B36 News - 17 August 2006

One of the stranger things that I've seen here is the birdcage in the MWR area. I don't know the history of it, but it's a pretty huge cage with about 20 or 30 birds in it. I'm not much of a bird buff so I don't know what kind they are, but they're all pretty colorful. Must be one of those things that someone thought, "Hey, it'd be cool if we had birds," and poof someone got birds. Man, that makes it sound like a disease.

*cough* *cough*

"Hey man, you ok?"

"Nah, I got birds."

Securing Baghdad
I've posted a lot of news lately about the current push to secure Baghdad and if you've checked the links you probably noticed that they come from government sources. Well, here's how it looks from a civilian reporter's point of view:

The nightlife is zero and most shops are shut, but U.S. and Iraqi forces said Wednesday that a three-day security sweep has cleaned up — at least for now — a mostly Sunni neighborhood in west Baghdad, notorious for kidnappings, murders and bombings.

"I think the security situation has improved. We haven't seen corpses on the streets, which were a daily scene," said Saad Jawad al-Azawi, a 45-year-old taxi driver. "I hope our area will have a permanent patrols of joint U.S-Iraqi forces."

IA 4th Brigade Assumes Baghdad Neighborhood
Here is yet another example of the progress we're making on a daily basis. More and more of the country is being handed back to the Iraqis and as we clear out Baghdad it's being turned over. This is the exit strategy that a lot of people have been crying for, but I guess it's better for those people to try and keep the focus on supposed failures. Hmmm... what could it possibly benefit someone to portray failure on the part of the military?
... that's almost a rhetorical question.

Blogging Policy
So what restrictions are imposed on us milbloggers you may ask? Well read the policy for yourself. Personally I think it's pretty relaxed, here's a few exerpts:

Prohibited information. Any official information that is generally not available to the public and which would not be released under the Freedom of Information Act. Examples include but are not limited to:
1) Classified information
2) Casualty information before the next-of-kin has been formally notified by the Military Service concerned.
3) Information protected by the Privacy Act.
4) Information regarding incidents under ongoing investigation.
5) For Official Use Only information.

Personal web sites and web logs. Personal web sites and web logs produced in a personal capacity and not in connection with official duties need not be cleared in advance. However, it is the responsibility of MNC-I personnel to ensure that any personal web sites and web logs do not contain prohibited information as defined in this policy. MNC-I personnel who have any questions regarding prohibited information may submit the information to their servicing S2/G2/C2 for classification questions or to their PAO for other questions.