Cliff LyonListen Carefully to Our Troops
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Many of the American soldiers trying to quell sectarian killings in Baghdad don’t appear to be looking for reinforcements. They say the temporary surge in troop levels some people are calling for is a bad idea…“Nothing’s going to help. It’s a religious war, and we’re caught in the middle of it,” said Sgt. Josh Keim, a native of Canton, Ohio, who is on his second tour in Iraq. “It’s hard to be somewhere where there’s no mission and we just drive around.”
I’m going to scream if I hear one more person, claiming to speak for the troops, say that THEY want to stay in Iraq and that we can win.
The evidence to the contrary is overwhelming and has been for quite some time.
The military culture suppresses dissent as a matter of course and for good reason. It also very purposefully promotes ‘high moral’, and commitment to mission also for good reason.
So when news of soldiers expressing any dissent on the record about our policy and or reasonableness of mission in Iraq, we should listen carefully less we delude ourselves.
December 29th, 2006 at 1:40 pm
Sgt. Keim says:
“It’s hard to be somewhere where there’s no mission and we just drive around.â€
Keim forgot to mention that just driving around makes the troops sitting ducks for pissed off Muslim dudes.
December 29th, 2006 at 2:53 pm
At least the mission at home was to drive around and get drunk, and then maybe get into a fight. There appears to be no real mission goals for the young men we have sent to Iraq. No liquor either. What kind of war is this supposed to be? I would argue a war to sustain chaos, and that has been the goal since day one. Must suck being the fodder for this.
Sounds like when we run out of Americans there are plenty of green card holders and illegals that can sign up for citizenship if they serve. That is really doing the jobs Americans don’t want to do anymore.
I want to reference some fork and and some ass and how sticking a fork in the other is the appropriate response to our foolishness over there. Then say were done.
December 29th, 2006 at 7:05 pm
The latest annual Military Times poll has come out, and only 35 percent of respondents approve of Bush’s handling of the war — down from 63 percent two years ago. In this year’s poll only 41 percent of the military said the U.S. should have gone to war in Iraq in the first place, down from 65 percent in 2003.
December 29th, 2006 at 7:24 pm
Richard,
Best to not tell the folks at ASP about this poll. This is hard evidence that will burst their bubble and ruin their feel-good party, and during the holidays no less.