Peter posting over at Pereiraville says it all for me tonight.

"Peter gave me permission to post his most recent email update from Afghanistan. I edited some spelling, but nothing else.

'Hello Everyone

Not a lot to report. Last Friday the Taliban finally improved their aim and got a mortar round into the base after firing seven rounds. It shook the ground and my room really hard. It occurred around 7 PM local. Black smoke everywhere. Like in the past the good news is they only hit a pile of tires, and not anyone.

Combat has been very heavy on the weekends for my troops. We had a successful 10 days with my men killing close to 300 enemy combatants. Even thought I report numbers, I wish I was in a situation that I had nothing to report ever. There isn’t anything I hate more than waste, and war is one of the biggest wastes that mankind can bring. However, as long as I am here, I will do my duty and kill the enemy so everyone in American can be safe.

I am bored this week, I get to watch our troops fight via a feed from a drone aircraft call the Predator. You get the see the actual combat day or night with clarity and only a two second delay. To be honest with everyone I would rather be on the ground kicking in doors and fighting like I was last year. Instead of being a director, and telling people where and when to fight. This is the first time in my career on a deployment that I have shot in anger at anyone. Weird afterall this is a war, and there is a lot of fighting.

There is a big debate about when I get to rotate back to the States. One set of orders say Sept 06, another Feb 07 and a third one say Sept 07. The not knowing is killing me, hard to get a career on track when I have no idea what the military has planned for me. Everyday I ask and everyday I get a different answer. I do know one thing once I am back, I am back, untouchable under law for at least three years.

As many of you have heard there was a riot in Kabul last week, and the media of course is blaming the US Army. I have driven in Kabul, there are no traffic signs or lights, it is a free for all. Imagine all the Arab cab drivers we deal with back home weaving in and out and cutting you off. You think they learned that behavior in the street of NYC, no way they learned it in Kabul. Imagine a city where everyone drives like a cab driver, if you can picture that then you have driven in Kabul.

What really happened, a large tractor trailer that belonged to some engineer unit lost its brakes. They tried to stop by plowing into parked cars, but the last car was an occupied taxi. One person was killed. While the US Army medics were treating the people. Taliban extremist came out of a Mosque and started inciting their worshipers. What the newspapers didn’t tell you was that the riot was small, only two thousand people in a city of 500,000. Also that many Taliban fighters live in Kabul. Additionally, that the riot was pre-planned and they were just waiting for an incident to put their plan into effect. If fact we captured pre-printed maps that said in case we can get a riot started we will go to these places. Also the last thing the paper doesn’t tell you that someone in the crowd started shooting at US forces. When that happened our troops mounted up, shot in the air and fled. The people then started attacking the National Police who were on the scene providing crowd control. It was them that started shooting in the crowd. I wish the media was more even handed.

They talk about American atrocities, you should see what these people do to each other. If you have a college degree you are considered a Westerner and should be killed. You wouldn’t believe how many people are found on the side of the road be-headed and have a note attached to their body that says education is evil only knowledge from the Koran is good. If you are a girl and your father gets mad at you, it is common practice to throw hot oil on her or put her hand in the fire, usually she falls in the fire and has more burns. Here on my base we get two to three girls a week with third degree burns from oil of fire. Women according to the teachers of Islam in Afgahanistan are evil and subservient. That is the type of people that will come into power if were leave. The media never report this, but heaven forbid we accidently kill someone who The Taliban use as human shield when fighting against us, you never hear the end of it. Only cowards use women an children as shields to fight.

These so called freedom fighters in Iraq and Afghanistan, fight only for the freedom of men who are Mullahs. They use religion to get into power. That to me is a true coward.

I leave you with the following to ponder: We will eventually fail in Iraq and Afghanistan because the media loves an American loser. It sells much better than good news. I hate to see what the economy will be like back home when we are forced to withdraw. I guess we should start getting use to European Gasoline Prices which range from $7.00 to 8.00 dollars a gallon.

I am on my soap box because all week I have seen the way the media manipulates the truth into lies. I saw the live video feed from Kabul and I saw the rioters shoot at our troops. I saw the national Police shooting back, but that is not what was reported. Once again better to show the ugly American instead of the true American the kind and care. No wonder people hate us in the world, the media tells them we are evil.

Did you know my unit built three bridges across the Helmand River. Everyone who has tried has failed, like Alexander the Great, the Roman, the British, and the Russians. We were the first in three thousand years to succefully complete the project, now that is something the world needs to know.

Everyone, thank you for your support and genorosity. I really do appreciate it. Last item someone sent me a package from Drugs.com, who was it? I want to thank you.

Bye.

Peter' "

God Bless America and God Bless our Troops.

Dinah