Re-view

Exactly a year ago I left my car sitting on top of four inches of frozen snow where I believed the driveway to be here at the Gettysburg house, got a lift to Dulles airport and started my second year in Baghdad. I am now back looking out over a layer of snow on the ground as freezing rain pelts the surface of a familiar lake and the rental car I picked up at Dulles two nights ago. I was a direct hire to the State Department for my service in Iraq, one of the many temporary officers State has filling its diplomatic and reconstruction positions. Typical service is to do a tour for a year; State has the option not to renew your contract at the end of twelve months, or allow an extension. You see a lot after two years in Iraq, and it is commonly held that there are people there who've just been there "too long." We're getting to the point where some soldiers have been back for their third tour or more; a number of civilians still remember the "CPA Days." I am headed back there in a few weeks; I decided to extend my contract for a while longer past my year, putting me over the twenty-four month mark on the ground. That really wasn't part of the plan. As of a week and a half ago, I was coming home for good. Some things changed my mind. Perhaps instead I should say that I changed my mind about some things. Either way, I'm trying to hold to my original objective of only staying in Baghdad as long as I felt that I was making some positive contribution to the effort. There is so much that needs to be done there and it borders on hubris of the highest order to think that one person's actions can make much of a difference. Yet, if you knew some of the truly remarkable people I have the opportunity to work with, Americans and Iraqis and others, you might forgive us those moments, with our shoulders hard pressed against the boulder, that we see it yield to our collective will. So, I'll take a little time here to watch some snow melt and then I'll head back for another push. In the meantime, I'll try to catch up on the posting from my trip across the Middle East, add some thoughts on why we are in a much different place after the year of the "Surge," and preview The Bisbee Project's plan for 2008. Thanks to everyone for your continued support, and thanks to all of our fellow citizens who serve here and abroad trying to make a difference.