A message you wont hear in the news!

(A letter home from a Marine currently serving in Iraq)

Dear Dad -
I know that you have been asking for an update as to what we are up to over here.  Hopefully this gets to you on Thanksgiving.
As you know, we are aligned along the Euphrates River south of Lake Qadasiyah.  The area of operations we are responsible for is known as the TRIAD.  It is a series of townships that include Haditha, Barwanah, Haqlaniyah and a number of smaller towns.  All told, the task force is close to 2000 men (and a few women).  Even with this many men, we are stretched pretty well.
Like all of Anbar, the violence dropped of significantly in 2007.  Since we have been here, we have not had a single IED detonate on us.