LordBodak's Journal: Well, here we go...

As I told you all a few months back, L is engaged. The wedding is in October in St. Croix...

But she and her fiance are going to Iraq. The company he works for is one of many that is offering a ton of money to people go to for a year, and she's going with him. I'm not too happy with the idea, but I don't get to make that choice do I? They're going to Basra... for those of you who follow news, Basra is where the British helicopter was shot down a couple weeks ago. RW, since you've been over there, I'd be interested in your opinion especially.

Now this weekend they're having a party since it'll kinda be the last chance until the wedding. And they're "officially" getting married on Saturday... just doing the legal aspect so that they are married when they go over there, which makes sense.

So this has the potential to be a very interesting weekend...

RW's opinion

[Red Warrior]

Bring a nice bottle of wine, enjoy the party!

Seriously, Basra is right on the Gulf, and is reputed to be quite beautiful. It is about as south as you can go, and that is good. Most of the violence in Iraq is in the Sunni Trianagle or B'dad. Of course, "most" is a different word than "all". And Basra, being a major city, as well as a port, and an oil terminus, will likely get a fair share of the violence that does happen in the south. When interacting with Iraqis - be they Shia (the majority in that area), S

Re:RW's opinion

[Marxist Hacker 42]

I need to either look at a map, or get less of my mythical history from Hallmark Movie Specials on TV- I could have sworn Sinbad was Mediterranian....

Re:RW's opinion

[Red Warrior]

The story is Persian/Arab[1] in origin (being embedded in the 1001 [arabian] nights). Sinbad is from Baghdad. See the wiki [wikipedia.org]. Basra, being the nearest major port, is where his voyages tended to start. The voyages themselves tended to be in the Persian gulf, Arabian Sea, and Idian Ocean.

No Mediterrainian element at all. I also would recommend not relying on the Hallmark channel for literary exigesis. :-)

[1]These are different things, but there is some controversy as to the true origins of the stories. In eithe

Re:RW's opinion

[LordBodak]

Well you have basically the same opinion I do, so I'm glad to read that.

If I had an offer like that, I would find it very hard to turn down-- money's not everything, but come on, there is a LOT of money being thrown around for this sort of thing. But I wouldn't take my gf/fiancee/wife if I had one. Personally, I think I'd rather not go than put my significant other in that situation.

Re:RW's opinion

[LordBodak]

Thanks again for the info and advice, RW. One thing I didn't know before the weekend is that they BOTH have job offers there, doing the same thing. I know it's IT support for the Army but I don't know much beyond that.

She really wants to go for the experience of it all, and they're both really looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to hearing all about it.

Re:RW's opinion

[Red Warrior]

Well, in that case, I suppose I could see it. That's some serious bank.
*I* still wouldn't want her to go. But, again, that has more to do with me than with Iraq.

It will definitely be something worth doing for the experience.

Re:RW's opinion

[LordBodak]

Same here... if it were my decision, she wouldn't go! But it's clear from talking to them that it isn't a decision they took lightly and so I respect them for doing it and will be praying for their safe return. And from what he said to me this weekend (see my latest journal if you haven't yet), I know he'll do everything he can to keep her safe.