GI Morale Hurt By Drawn Out Conflict, Deteriorating Conditions
By Logan Murphy Saturday Aug 25, 2007 5:30pm
Via LA Times:
In the dining hall of a U.S. Army post south of Baghdad, President Bush was on the wide-screen TV, giving a speech about the war in Iraq. The soldiers didn't look up from their chicken and mashed potatoes.
As military and political leaders prepare to deliver a progress report on the conflict to Congress next month, many soldiers are increasingly disdainful of the happy talk that they say commanders on the ground and White House officials are using in their discussions about the war.
And they're becoming vocal about their frustration over longer deployments and a taxing mission that keeps many living in dangerous and uncomfortably austere conditions. Some say two wars are being fought here: the one the enlisted men see, and the one that senior officers and politicians want the world to see.
"I don't see any progress. Just us getting killed," said Spc. Yvenson Tertulien, one of those in the dining hall in Yousifiya, 10 miles south of Baghdad, as Bush's speech aired last month. "I don't want to be here anymore."
Morale problems come as the Bush administration faces increasing pressure to begin a drawdown of troops. Read more...
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Even killing quail all day long can get to you if you're not going to eat them at the end of the day. Don't soldiers need a mission? A hill to take or a hill to defend?
Walking the streets everyday, not knowing who they are supposed to be killing or what the objective for the day is, while praying they themselves don't get killed while thus aimlessly walking those streets is...... screw it - that how you destroy your own troops.
Fist!
My nephew is leaving for basic training tommorrow morning. Chances are the war will still be going when he
retiresfinishes training.I pray that he doesn't get killed just so lil' George can prove his manhood.
I get very tired and frustrated with my job......and nobody is trying to kill me.Plus...I'm not in a faraway land where we're not supposed to be.A place where they don't want me to be there...OH and did I mention all the killing and death,roadside bombs,carbombs untold amounts of different groups of people who would like to see me,us,dead.
myiq2xu @ 3:
Best of luck to you and your family.My nephew is on his second tour now....he just turned 20 and has gotten a Purple Heart already....shrapnel....the guy next to him wasn't so lucky.......hopefully we will start withdrawing soon.
Who would have thunk that the repug's cry of "support our troops" referred only to fuding them to put them in "harm's way" so that the military industrial complex would be able to loot the federal treasury.
This war was never about anything more than enriching the real power brokers behind the babbling chimpanzee that is paraded about to distract us from the real issues.
The quote by the soldier is quite telling: "I don't see any progress. Just us getting killed." This soldier and his comrades would do well to recall the words of Lt. Ehren Watada that were given at the banquet dinner at the Veterans for Peace convention last summer in Seattle, when he said: "They [those in the military] must realize that this is a war not out of self-defense but by choice, for profit and imperialistic domination. WMD, ties to Al Qaeda, and ties to 9/11 never existed and never will. The soldier must know that our narrowly and questionably elected officials intentionally manipulated the evidence presented to congress, the public, and the world to make the case for war. They must know that neither congress nor this administration has the authority to violate the prohibition against pre-emptive war-an American law that still stands today. This same administration uses us for rampant violations of time-tested laws banning torture and degradation of prisoners of war. Though the American soldier wants to do right [which recalls the words of former Green Beret Donald Duncan in the documentary Sir! No Sir!, which chronicled the story of the GI Resistance during the Vietnam War, when he said "I was doing it right but I wasn't doing right"], the illegitimacy of the occupation itself, the policies of this administration, and rules of engagement of desperate field commanders will ultimately force them to be party to war crimes. They must know some of these facts, if not all, in order to act."
The lieutenant used these words as a basis for his position that those in the military are under no obligation to be used as cannon fodder in order to propagate the lies and falsehoods of this administration. As he so eloquently stated in his speech:
"The oath we take swears allegiance not to one man but to a document of principles and laws designed to protect the people. Enlisting in the military does not relinquish one's right to seek the truth-neither does it excuse one from rational thought nor the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. 'I was only following orders' is never an excuse."
As Lt. Watada and those in the film Sir! No Sir! have explained, the best way to end a war and an occupation is to have it happen from within.
I encourage everyone to read the entire article. It clearly demonstrates that Petreaus has consumed the koolade.
We are "turning another corner" and everything is peachy-keen. How long must this farce continue - and how many more will die?
It will continue until '09 of course - when a Democrat assumes the Oval Office, so the revisionists can blame Democrats for "cutting and running" - just like they are trying to do with Vietnam. That was a bit difficult for a decade or so after that debacle, since all the nuts were claiming that we won in Vietnam. I know this will seem incredible to younger readers, but it is only recently that it has been considered anything but treasonous to publicly state the obvious -that we lost that war - despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
This is shocking!! You mean to tell me that troops aren't happy being half-way around the world, in the middle of an indefinite, unwinnable war?
Let's just see if those that claim to support the troops will do anything about their declining morale.
The "support the troops" righties will ignore this like they ignore everything showing their 2 trillion dollar project has failed
once the soldiers, not the commanders, come to the realization of why this war was perpetrated initially, then they can put an end to it. i really feel though that this story and this portrayal of the military as being disgusted and "used" is as of today still a very small part of the military. most of them are still gung ho. but what the hey, it's a start.
When our tour was over in Vietnam, that was it. We went home. We didn't have to go back. It was a singular linear experience. We could mark the calendar. Because there were a lot of draftees, you heard a lot about finishing the tour, but not much about finishing the mission. Most of us were just happy to get out of it alive.
Some guys in knew volunteered to go back, not because of patriotism necessarily, but because they actually liked the experience and thrived in that environment. There are guys who would rather be with their buddies in battle than at home with their families. To some guys, the military is home and family. In fact, for some guys, their tour in the military was the first time they had dependable meals and a reliable place to sleep.
It must be a terrible feel to know that when it's over, it's not really over. The guys who survived Iraq can't have that enormous rush of knowing that they survived and they would never have to go through that again. Even the Guys in Korea and the first Gulf War got to have that rush.
Those that claim to support the troops the most are the ones who have consigned them to a war without end and to an endless stream of pro-Bush propaganda.
Talk about cynical.
-GSD
The difference between Vietnam and Iraq.....couldn't be greater..take your pick.......not even close.
I asked my nephew one thing when he was here"Would you want your little brother to enlist to go"he shook his head no.That said enough for me.I didn't want him to feel like I was ganging up on him.Funny thing was that he thought my brother inlaw did..and he was the only one asking too many questions and saying things like.."We'll support you guys for as long as it takes"...my inlaw is what he calls now..a conservative.He doesn't like being called a republican..also...he says the only issue in this coming election is immigration.....yeah.....as you can tell...we don't see eye to eye......on damn near everything...
Carmikl @ 12:
correct they are called lifers ,three hots and a cot , someone to do thier thinking for them they got nothing else , and it dont make any difference if its a war of agresshion they kill because they like it, or its just a job, we had them in korea they had them in vietnam these are the guys who will if need be herd your ass into a haliburton camp, all the same to them, you me iraqys were the enemy!
I know it's cynical of me to say this but from Bush and the Neo-Cons' point of view, the goal was always to destroy Iraq and the Iraqi nation, and to create and enhance instability in order to engender a civil war which would enhance that goal. That's why they intentionally set out with fewer troops, and deliberately allowed the caches of ammunition to be stolen.
The invasion of Iraq was always less to do to do with fighting International terrorism than it had to do with gaining control over Iraq’s hydrocarbon reserves and in doing so maintaining the U.S. dollar as the monopoly currency for the critical international oil market.
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CLA410A.html
To Bush and his Neo-Conservatives he is winning. The deaths of Americans, the Iraqi holocaust, the victims of Katrina, the uninsured of America thew crumbling imnfrastructure are all the forfeit "we" have to pay to achieve this monstrous goal.
[...] Mine GI Morale Hurt By Drawn Out Conflict, Deteriorating Conditions » This Summary is from an article posted at Crooks and Liars on Sunday, August 26, 2007 This [...]
"In the dining hall of a U.S. Army post south of Baghdad, President Bush was on the wide-screen TV, giving a speech about the war in Iraq. The soldiers didn’t look up from their chicken and mashed potatoes."
The chickenhawk on TV took a back seat to the chicken on their plates.
Fact is the American upper classes have made more money off their country's wars than they've shed their own blood in them for two generations. They are so detached from any personal risks from the wars they start that they can cynically cultivate the "cult of the soldier" while treating them with the same contempt they reserve for the rest of the working class.
To the troops. Thanks to all of you. You swore an oathe to protect the constitution, from all enemies Domestic and foreign.
The ovearhead is our current enemy as they take away our rights.
I would find it very difficult to not put my fist through the screen if I were a soldier eating my dinner in Iraq (or any other disgraceful war zone) and that Smirking Fool came on the screen.
The man is a fucking imbecile.
Little Bear said -
...and making those same people a lot of money.
This invasion of Iraq was never about anything else other than to make money and secure the natural resources (oil) of a sovereign nation.
A question for the people who have relatives going over there (or are already in Iraq) and this isn't meant to be a negative question in any way but... Seriously, why is anyone signing up to fight over there?
I can understand why young Men and Woman would sign up to serve their country, but this has nothing to do with that.
Iraq is the last place that young men and woman should be volunteering to go.
I was talking with some asshat from the War the other day who came onto me saying "Look, I ate sand in Iraq for you people while you got Air conditioning."
I replied, "Unfortunately, sir, I'm on the Iraqi's side."
"How can you say that?!"
"If Darth Vader told you to put on a Stormtrooper outfit and go hunt down Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, would you?"
"No."
"An Imperial Army is still an Imperial Army, and a Resistance is still a Resistance. And I am still on the Iraqi's Side."
Wess @ 22:
...and making those same people a lot of money.
This invasion of Iraq was never about anything else other than to make money and secure the natural resources (oil) of a sovereign nation.
A question for the people who have relatives going over there (or are already in Iraq) and this isn't meant to be a negative question in any way but... Seriously, why is anyone signing up to fight over there?
I can understand why young Men and Woman would sign up to serve their country, but this has nothing to do with that.
Iraq is the last place that young men and woman should be volunteering to go.
We want to raise money for them to give them weapons to help liberate their lands. Sand as that sounds, Liberating the country and giving it to the Iraqi people is NOT what is going on.
Occupations and the installation of a puppet government who will do what hte US wants is the issue.
Unfortunately Bush cannot keep a PM loyal to him over the people... Amazingly enough they have morals and are doing their best to hamstring the Americans.
Given the fact that each one of them is acutely aware that the US goons will whack them the moment they step out of line, I think they are doing the most couragous thing taking vacations and trying to stall legislating the tear up and takeover of their country.
Just like Nicaragua, just like Columbia, the US are at it again.
JamesR @ 20:
If they obeyed that law they would have already had a military coup to replace the CiC and the VP.
A plaque at the DoD in the pentagon says "Should any member of this force violate the Geneva conventions they will be charged with treason" or words to that effect.
A real general would never let this happen. They would have a coup and take back the country by force, for the people.
Everyone knows they are stealing and stealing ands stealing, or and murdering and murdering (and that whole Bohemian Grove Devil Worship stuff)... Just fucking stop them.
At the risk of having the message lost at the ass end of the comments...
I'm a Vietnam vet, May 67-68, and a watcher of history, and the reason Dubya got it wrong is that he picked the wrong comparison.
Iraq is not like Vietnam. It's much more like Afghanistan, when the Soviet Union invaded.
Invade a nation that didn't attack you. Guerrilla fighters outlast the invading country. Spend your military over many years and wear them out. Bankrupt yourself doing so.
And a couple of years after the end of that, the Soviet Union collapsed.
That's the proper comparison.
You should read soldier's the blog. In case you missed it in the latimes article, it's:
www.armyofdude.blogspot.com
Trust me, it's stuff THAT NEVER GETS ON THE NEWS!! It's heartbreaking. They are being used and abused.
In the article, the kmention General Lynch telling a new Lt to the war "Son your making history, while those backhome are watching it on TV.."
No coffins, no funerals, no in depth free press coverage from the field,..What are folks watching on TV???????
Not the war General...Not the war..
I'm retired AF and I've been deployed to several locations in that region, thankfully never to Iraq or Afghanistan, and I can tell you that a short deployemnt of several months can be a morale draining experience even under the best of circumstances.
Its as if you are cut off from the rest of the world. You find out how many things you take for granted when your here at home, things like going to the bathroom, watching TV, or talking to a loved one.
I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like for soldiers who have to be there for up to a year or more. Constantly under fire and totally stressed out. Without the proper equipment. Having to make life or death decisions on a daily basis.
I believe our military aparatus will suffer the same it did after Vietnam.
Why do our troops hate our troops?
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