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| Iraq |
| [Some] US troops in Iraq want out |
| 2007-03-20 |
| For US troops from 9th Cavalry Regiment bumping around the dangerous streets of Baghdad in Humvees after dark on Monday, news that their deployment in Iraq could be extended fell like a hammer blow. And I'll bet they swore like they hit their own thumbs with that hammer! Their commanders had cautioned that their second one-year tour due to end in October could be prolonged while US President George W. Bush later warned troops it was too soon to "pack up and go home." The expletives during the four-hour night patrol turned the air in the Humvee, already thick with cigarette smoke, a dark shade of blue. That's what young tense Army guys do. As long as it doesn't interfere with the NV goggles! "We just want to get out of here as soon as possible," said one vehicle commander in one of his few printable comments. Speaks for himself. That's OK. Don't re-up. "It's because the Iraqi army is so scared that we have to come here to die," he added, asking not to be named. Why bother when US soldiers will do it? "Ninety-five percent of Iraqis are good but five percent are bad. But the 95 percent are too weak to stand up to the five percent." Then give 'em guns and see what happens. "Bush should send all the Death Row prisoners here and they can be killed fighting the terrorists. We've had enough," said another soldier, as the Humvee accelerated past a roadside car in case it exploded. Hmm, sending Couey and the like over there with no training and a sandwich board saying something like "Saddam Rules!" sounds like a good idea to me! Added yet another, "Bush can come fight here. He can take my 1,000 dollars a month and I'll go home." But he can't have my renlistment bonus! Commander of the night operation, Lieutenant Brian Long, said the anger was understandable. "One of the men has five children, another has three. Another has a boy aged four -- he's missed two of those years. He'll never get them back," said Long. This I understand. There should be some special consideration. Period. "It is like the movie 'Groundhog Day'. Each day is the same and nothing ever changes," he added, referring to the 1993 movie in which the principal character is doomed to repeat the same day endlessly. Would renlisting count for a "Groundhog Day"-like comment? "It's tough. Everyone just wants to get home to their families," said the officer. Funny, how come dropout low-IQ losers want to go home to their families? Bush, after speaking to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the top US military commander in Iraq, said in Washington that his new plan to pacify war-wracked Iraq would take months. If it works in months, I'll be happy. "It could be tempting to look at the challenges in Iraq and conclude our best option is to pack up and go home," Bush said, four years to the day after he announced that American troops were fighting to depose Saddam Hussein. "That may be satisfying in the short run, but I believe the consequences for American security would be devastating," Bush said, warning that a US departure would spark chaos in Iraq which would engulf the region. Makes sense to me. Gotta finish what you start here. Platoon commander of the 9th Cavalry Regiment, Captain Christopher Dawson, said he understood the need for troops to stay in Iraq. "We are starting to make a difference," he said. "The violence is dropping. We are training Iraqis to take over responsibility for their own security. We are helping them see their future ahead of them. It is in their hands." Reporter must have had a lapse. The editor, too. :-) But the lower ranks were in rebellious mood, especially after publication of a poll on Monday, commissioned by the BBC, ABC News, ARD German TV and USA Today, which showed only 18 percent of those questioned had confidence in US and coalition troops, while 78 percent opposed their presence. I don't remember getting polled. Oh yeah, I was at work. "If no one wants us here we are quite ready to get out tomorrow," said the outspoken vehicle commander. Looks like you'll be staying a while longer. One of the few Iraqis the troops met during their night patrol -- most stay indoors once the 8pm curfew kicks in -- said he feared the day the US forces pulled out. Aha! They found a guy who actually likes us! I wonder how they're going to spin it. "They can stay for 100 years if they want," said Salam Ahmed, a security guard at a shoe warehouse on the outskirts of the city. "If they go, the bad guys will certainly come for me." Only takes one or two percent of anonymous bad guys with guns to beat down a population. |
| Posted by:gorb |
| #14 Ima am too... LOL! |
| Posted by: RD 2007-03-20 18:22 |
| #13 it's a damn shame, RD, to see you sink to our level of humor. Ima embarrassed |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-03-20 18:01 |
| #12 All soldiers bitch, especially when handed a piece of bad news what OP said and...human nature. Korea was like Vietnam too, matter of fact Vietnam is like Vietnam, some say Missouri was like Vietnam back in 1861, but rarely is North Dakota likened to N. Vietnam, which is a damn mystery wrapped in an eggroll sold by an airhead. ship lol, you always crack me up! /[olde China proverb..women who fly upside down..] |
| Posted by: RD 2007-03-20 17:00 |
| #11 Korea was like Vietnam too, matter of fact Vietnam is like Vietnam, some say Missouri was like Vietnam back in 1861, but rarely is North Dakota likened to N. Vietnam, which is a damn mystery wrapped in an eggroll sold by an airhead. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-03-20 16:21 |
| #10 So what you're saying is that Iraq is like Vietnam. |
| Posted by: Uneamble Fillmore6406 2007-03-20 14:49 |
| #9 I spent a year in Vietnam and rotated home, like a lot of people. Some of the guys extended for up to two additional years. We bitched - my daughter was 22 months old when I left. All soldiers bitch, especially when handed a piece of bad news such as an extension to what you considered a set tour. The MSM will post what they consider the worst news, because they don't want the MNF to succeed. Even the local newspaper follows the lead, and it's not as liberal as most. The same soldiers who are bitching will fight like he$$ if attacked. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-03-20 12:51 |
| #8 As we used to say on the ol' BB, a bitchy sailor is a happy sailor. |
| Posted by: Dreadnought 2007-03-20 11:22 |
| #7 Consider the source: AFP - THats the French Press Agency. No agenda there, right? And obviously never hear the old soldier's adage: If they aint bitchin they aint happy. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2007-03-20 11:21 |
| #6 In any large group of soldiers (or sailors, marines or airmen) you will always find a few who are unhappy. A reporter can look for them, and get a quote. Then with a little wordsmithing, the reporter can make it look like the sentiment is widespread, and that general griping is about to explode into general mutiny. |
| Posted by: Rambler 2007-03-20 11:04 |
| #5 i mean shit we are talking about where civilization began here, and look how far they have came from the days of nebachanezzar(sp). |
| Posted by: sinse 2007-03-20 10:28 |
| #4 i say, let the shias ans sunnis kill each other off and let kurdistan have their own country that WE arm very well. they seem too be the only ones with any real intelligence in this country. |
| Posted by: sinse 2007-03-20 10:27 |
| #3 "If they go, the bad guys will certainly come for me." But that's okay. Nancy Pelosi will feel your pain... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-03-20 09:52 |
| #2 "They can stay for 100 years if they want," said Salam Ahmed, a security guard at a shoe warehouse on the outskirts of the city. "If they go, the bad guys will certainly come for me." Yeah, and most of the troops didn't want to be in Europe either, but that's what Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, etc said was necessary too. What's up to now, 60+ years. Little under 40 to go to make that 100. Salam learns well from the Germans and French and etc. Didn't Bill promise us the troops home in a year from Kosovo? Not that Hillary would miss that piece of dirty trade off to another prez? |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-03-20 09:45 |
| #1 I think the author is confusing the immediate disappointment these troops are suffering as their tours are being again extended with his own feelings that the mission should be abandoned. I'm sure the author has not been on the firing line for two years so there is a disconnect, not to mention the regular AP bias! |
| Posted by: Jim 2007-03-20 09:03 |