This Xmas eve I share a holiday message that I received from a Marine in
Iraq...

"Well, today was one of those strange Iraq days for us.  We were in town
early, to monitor these ridiculously politicized student elections and
soon before noon heard a loud explosion.

After quickly finishing up a meeting on the campus of one of the
universities here in Arbil, we rushed to the scene of the terrorist
attack, about 15 minutes from our location.  Someone had driven up from
Baghdad and detonated a bomb-laden vehicle in front of the Ministry of
the Interior.

I'll spare you some of the more gruesome details, but there was a huge
crater in front of the building - bits of the car were scattered in a
kilometer radius of the MOI - and there was a burnt out taxi about two
meters from the crater.  Initial reports were that 5 people died and an
unknown number were injured.  I felt both extremely sad and incredibly
angry.

It's now after midnight, so it's now Xmas, and all of us here are
thinking of all of you, and our families, and our other friends.  There
are so many problems here, and so many things we should have done
differently after liberating the country.  But I think all of us can
honestly say we're also glad to be here, serving our nation and the
people of Iraqi, trying to make things better.

Then again, that's what all the Marines serving in places like the
Persian Gulf, and folks working at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, and all
the other people in and out of uniform are doing everyday, in the US and
abroad.  It's a huge, sometimes dysfunctional, and really wonderful
group of people who have decided to walk this path.  And we thank all
our fellow Americans for all the love and support they give us.

Well, I'm getting a bit too schaltzy, so I'll stop it here.  But I'll
just make this one last point.  These tragedies, which occur too often
in Iraq, simply remind me that, whenever you have a chance, you should
give hugs to the people you love, and also squeeze all you can out of life.

Enjoy the holidays, and have a great new year!"

--
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