NationStates Jolt Archive

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/17300884.htm

Lieberman went to Iraq just recently, and while there a number of the troops asked him questions. But mostly one question.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Spc. David Williams, 22, of Boston, Mass., had two note cards in his pocket Wednesday afternoon as he waited for Sen. Joseph Lieberman. Williams serves in the 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, N.C., the first of the five "surge" brigades to arrive in Iraq, and he was chosen to join the Independent from Connecticut for lunch at a U.S. field base in Baghdad.

The night before, 30 other soldiers crowded around him with questions for the senator.

He wrote them all down. At the top of his note card was the question he got from nearly every one of his fellow soldiers:

"When are we going to get out of here?"

Notable quotes:

Williams missed six months of his girlfriend's pregnancy when he was given six days' notice to return to Iraq for his second tour. He also missed his baby boy's birth. Three weeks ago, he went home and saw his first child.

"He looks just like me," he said. "I didn't want to come back. . . . We're waiting to get blown up."
Next to him, Spc. Will Hedin, 21, of Chester, Conn., thought about what he was going to say.

"We're not making any progress," Hedin said, as he recalled a comrade who was shot by a sniper last week. "It just seems like we drive around and wait to get shot at."

But of course these troops don't exist, because all of the troops want to stay there and get shot at until the job is done... even if they have to stay there for another 20 years...

Why do the troops hate themselves? :(:confused:

Why do the troops hate themselves? :(:confused:

Stupid soldiers. Don't they know that if they pull out, the terrorists win!?

Oh Come on....just because the majority of the the American people, the democrats and some republicans and the troops want to leave...doesn't mean we should Cut-And-Run...:rolleyes:

This is clearly a load of lies being spread by the evil commie liberal muslim controlled media.

This is clearly a load of lies being spread by the evil commie liberal muslim controlled media.

exactly we must Stay-The-Course! :p

Nonsense, soldiers love getting blown up fighting for unsuccessful objectives! How dare you deprive them of this right!

exactly we must Stay-The-Course! :p

If we don't, the terrorists win!

The troops are human too. Some know they have to stay; others want to leave. They don't all believe in the same cause but they do their job. It's natural that some would want to know when they can leave.

The biggest problem is this... the government is headed by highly religious people. Many highly religious people do not beleive in 'pulling out'.

I'll agree that setting up a time table is absured.

I also agree that in abandoning them we are wrong.

But we can take out our soldiers and still support the Iraqi people.

But of course these troops don't exist, because all of the troops want to stay there and get shot at until the job is done... even if they have to stay there for another 20 years...
These guys are no different than anyone else. I've never been on a deployment that I didn't want to come home from. There isn't a shred of difference between a two week trip and a 1 year unaccompanied in that respect.

What we are doing that's stupid is to require 1 year plus deployments from National Guard and Reserve troops. Those guys should be there to fill gaps, not shore up the entire Armed Forces.

The troops are human too. Some know they have to stay; others want to leave. They don't all believe in the same cause but they do their job. It's natural that some would want to know when they can leave.

It's more common among younger soldiers. If you have any experience in the military you know that you don't really know when you're coming home until you get home.

Also, it's logically specious to assert that all soldiers feel this way. I could get thirty questions on a card from soldiers, and none of them would say this. Doesn't make it accurate.

These guys are no different than anyone else. I've never been on a deployment that I didn't want to come home from. There isn't a shred of difference between a two week trip and a 1 year unaccompanied in that respect.

True, but many of the soldiers also seem to think that what they are doing is pointless.

It's more common among younger soldiers. If you have any experience in the military you know that you don't really know when you're coming home until you get home.

Also, it's logically specious to assert that all soldiers feel this way. I could get thirty questions on a card from soldiers, and none of them would say this. Doesn't make it accurate.

Its true. I spent a year there and didn't really enjoy myself. Fortunately I new when I signed the dotted line that I was not signing up for a vacation. I did my job and if my country ask I will do it again.

True, but many of the soldiers also seem to think that what they are doing is pointless.

That's more common amongst soldiers in non-combat specialities (who comprise about 80 percent of the soldiers).

Among combat specialities such as infantry, the feelings run the other way.

That's more common amongst soldiers in non-combat specialities (who comprise about 80 percent of the soldiers).

Among combat specialities such as infantry, the feelings run the other way.

.....source?

.....source?

If you have an AKO account, I can give you the link.

True, but many of the soldiers also seem to think that what they are doing is pointless.
There's a subtle difference between what they're doing and how they're doing it. The folks I know that have been in Iraq have big objections to the how part. I suspect that most objections are to the legalistic, overly complex ROE that encourages troops to be tried for murder, when they're doing exactly what they need to stay alive.

It's more common among younger soldiers. If you have any experience in the military you know that you don't really know when you're coming home until you get home.

Also, it's logically specious to assert that all soldiers feel this way. I could get thirty questions on a card from soldiers, and none of them would say this. Doesn't make it accurate.

You'll note that's why I said "some". Nice vague wording. Keeps mah ass outta trouble!

Its true. I spent a year there and didn't really enjoy myself.

No indoor pool?

The troops are demoralizing themselves! Quickly, attack their patriotism!


Seriously, its be a custom in the past(at least in the US) the biggest anti-war people are soldiers

Ummm....duh?

So. The Iraqis don't want us there. The majority of Americans don't want to be there. The troops don't want to be there. Why the fuck are we still there?

So. The Iraqis don't want us there. The majority of Americans don't want to be there. The troops don't want to be there. Why the fuck are we still there?

To fight mus..erm...terrorism!

These guys are no different than anyone else. I've never been on a deployment that I didn't want to come home from. There isn't a shred of difference between a two week trip and a 1 year unaccompanied in that respect.

What we are doing that's stupid is to require 1 year plus deployments from National Guard and Reserve troops. Those guys should be there to fill gaps, not shore up the entire Armed Forces.

and we need to remember that these guys just got 3 months added to their tours. that had to be rough for those who were close to going home.

So. The Iraqis don't want us there. The majority of Americans don't want to be there. The troops don't want to be there. Why the fuck are we still there?

The same reason why some people sit through a bad movie to get their ten bucks worth.

That's more common amongst soldiers in non-combat specialities (who comprise about 80 percent of the soldiers).

Among combat specialities such as infantry, the feelings run the other way.
I dare say that is because they've got more "enemy" on their hands, so they're a bit too busy to think about the big picture. Maybe the non-combat personnel just has too much time on its hands to look at politics or notice that nothing much has changed for years now (except of course that people keep getting hurt).

The thing that really worries me a bit is the fact that the number of amputations is now greater than in wars before (because with Kevlar etc they survive even if their arms and legs are ripped to shreds) and the injuries people survive to then live with for the rest of their lives are more horrible than ever. Everyone keeps talking about 3400+ deaths, but at least they've seen the end of the war, as it were.

So. The Iraqis don't want us there. The majority of Americans don't want to be there. The troops don't want to be there. Why the fuck are we still there?

oil

The same reason why some people sit through a bad movie to get their ten bucks worth.

The blooper reel?

That's what happens when you join the U.S. armed forces - rather sooner than later you'll get send to a place you don't want to be to do things you don't want to do.
It should've been clear to everyone when they volunteered to sign up.

That's what happens when you join the U.S. armed forces - rather sooner than later you'll get send to a place you don't want to be to do things you don't want to do.
It should've been clear to everyone when they volunteered to sign up.

I don't think they want out because they're afraid of being killed so much as their afraid of dieing for nothing. They should know the military and political realities more than anyone, and I think more Coalition troops are coming to the inevitable conclusion that they are simply driving around in hummers waiting to get shot or blown up by an IED.

Military action seems to be increasingly static as the political leadership wrings its hands over what they can do to improve Iraq, if anything. The surge has been a relative success, but now militants are beginning to come out of the hidey holes they've been in for the past few months with new tactics.

If the troops were actually being allowed to do anything constructive apart from drive around Baghdad all day, I don't think there'd be such a clamour for withdrawal.