Tom Mowle - Chaos in the Green Zone
@tommowle.bsky.social
Editor, dissertation coach, hiker, explorer, trail builder, author (Chaos in The Green Zone, April 2026), retired military, retired public official, gardener, cat lover, atheist, Purdue fan-Boiler Up! Free Substack at https://fromtheramparts.substack.com/
Another loss for justice in Idaho
November 22, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Another loss for justice in Idaho
Cold night hot fire warm cat
November 22, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Cold night hot fire warm cat
p.28
With a day’s work under my belt, COL Haith assigned me another duty: attending the daily senior consultants meetings.
CPA Administrator Bremer’s first order last year had been to ban all members of Saddam’s Ba’ath Party from public office.
Order from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social in reply
With a day’s work under my belt, COL Haith assigned me another duty: attending the daily senior consultants meetings.
CPA Administrator Bremer’s first order last year had been to ban all members of Saddam’s Ba’ath Party from public office.
Order from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social in reply
November 22, 2025 at 1:18 PM
p.28
With a day’s work under my belt, COL Haith assigned me another duty: attending the daily senior consultants meetings.
CPA Administrator Bremer’s first order last year had been to ban all members of Saddam’s Ba’ath Party from public office.
Order from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social in reply
With a day’s work under my belt, COL Haith assigned me another duty: attending the daily senior consultants meetings.
CPA Administrator Bremer’s first order last year had been to ban all members of Saddam’s Ba’ath Party from public office.
Order from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social in reply
Unpacking. Seems like a metaphor for something…
November 21, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Unpacking. Seems like a metaphor for something…
Hike up Pulver mountain Colorado
November 19, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Hike up Pulver mountain Colorado
Nice walk across the street so to speak but still no snow at 9000 feet in central Colorado
November 19, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Nice walk across the street so to speak but still no snow at 9000 feet in central Colorado
This week in my free Substack, I compare the run-up to the Iraq War with the current threats against Venezuela. Subscribe and share -- link in the comments!
November 18, 2025 at 2:44 PM
This week in my free Substack, I compare the run-up to the Iraq War with the current threats against Venezuela. Subscribe and share -- link in the comments!
p. 24
The route to the PX took us past the ruins of Saddam’s command center. The precision of the air strikes the year before astonished me. Part of the complex was nothing but rubble, other buildings were hanging open like an Erector set
Preorder from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social in comment
The route to the PX took us past the ruins of Saddam’s command center. The precision of the air strikes the year before astonished me. Part of the complex was nothing but rubble, other buildings were hanging open like an Erector set
Preorder from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social in comment
November 18, 2025 at 2:21 PM
p. 24
The route to the PX took us past the ruins of Saddam’s command center. The precision of the air strikes the year before astonished me. Part of the complex was nothing but rubble, other buildings were hanging open like an Erector set
Preorder from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social in comment
The route to the PX took us past the ruins of Saddam’s command center. The precision of the air strikes the year before astonished me. Part of the complex was nothing but rubble, other buildings were hanging open like an Erector set
Preorder from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social in comment
p. 22
A corridor to our right led us, after a few jogs, to the dining facility (DFAC).
The Palace was proving to be an odd mixture of ordinary and ornate. The corridor from the rotunda had been all business, but the DFAC looked ceremonial.
Preorder from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social in comment
A corridor to our right led us, after a few jogs, to the dining facility (DFAC).
The Palace was proving to be an odd mixture of ordinary and ornate. The corridor from the rotunda had been all business, but the DFAC looked ceremonial.
Preorder from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social in comment
November 16, 2025 at 2:36 PM
p. 22
A corridor to our right led us, after a few jogs, to the dining facility (DFAC).
The Palace was proving to be an odd mixture of ordinary and ornate. The corridor from the rotunda had been all business, but the DFAC looked ceremonial.
Preorder from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social in comment
A corridor to our right led us, after a few jogs, to the dining facility (DFAC).
The Palace was proving to be an odd mixture of ordinary and ornate. The corridor from the rotunda had been all business, but the DFAC looked ceremonial.
Preorder from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social in comment
p.21
He took us to the male transient tent to bed down for the night. It had 5 rows of single beds, 12 to a row with just enough space between them to put your feet down. Despite hearing mortars in the distance, I slept soundly that 1st night.
Preorder from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social in comment
He took us to the male transient tent to bed down for the night. It had 5 rows of single beds, 12 to a row with just enough space between them to put your feet down. Despite hearing mortars in the distance, I slept soundly that 1st night.
Preorder from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social in comment
November 15, 2025 at 1:28 PM
p.21
He took us to the male transient tent to bed down for the night. It had 5 rows of single beds, 12 to a row with just enough space between them to put your feet down. Despite hearing mortars in the distance, I slept soundly that 1st night.
Preorder from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social in comment
He took us to the male transient tent to bed down for the night. It had 5 rows of single beds, 12 to a row with just enough space between them to put your feet down. Despite hearing mortars in the distance, I slept soundly that 1st night.
Preorder from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social in comment
p. 20
We glimpsed our surroundings as he cleared us through a checkpoint and hurried us up a wide marble-floored staircase to the second floor and through a carved, wooden, cipher-locked door labeled Strategic Political-Military (SPM).
Preorder from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social in comment.
We glimpsed our surroundings as he cleared us through a checkpoint and hurried us up a wide marble-floored staircase to the second floor and through a carved, wooden, cipher-locked door labeled Strategic Political-Military (SPM).
Preorder from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social in comment.
November 14, 2025 at 1:31 PM
p. 20
We glimpsed our surroundings as he cleared us through a checkpoint and hurried us up a wide marble-floored staircase to the second floor and through a carved, wooden, cipher-locked door labeled Strategic Political-Military (SPM).
Preorder from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social in comment.
We glimpsed our surroundings as he cleared us through a checkpoint and hurried us up a wide marble-floored staircase to the second floor and through a carved, wooden, cipher-locked door labeled Strategic Political-Military (SPM).
Preorder from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social in comment.
Last night from north of divide Colorado
November 12, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Last night from north of divide Colorado
Aurora at 9200’
November 12, 2025 at 3:47 AM
Aurora at 9200’
Some pond pix from the last few days
November 10, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Some pond pix from the last few days
p. 16
I had tied some ribbons to mine so they’d be easier to find. So had everyone else. We had hundreds of identical duffels with ribbons that would have been distinguishable in daylight but were now slightly different shades of gray.
Link to order from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social in comment
I had tied some ribbons to mine so they’d be easier to find. So had everyone else. We had hundreds of identical duffels with ribbons that would have been distinguishable in daylight but were now slightly different shades of gray.
Link to order from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social in comment
November 10, 2025 at 1:39 PM
p. 16
I had tied some ribbons to mine so they’d be easier to find. So had everyone else. We had hundreds of identical duffels with ribbons that would have been distinguishable in daylight but were now slightly different shades of gray.
Link to order from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social in comment
I had tied some ribbons to mine so they’d be easier to find. So had everyone else. We had hundreds of identical duffels with ribbons that would have been distinguishable in daylight but were now slightly different shades of gray.
Link to order from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social in comment
Plenty will be written tomorrow as it should: Ds +14 in VA gov (+10 predicted), Ds +13 in NJ gov (+3 predicted), CA countergerrymandering wins, PA judges retained. But don't miss this: all NJ and VA counties shifted blue, and the Ds flipped at least 13 of the 49 R seats in VA house.
November 5, 2025 at 4:18 AM
Plenty will be written tomorrow as it should: Ds +14 in VA gov (+10 predicted), Ds +13 in NJ gov (+3 predicted), CA countergerrymandering wins, PA judges retained. But don't miss this: all NJ and VA counties shifted blue, and the Ds flipped at least 13 of the 49 R seats in VA house.
Still following the broader election outcomes: With over 80% of the vote in statewide, this is what the Virginia house race looks like on www.vpap.org/electionresu.... Team Blue had a 51-49 majority, and it has flipped 7 seats from Team Red
November 5, 2025 at 2:48 AM
Still following the broader election outcomes: With over 80% of the vote in statewide, this is what the Virginia house race looks like on www.vpap.org/electionresu.... Team Blue had a 51-49 majority, and it has flipped 7 seats from Team Red
With about 58% of the vote in statewide, this is what the Virginia house race looks like on www.vpap.org/electionresu.... Team Blue has 51 seats now, so it needs all the D seats and three others to hold that majority
November 5, 2025 at 1:33 AM
With about 58% of the vote in statewide, this is what the Virginia house race looks like on www.vpap.org/electionresu.... Team Blue has 51 seats now, so it needs all the D seats and three others to hold that majority
With about 20% of the vote in statewide, this is what the Virginia house race looks like on www.vpap.org/electionresu... Team Blue has 51 seats now, so it needs all the D seats and three others to hold that majority.
November 5, 2025 at 12:45 AM
With about 20% of the vote in statewide, this is what the Virginia house race looks like on www.vpap.org/electionresu... Team Blue has 51 seats now, so it needs all the D seats and three others to hold that majority.
Which is from the felon's version of the Lincoln Bathroom in our White House and which is from Saddam Hussein's al-Faw Palace?
November 4, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Which is from the felon's version of the Lincoln Bathroom in our White House and which is from Saddam Hussein's al-Faw Palace?
This week in my free substack, I discuss the actual problem with being the party of "they/them" -- it's not what people say it is! -- and link at the end to a classic SNL bit from 1982. Link in the comment for the algorithm; subscribe and share!
October 28, 2025 at 12:55 PM
This week in my free substack, I discuss the actual problem with being the party of "they/them" -- it's not what people say it is! -- and link at the end to a classic SNL bit from 1982. Link in the comment for the algorithm; subscribe and share!
There I was: standing on the flight line at Baghdad International Airport, gawking at a pillar of smoke. It towered into the clear August sky beyond a low building and some scraggly trees broiling in the midday heat.
More coming soon from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social
More coming soon from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social
October 26, 2025 at 3:14 PM
There I was: standing on the flight line at Baghdad International Airport, gawking at a pillar of smoke. It towered into the clear August sky beyond a low building and some scraggly trees broiling in the midday heat.
More coming soon from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social
More coming soon from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social
Someone threw a rock through the window at the Barnes and Noble in northern Colorado Springs this morning
August 11, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Someone threw a rock through the window at the Barnes and Noble in northern Colorado Springs this morning
Fortunately, I have more than one option
August 11, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Fortunately, I have more than one option
I almost forgot it was international cat day! Alibi and a moth last night
August 9, 2025 at 1:05 AM
I almost forgot it was international cat day! Alibi and a moth last night