I wonder. I pray for the military stationed over there and for their families here. And I wonder. Are things as bad as the media says? How bad are they? I have a friend whose husband is a civilian over there and she says things are not good. But she doesn't make it sound horribly dangerous. Just somewhat dangerous.

Instapundit on Afghanistan gave me a perspective I appreciated. Yes, it sucks. 36 bombs were found in one night. But teenage bandits masquerading as police are gone. It's now safe to drive outside the well protected streets of the inner city. I was glad to hear that progress is coming, even if slowly.

Instapundit on Iraq was much less informative. However, it did tell me how they were getting information from Iraqis still planning on Saddam's return.

I read somewhere, I think US News, that if Washington, DC were as big and populated as Baghdad that there would be 215 murders a month in Baghdad, based on DC's crime rate. There aren't that many soldiers dying in the whole country. I wish there weren't any.

My friend whose husband is over there (in Iraq) said they are often greeted with stones thrown at the trucks. Which means that they can't roll the windows down and have to sit with them up inside vehicles with no a/c. They have to drive with a military person in a military vehicle. It isn't safe, yet, for an American to drive alone. I hope it will be soon.