Today is a sad day. My friend Alan is going to Iraq. If you ask him, he is going for ninety days, if you ask me there is no telling how long he will be there. One of my co-workers has a cousin who has been there for over eighteen months and was commissioned for ninety days. The thing that gets me is that no one seems to be talking about it any more. Even on NPR it is a third story due to lack of interest. There was a car bomb that went off in a Bagdad restaurant today, but there are no details on the casualties. That means that Americans are dead and no one seems to care anymore. Third story. It was buried, the third story. I hope that he does come home in three months, that would be nice. I feel bad for him that he is there during the hottest months of the year (or at least from my perception they are). Alan also flew in Afghanistan (my spelling on foreign countries is always interesting). He has been in Puerto Rico and Costa Rica and now to Iraq. He said that he will do one more tour in Germany after a break here in the States after his ninety days and then be done. I don't know if he will be done with his service or just being out of the country. I appreciate our military. I understand that they protect our freedoms. I just can't figure out which freedoms they are protecting in Iraq. Generally speaking I don't care for war, but it is not like we are fighting Hitler, who was committing genocide. Although we don't seem to mind the genocide in Darfur (like I said, my spelling on foreign countries. . . ). I am just sad and afraid for my friend Alan. He is a man of God and will make some woman a good husband and some child(ren) a great father. Most importantly, he is my friend. I hope he makes it back.