A few more patrols, and regrettably, my summer internship in Baghdad is over. When my unit dropped me off back at the Baghdad airport, I'd logged nearly 200 miles on patrol. The Patriots made me feel more than welcome, and I am honored to have been able to be among them.

In the period, just short of a week, that I was in Iraq, none of my Patriot compatriots was harmed. But elsewhere, 28 American servicemen and women were killed during that time, as well as an undetermined number of Iraqi policemen and Army personnel, who are constant targets of insurgent reprisals-not to mention dozens of civilian and insurgent casualties.

I was asked more than once during my "mini-tour" of duty why a Car and Driver writer was in Baghdad. I answered that since this war has a lot to do with cars—and the petroleum products needed to run them—it was just as appropriate for me to be here as any fancy-pants network anchor. None of whom, by the way, joined us on patrol. Take that, Wolf Blitzer