Two of our intertrepters.

As for us Civil Affairs folks, here specifically, we are doing well.  My teams continue to hand out HA supplies to the people and develop their Sewer, Water, Electrical, and Trash (SWET) projects to the tune of  $300 mil. Things are slowly getting better.

As promised, a picture from a unique place in Iraq!  This picture was taken from the roof of the current U.S. Embassy (Saddam's former Palace)in the IZ or International Zone. As you can see in the picture with me and the shirt, Uday's bombed out palace in the back. To the picture's left and around the corner is what the next picture shows...the famous Crossed Swords of Victory Ave. Just who's victory is no longer in doubt.

A view of the blast damage adjacent to the Palestine Hotel.

Lately, we have been doing well around here. With only the exception of my teams that work at a place called the "Old MOD" (Ministry of Defense). These two teams were basically created to cover an area North of our location, not really all that far. However, this area belongs to the new Iraqi Army (IA) and has not been really worked until we got here. They have been on the go ever since. Well, they had an IED
(improvised explosive device) go off just moments after they passed by. No injuries or damage. Thanks to the work (we believe) of the special jammer systems we have. They had just left a District Area Meeting (DAC) and inspected a park project when, on there way out, the explosion happened. They executed their tactics and procedure with precision, as I would expect. The Military Police showed up as well as the IA. And that was that.

This happened in their northern area, which usually attacks the IA and Iraqi Police (IP). So, this was a bit of a twist. It is surmised that this was a mistaken attack and hastily put together. Two reasons: 1, the time they spent at the location was shorter than normal and; 2, the explosion was not very powerful with little or no damage.