Gaurding Idiots from stupidity

It has often been said that that one of the greatest woes in the Iraqi theater is that the iraqis, are just plain stupid. Now i don't think the society as a whole is stupid but there are times that really make you scratch your head. You always see it on CNN, some soldiers treating iraqis shall we say roughly. What you do not often see is the other side, from the soldeir's end. Often times it is much like dealing with a bunch of children. Having to tell a 30 year old man to shut up and act like a man often gets tiring. Now we are gaurding a gas station. I think this is by far the worst detail I have yet been on. It makes me honestly wonder, what is better, getting blown up or gaurding the gas station. The sad part is i do not know. That we have to watch the IPs and Oil Protection acgency gaurds (baisically rent-a-cops) actually do their jobs is tiresome. Telling the attendants time and again that they are only supposed to give out a certain amount of gas. even going to the extreme method of having them count it out on their fingers, only to have the attendants do it again ten seconds later, and then look at us guiltily. Worse, the "jerry cans". eveybody comes through with these cans trying to fill them up. It is hard for these people to understand "NO". after they are thrown out by the Oil Protection guys, these idiots tryo to go and pick them up. On more than one occasion they turn and point to us, again making us the bad guys. So we've gone from policing the streets trying (although not suceeding if the release rate is any indication) to provide security, to policing a gas station trying to make sure that the money goes to the right pockets. More than ever I feel like a pawn in a game that no one really wants to win. No mission up till now with one or two extreamly notable exceptions have taken almost 12 hours (I will not for securtiy reasons say the exact time we come and go, but the point is somewhat moot because we're pretty predictable in our timing sadly). Worse yet we sit there, do absolutly nothing. You could put a brain dead vegtable in the same spot and the same thing would happen. I routinly do anything i can to "zone out" but having little in the way of AC does not help. Taking a piss is a bit of an adventure too. It's a sniper's paradice. A predictable target with two-three story buildings all around. Do i feel much entheusaim about the mission? in a word no. Perhapes the funniest (though sadly predictable) part of recent news, is that my parent brigade lied about combat strength to get out here. so now there is an investigation underway. It kind of makes sense in a sick sort of way. They put TRADOC people in key leadership positions (CSM) and a cdr that keeps getting in trouble. This Bn, is fucked. How sad is it that we bust our asses only to find that the fruits of our labor, are sadly like old rotten apples. that first bite is enough to make anyone sick. It's alright in a strange sort of way. Even though I know my efforts under this chain of command will be useless, I know this is where i belong. laughing about how badly we're getting screwed i felt a sense of belonging i havn't come close to in a LONG time.