Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) are the most common. We haven't lost too many US civilians. We do lose a lot of contractors and the military body count is pushing 1,500 (I think that is right, but don't hold me to that number).

I have no idea how many Iraqis day each day. If you want a wild guess, check out http://www.iraqbodycount.net/. I know that most Iraqis are afraid to leave their houses at night, and in some areas of the country, the bad guys are supposedly walking around in open daylight.

So . . . to sum up. The IZ isn't that bad. The Red Zone is bad, and no one has good numbers for how bad it really is out there.

February 22, 2005 - 11:49 PM EST

Hmmm . . . I have one more thought about this topic. That body count website only covers deaths reported in the news. Parts of this country aren't too bad. For example, in the south there are only 2-10 attacks per day. Some parts are well beyond the control out the central government/US forces. In those areas crime is rampant, and perhaps we should count those deaths too.

However, keep in mind that I don't really get to see the whole country, so my assessment isn't that much better than anyone else's opinion.