You like scifi and short stories. Check out Robert Heinleins "green hills of earth" great collection of short stories
Heinlein is god but you have to check out
Neal Stephenson, copied this for you:
This was followed by
Cryptonomicon in 1999, a novel concerned with concepts ranging from computing and Alan Turing's research into codebreaking and cryptography during the Second World War at Bletchley Park, to a modern attempt to set up a data haven. It has subsequently been reissued in
three separate volumes in some countries, including in French and Spanish translations.
The
Baroque Cycle, Stephenson's next and to date most epic work, is a series of long historical novels set in the 17th and 18th centuries, and is in some respects a prequel to Cryptonomicon. It was originally published in
three volumes of two or
three books each Quicksilver (2003), The Confusion (2004) and The System of the World (2004) but was subsequently republished as eight separate books: Quicksilver, King of the Vagabonds, Odalisque, Bonanza, Juncto, Solomon's Gold, Currency, and System of the World. (The titles and exact break-down varies in different markets.)
Stephenson's most recently published novel is Anathem (2008), a very long and detailed work, perhaps best described as speculative fiction. It is set in an Earth-like world (perhaps in an alternate reality), deals with metaphysics and refers heavily to Ancient Greek philosophy - while at the same time being a complex commentary on the insubstantiality of today's contemporary society.
Havent got to Anathem, do a lot of books on tape and it IS NOT for that kind of light hearing, youll never think of gold and Newton the same again after the Baroque Cycle and even if you dont get into subs Crytonomicon is GREAT.
My take on Iraq is the same as yours, some of the finest people I have ever worked with and the people, Police and Iraqi Military respected me, always going to through proper channels to find out what I was doing there. No hold-ups at the job to check what the Yankee Devil was doing like the rest of the ME. Its been almost 8 years since Ive been there, left saying Id be back in a few years, at the most, after you boys cleared up their leadership problem.
Stay safe, and don't let the bad apples get to you