[stiles]

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A blast rocked a dining hall at a U.S. military base near Mosul on Tuesday, killing 22 people, including U.S. troops, members of the Iraqi national guard, and Iraqi civilians, Pentagon officials said.

Fifty-one people were wounded in the incident -- which occurred at noon (4 a.m. ET) as people ate lunch at Forward Operating Base Marez, the officials said. A breakdown of the casualties was not immediately available.

Pentagon officials: 22 killed in attack on U.S. base in Iraq

Hope NINJA is OK!

 

[homeless_cq]

Me too. Does anyone know the area he is in?

 

[Ninjaslayer]

[ QUOTE ]
homeless_cq said:
Me too. Does anyone know the area he is in?

[/ QUOTE ]I am good. I am just outside of Baghdad. Thanks for thinking of me folks. We did get a little action today also. But its all good, I will be praying for the families of those we lost today that is for sure.

Not to be sappy, but I have a plan in place to let you all know if something happens to me. :waytogo:

 

[homeless_cq]

Good to hear!! :waytogo:

Have you read the "Beer" thread yet? All we need is some bullet proof glass ala "The Pope Mobile" and we have you an urban assault vehicle.

 

[02GSXR1000]

[ QUOTE ]

Not to be sappy, but I have a plan in place to let you all know if something happens to me. :waytogo:

[/ QUOTE ]
Lets us hope this is not a plan that you will need

 

[PorradaVFR]

[ QUOTE ]
02GSXR1000 said:
[ QUOTE ]

Not to be sappy, but I have a plan in place to let you all know if something happens to me. :waytogo:

[/ QUOTE ]
Lets us hope this is not a plan that you will need

[/ QUOTE ]

You're not kidding. It involves him getting a Buell and becoming a raving anti-war liberal. *shiver*

You take care of your hide out there Ninja. :waytogo:

 

[Ninjaslayer]

[ QUOTE ]
You're not kidding. It involves him getting a Buell and becoming a raving anti-war liberal. *shiver*

[/ QUOTE ] :lol: :lol: :lol:And we all know that one is not happening anytime soon......after all we do have to have a balance in this world..... :waytogo:

Thanks for the good laugh there Porrada....... :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[PorradaVFR]

[ QUOTE ]
Ninjaslayer said:
[ QUOTE ]
You're not kidding. It involves him getting a Buell and becoming a raving anti-war liberal. *shiver*

[/ QUOTE ] :lol: :lol: :lol:And we all know that one is not happening anytime soon......after all we do have to have a balance in this world..... :waytogo:

Thanks for the good laugh there Porrada....... :lol: :lol: :lol:

[/ QUOTE ]

You got it man. :waytogo:

 

[Ninjaslayer]

BTW I am getting a Walther P99 tomorrow......... :waytogo:

 

[Ninjaslayer]

A a caveat to all of this folks. I have over 25 Iraqis that work for me. I worry and pray for these guys each night. I stress each morning till I see each of them come into work here. They are good guys just hoping to make good on life. My counterpart Issam a trained engineer is awesome.....today he shared the lunch his wife had prepared for him with me. It makes me feel good inside to work with people who really actually care what happens to Iraq.

 

[pudding7]

Ninja,

What's the deal with the Iraqi people not standing up and saying enough is enough. Three election workers shot dead in the street while their assassins just walk away? WTF is that?

Is the Sunni/Shia/Kurd thing going to be resolved by Democracy? What's the local media like over there? Do they have the Mosul Times and the Baghdad Ghazett?

I'm beginning to get angry at this sh!t. Angry for the US being there, angry for what's happening to our guys, angry for the Iraqi civilians caught in the middle, angry AT the iraqi civilians caught in the middle, etc. Damn, I'm angry today. :flame:

 

[justinv]

[ QUOTE ]
pudding7 said:
Ninja,

What's the deal with the Iraqi people not standing up and saying enough is enough. Three election workers shot dead in the street while their assassins just walk away? WTF is that?

[/ QUOTE ]
In the defense of John Q. Iraqi, I believe there were about 30 insurgents who pulled the carjack/assassination. All were reported to be armed. Hard to do much to intervene against overwhelming numbers and force.

 

[TravellinJones]

I think the current violence in Iraq may be just a preview of worse to come after the election. Then they'll really have something to fight about.

And what if the Iraqis don't vote the way Washington wants? Are we going to let them set up a Shi'ite theocracy, for example?

 

[Ninjaslayer]

[ QUOTE ]
What's the deal with the Iraqi people not standing up and saying enough is enough. Three election workers shot dead in the street while their assassins just walk away? WTF is that?

[/ QUOTE ]The Iraqis are scared at the moment of doing anything. We fooked up by not shutting the borders down and disbanding the army. Big friggin mistake there. Enough of these holy warriors have flooded into this country now. I am told it will take at least a year to clean them out.

[ QUOTE ]
Is the Sunni/Shia/Kurd thing going to be resolved by Democracy? What's the local media like over there? Do they have the Mosul Times and the Baghdad Ghazett?


[/ QUOTE ]There really is no media outlets here so to speak. The only thing these folks get at the moment is Al Jazeera and we know they are jacked up.

[ QUOTE ]
I'm beginning to get angry at this sh!t. Angry for the US being there, angry for what's happening to our guys, angry for the Iraqi civilians caught in the middle, angry AT the iraqi civilians caught in the middle, etc. Damn, I'm angry today.

[/ QUOTE ] I would be lying to you if I said that I never question in my mind what is going on. I do sometimes question all of this and the deaths. Then I do see something good happening here in Iraq. Issam my head engineer comes into work each day with a desire to do well and provide for his family. He and I treat each other with the utmost respect and courtesy. He continues to come into work, so I shall also.

We have talked. I have told him my worst day in the US could be someones best day in Iraq.

 

[WFO-900]

[ QUOTE ]
What's the deal with the Iraqi people not standing up and saying enough is enough. Three election workers shot dead in the street while their assassins just walk away? WTF is that?

Is the Sunni/Shia/Kurd thing going to be resolved by Democracy? What's the local media like over there? Do they have the Mosul Times and the Baghdad Ghazett?

I'm beginning to get angry at this sh!t. Angry for the US being there, angry for what's happening to our guys, angry for the Iraqi civilians caught in the middle, angry AT the iraqi civilians caught in the middle, etc. Damn, I'm angry today. :flame:

[/ QUOTE ]


A stable Iraq is a falacy - there is no stable society from which to base it on. Tribal, religious and cultural chasms exist across the country - the sad fact is that an authoritarian government was the only thing keeping Iraq from civil war. Same goes for Saudi Arabia, Iran and quite possibly Turkey. We have nudged the region CLOSER to radical fundamentalism and we're hearing how it has made us safer. It's too bad that 53% of the American people actually believed this load of shiet. :frown:








.

 

[pudding7]

Thanks Ninja. The lack of local media is a problem. That's going to really fark with the "election" in a month. :rolling:

Imagine if the election we just had here was only covered by a small news channel based in Ireland. God knows who we would have elected! Free press and free speech are essentail for Democracy. Otherwise who's going to call the politicians on their bullsh!t? :Wow1:

 

[PorradaVFR]

[ QUOTE ]
pudding7 said:
Free press and free speech are essentail for Democracy. Otherwise who's going to call the politicians on their bullsh!t? :Wow1:

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey, CBS tried and you saw how THAT went. :bird:

 

[pudding7]

Exactly.

What if CBS was the only news anyone got? Would you then feel confident in the election results? Not sure why we expect the Iraqis to.

This is going to go badly. :frown:

 

[PorradaVFR]

[ QUOTE ]
pudding7 said:
Exactly.

What if CBS was the only news anyone got? Would you then feel confident in the election results? Not sure why we expect the Iraqis to.

This is going to go badly. :frown:

[/ QUOTE ]

It already is man, but hey...Rumsfeld is doing a FINE job and everything will work out. Right?