It's been a while since my last entry in this blog. I could use the excuse that I've been busy with my life and blah blah blah that I just haven't had the time. Honestly? I have been busy but busy doing nothing. My life is such that with PTSD I have time, lots of it but doing something with it seems to be too hard. Part of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) is the inability to process information. This means that at times (more than I like) I find it hard to do simple things such as read. I start to read and it just all blurs and my mind starts to wander. So writing anything longer than two lines can also be a major struggle. What makes it worse is that I know I can do better, I know I used to do better but doing it is almost impossible. If I need to write anything I do it on the computer where I can do a little, save it and then come back later. Everything is done in small bites sized chunks.

PTSD has all sorts of symptoms. Anger, agression, fear, hyper vigilence, etc. Trying to deal with one and then swinging to the other end of the spectrum is draining. You can be set of by small trivial things. One example is that I ordered some chicken pieces from a pizza joint. They were delivered to my house still cold from the freezer in the middle. I rang up and complained, got told that it couldn't have happened. I told that it did and I wanted it replaced. I ended up talking to the manager (some 18 year old) and explained the health impact of eating chicken that was not reheated properly (as it's cooked previously). I was angry at the time, furious even. Well he said he'd replace it without any problems. I got off the phone and went from being angry to scared and sad and started crying. Once it passes your tired and just want to sleep.

So this is why I took so long before I entered this blog. Mind you, I'm not sure anyone would actually want to read this anyway.

A Start

Well someone said that everyone must start somewhere and here is as good a place as any.

Me? Well as the title suggests I am a veteran of Iraq. Do I agree with the war? Yes. But I do believe for my own reasons. I believe that the people of Iraq were oppressed by a person (and regime) that was evil. Hitler type evil. As to any othe reason for going into Iraq, I don't care as I have stated my reason and that is it. When you have seen the kind of evil up close you know that there was no other reason. Uday (Saddams son) had in his palace a set of gears. If he liked you he fed you in head first. If he didn't like you he fed you in feet first. Nice people aren't they?

The problem is that these days everyone needs someone to blame for their troubles in life, the government, their boss, the kids that picked on them in school. Everyone must have that evil monster to blame. If you don't know what I mean think about election time. In Australian John Howard & Mark Latham was a prime example. Know we have John Howard & Kevin Rudd facing off. John Howard at least does what is required for the betterment of the country. Kevin Rudd is a soft puppet of the unions. Admittingly I used to vote Labour too. Labours campaign seems to run on scare tactics and not fact.

Iraq seems to be a bit point too. People protest and say how wrong we are for being Iraq. But I ask those who are telling you how wrong we are, have they been to Iraq? Have they asked the Iraqi in the street if they think they are worse off? Do they prefer to have themselves or their family member abducted off the street because someone may have dobbed them in to the regime for possible anti government feelings let alone actions? The people blowing up coalition forces are just the people that are a) former regime members trying to get back their power and prestige b) foreign elements just looking for a reason to blow someone up c) misled extremists who think that they are doing Gods work. Honestly speaking who thinks that God says to go and kill others. God (no matter by what name you call him/her) believes in forgiveness, kindness and peace. IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) aren't the will of God and the spread of peace. They are mans' creation to spread hate and lies. Any person who claims to kill on God's command or in God's name is a liar. Prove to me where God has written that they should kill in his name, not written by man.

My summary? People should get off their moral wagons and see Iraq for what it is instead of listening to the vocal idiots that clog up the newspapers and airwaves. If you don't know what Iraq is, ask a vet I'm sure they will tell you. It's Vietname & WW2 Germany rolled into one.