Two US Soldiers ask: "When will we stop dying so senselessly?",

[donsu]

http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_4893.shtml

Over the Christmas holidays I managed to find two US soldiers who were back from Iraq. They were both somewhat willing to be interviewed and describe their time in Iraq in their own words.

One was imminently returning to Iraq within a few days and the other was home for an unknown length of time. Both knew at some point they would be returning to a bloody guerilla conflict, and they did not know if they would be coming back.

-snip-

You could see the strain in their faces, and an almost haunted look in their eyes. They were doing their best to put aside all the bloodshed and horror they had recently seen, and get into the holiday spirit that the whole country was enjoying.

-snip- (interviews start)

O1- I really didn t want to get into this one. I know that there were at least 100 or more special ops and CIA types in Iraq in the months leading up to the war. This is pretty open knowledge among many officers and higher level NCOs. In the weeks right before the ground invasion there were various Spec Ops and Intel guys in Iraq doing target location and plotting, working with the Kurds in Northern Iraq, trying to find Iraqis to fight on our side, and gathering intelligence on where the WMDs might be located.

-snip-

O2- I started crying in front of my whole family and all my friends when I saw that come on the news. I won t let my wife turn on the news right now. I am going back in a few days and I want to just relax and forget the war for a few days. I don t think I can put it out of my head, but I am trying. I knew one of the guys killed on Christmas Eve, and some of the guys that got wounded in the last week were my friends. I hate being here and feeling helpless to do anything. I want to be there trying to lead my men safely on patrol, and make sure they can come home to see their families again.
-snip-
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your heart will hurt after reading the rest of this


BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW

the Iraq people are smart enough to take care of their own country.

[Doctor_J]

1. TIp o' the iceberg

I wonder how outspoken soldiers can be w/o risking courts martial. The truth about why are occupying Iraq is no doubt becoming common knowledge, I gotta believe some of those guys and gals are really pissed.

[seventhson]

6. The fact that Clark IMHO advocated for this war

at Davos makes him as responsible as Kerry and Bush

[redqueen]

2. Sorry

Gotta leave with dignity. Peace with honor, ya know.

The only 'electable' candidates are willing to drag this horror out for years, so get used to it.

[xray s]

3. When will an anti-war movement within the ranks surface?

Have any soldiers organized against Bush's war, along the lines of VVAW?

[LZ1234]

4. This is really sad.

I think about the soldiers so much during the day. It breaks my heart to think that these brave people who volunteered to put themselves in harm's way for the good of our country are in a war that shouldn't have happened. These people are valuable and priceless and their services should be reserved for when we HAVE to go to war. What a cruel trick. GWB doesn't value them. How could he - he's the biggest coward there is. I don't care how misled he was by intelligence information. It was his job to sort through it all. The responsibility of this whole mess is his. How many more will have to die? I have a son who will be 18 soon and it scares me to think about a draft coming back. I'm so angered and outraged with GWB, it's beyond words. I think about the people in Iraq who have died also. How many British soldiers have died too? I never hear anything about them.

[caledesi]

5. Disturbing article, but a must-read.

These guys really exposed the horrors of war, the greed of the thugs in the WH etc. What I got from most of this article is the fact that Betchel and Halliburton have the BEST armor and Humvees and our troops get sh*t. :puke:

[PackinHeat]

7. Am I Gonna Die Today?

I can't imagine being a soldier riding around Iraq wondering
if I'm gonna die today from a roadside bomb!  That must be
FRIGHTENING!  Especially fighting a war that shouldn't exist.

[seventhson]

8. We should ALL read these interviews. More on this here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1083865