While I had sworn off any more posts on Iraq, I'll make one final one by saying I wish I knew all these optimists serving over there. I sure was getting down hearing briefer after briefer recently back from Iraq telling me how fucked things were, or having a room full of officers as students who, though eager to go back and do what they could, were extremely cynical about Iraq, Iraqis, and the current Administration. Though I've recently left for a job with a different military service, I was in a position to talk to plenty of people with plenty of Iraq experience (my boss' boss was Dave Petraeus), and from late 2005 on the phrase "as you've been reading in the media" was a heck of a lot more common than, "things are better than have been reported".

Actually, I do know one optimist -- one of my coworkers volunteered to go over there to train Iraqi forces instead of teaching this year. Not so much that he had a logical case for optimism as that he was just the most friendly, sunny, positive guy you ever met. Too bad he got blown up by an IED last month. Highest ranking American serviceman killed to date.

But as I've said, I've sworn off Iraq posts. The gap between what our HZ cheerleaders post and what I see sort of on the inside has gotten so large that I don't think I can participate in discussions without either crossing non-attribution lines or being frustrated as hell. That and I just don't have time to engage in repetitive, fruitless debate -- I'll come here to get my space news fix and that's it.