Irony

I was functionally living in close to the same time zone as I was back home by virtue of my night shift hours. And yet, I'm pretty sure this trip back is going to completely mess up my system and leave me with some jet lag. We'll see how it works out.
I planned ahead this time and packed some MREs in my bag to take with me for the flight. I also brought my headset to use for the noise instead of foamies so I wouldn't have to stick anything in my ears for long hours. In theory it was a good idea, but my ears got sweaty and it made lying down uncomfortable. Live and learn.
I guess I should probably prepare some type of grand summation post as this experience draws to a close, but the only thing really ending right now is my own personal immediate involvement. I'll think more about it and share more once I get back and there is less time context to my musings.
Since I've been asked via email and know I'll be asked again, President Bush's assertions regarding the current status of Al Qaeda in Iraq and its relationship to the Al Qaeda organization that lay people think about are accurate. Poorly articulated, but accurate. If I couldn't back that up with open source reporting, I wouldn't be posting it.
I'm not claiming that Al Qaeda had a foothold in Iraq pre-2003 or absolving our poor planning of being an enabler. I'm just talking about the situation as it stands now. That said, as you can see in the news, the AQ Iraq franchise is not doing so well anymore. Great irony of ironies I guess is that the very organization that was initially able to grow due to our own naivete/incompetence is now the very lever we are using to bring groups back together.