Where in the world....

So after all the talk of going to train in Texas for two months before heading to theater-I find out I was misled. You see the Army has a large (approx. 200 miles from south to north) base outside the city of El Paso, TX-- Ft. Bliss. In fact, Bliss is the largest military installation in the Army, and quite possible the world. It an old, but a very nice post. They have many modern amenities like, for example a large, well-stocked PX (Post Exchange, basically a mall for service members were everything is tax free- a welcome change from Chicago's 10.25%), movie theaters, restaurants, gyms, golf, etc. I'm not there. About 35 miles north of there, across the border of New Mexico, is a small base camp in the middle of the desert that happily used to be part of some missile training site. The closest thing to the camp is the New Mexico Max Security Prision just two miles down the road. Fun Times.

Speaking of boarders, El Paso and Ft. Bliss boarder the city of Juarez, Mexico- home of one of the most power drug cartels in Central America. Apparently more than 50% of dope in the US is courtesy of these ambitious folks. As the ailing economy has no doubt effect this trade as well, the city of Juarez has plunged into a wave of violence over the last few years that only a surge of police and military forces could confront (hmm, sounds familiar). In fact, Juarez had 1600 murders last year, and is already well on that pace this year. To put in in perspective, it could be argued that Juarez is a more dangerous place than the combat zone I am head to in just a few short weeks. So thanks, Uncle Sam for the free trip to paradise in the Southwest!

One last thing, I feel like I have to make a brief comment on the President's recent pledge, plan, miracle, or whatever it is being called to pull "all combat troops out of Iraq by August, 2010." Sounds great for the press, Sir, but there's one problem- we're all combat troops! Does that mean we're all going home and politicians are falling-in?