I've been remiss in not linking to this earlier, but Kuro5hin has had a sequence of posts by a civilian contractor in Iraq. Fascinating stuff in 6 links (below) plus somephotos:
Another thing that caught me completely off guard was the morale of our troops. I was expecting a morass of demoralized, bitching and generally depressed bunch of guys and gals. I couldn't have been more wrong. With the exception of FOB Speicher - which was staffed by New Yorkers who were probably dead set against the war to begin with - every trooper I've come across simply does the absolute best job they can with what they have available. Don't get me wrong, they'd (usually) much rather be back at home. That, and The Army is having issues meeting recruiting goals. But pretty much everyone out here knew this was a possibility when they signed up, so they just make the best of it.
In other words, this guy is your classic blue-stater and fails to comprehend the red-states and how they think. It chimes in well with the views we see reported by Margaret from the News Miner I despise l'Escroc and Vile
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