A Marine sees what defeatists don't

[wubbathompson]

By Ben Connable
RAMADI, Iraq — This is my third deployment with the 1st Marine Division to the Middle East.
This is the third time I've heard the quavering cries of the talking heads predicting failure and calling for withdrawal.

This is the third time I find myself shaking my head in disbelief.

Setbacks and tragedy are part and parcel of war and must be accepted on the battlefield. We can and will achieve our goals in Iraq.

Waiting for war in the Saudi Arabian desert as a young corporal in 1991, I recall reading news clippings portending massive tank battles, fiery death from Saddam Hussein's "flame trenches" and bitter defeat at the hands of the fourth-largest army in the world. My platoon was told to expect 75% casualties. Being Marines and, therefore, naturally cocky, we still felt pretty good about our abilities

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-05-18-connable_x.htm

[happyending]

1. the Captain is wrong

The Iraqi people do not want us there.

[atreides1]

2. I was in the Gulf

Most of those predictions were made by the Pentagon and the DOD, and it turned out to be all bull. Just like the stories about Iraqi soldiers taking babies out of incubators, turned out to be lies.

If the Iraqis had really wanted to launch an attack on Saudi Arabia, they could have walked right in, and would have met with light resistance from the Saudis.


I have talked to a woman whose son is also a Marine in Iraq, he says that things are not as grand as this major makes them out to be. But
with officers it's always tow the party line, it's the enlisted troops
who know the real deal more often then not.

Get any enlisted troop away from the party hacks and he/she will give you better info as to what's really going on. And if you ask several
the same question they will give you different answers, some in support, some not, but either way you get differing opinions.

USA Today just got the opinion of one officer, who probably spends most of his time at HQ, and not much out in the field with the grunts.

[KissMyAsscroft]

4. Yeah, I have a friend that's back from Iraq...

And he says that he gets shot at evry night and has to mainly deal with crowd control. He said the people go nuts when you try to hand out anything.

And he is in one of the "quieter" area.

[Atman]

3. Did you post this yesterday?

Someone did. And someone with only 149 posts putting up happy marine stories on DU...kinda makes a guy wonder what your angle is, you know?

[wubbathompson]

6. I thought it was a nice article for a change

I, again and again, have stated I am against the war, but I thought it was interesting to see another point of view. One can more intelligently defend his arguments when he sees the other side's point of view. That's all.

[boobooday]

5. Propoganda

Pure and simple.

They do it right out in the open. Check out the Medicare promotion.

From what I've read, many soldiers disagree with him, especially the enlisted men who are down in the dust.



http://www.wgoeshome.com

[struggle4progress]

7. Perhaps "we can ... achieve our goals in Iraq" ...

but that depends on what our goals actually are. We seem to be doing a fine job building a bunch of new military bases there; we also seem to be doing a fine job of alienating the Iraqis and drumming up support for al-Sadr. Neither of these was an originally stated goal, but of course we could always "refine" the mission.

Iraqis want coalition troops out: poll
A POLL of Iraqi people has shown that more than half of them now want the US-led coalition troops to leave their country, while most regard the military presence as an occupying force, a British newspaper reported today.
The poll was conducted by the year-old Iraq Centre for Research and Strategic Studies, a group considered reliable enough for coalition officials to have submitted questions for inclusion in the poll, the Financial Times said.
According to the findings of the survey of 1600 Shia and Sunni Arabs and Kurds, not formally released until next week, more than half the population want coalition troops out of Iraq, the poll's organisers told the newspaper.
This compares with a figure of only about 20 per cent in a poll taken last October, the paper said, adding that the latest survey was taken before the scandal emerged of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US troops.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,9612232%5E1702,00.html

Most Iraqis see U.S. as "occupiers"
Opinion poll results to be released next week show nearly nine out of 10 Iraqis see U.S. forces as occupiers rather than liberators or peacekeepers, the Financial Times has reported.
<snip>
/www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=514499§ion=news

Poverty main concern for Iraqis: Poll
Iraqis care more about declining living standards than US promises of political freedom, and prefer a rebel cleric hunted by US forces to most mainstream politicians, according to a poll due for release shortly.
The survey revealed a sharp drop in the number of Iraqis who view US troops as liberators - just seven percent when the poll was taken last month, compared to over 40% six months ago.
More than 40% of Iraqis would feel safer if US troops left Iraq now, a preview of the poll showed.
<snip>
Thirty-one percent of respondents said they strongly supported Sadr - compared to 50% for Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the top religious authority for majority Shi'ites - compared to single digits three months ago, Dulame said.
<snip>
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_world_story_skin/426849?format=html

<edit:fixed link>

[belle]

9. Well, hello.

I mean, win *what,* exactly?

[mac56]

8. "But as a professional, I have the luxury of putting politics aside..

...and focusing on the task at hand."

Or: As a propagandist desk jockey, I have the luxury of sugarcoating and spinning this any way I please.

"Protecting people from terrorists and criminals while building schools and lasting friendships is a good mission, no matter what brush it's tarred with."

Like the lasting friendships they built with the detainees and the wedding party guests?

They're just a bunch of goddamned Boy Scouts, aren't they?

[SharonAnn]

10. Funny, the Marines I know have the opposite opinion. But then,

they deal with facts, not fantasy.

[mike from ri]

11. it is bush who will not support the troops

the rampant tax-cutting and anti-conservation energy policy of this adminstration undermines the mission. too bad the author does not see the contradictions.