Amazing Interview with two US soldiers home on leave from Iraq

[seventhson]

This article is a must read and should passed out at every street corner.

excerpt:

O1- I don t think that some of the higher level planners expected this kind of resistance and guerilla activity. We tried to tell them months ago that it wasn t just Ba ath party members and Saddam supporters. Some of the most highly trained guerillas are Shiite and Kurdish. We are going to be in some real trouble if the Kurds ever decide to join together with the Shiites and fight against us. Throw the Sunni radicals into the mix and it s total chaos with our guys stuck smack in the middle. It s one giant cluster f..k and the US soldiers are going to be the one that gets hurt and killed. That country is on the brink of civil war right now. Years of subdued hatreds are now boiling over. That is why you see all the different targets that are being hit by the car bombs.

O2- Yeah, we are in a real meat grinder right now. The real danger is that the whole country will erupt in civil unrest and the US troops will be caught between many different rival factions. I don t look forward to going back there, but I don t have a choice.

O1- You know, right after the invasion, the average Iraqi was happy to see us get rid of the Saddam regime. You ask the same Iraqi how they feel about us now, and they will openly admit that they hate us as bad as Saddam, or even worse than Saddam.

JS- Why is that in your opinion? What made them change their feelings toward US forces?

O1- You want to know the biggest reason? We still haven t accomplished the mission we started out to do. Iraqis will tell you they don t fell any freer, there is hunger all over the place, over half the country is out of work, there is a huge lack of clean drinking water, and their children are dying everyday from contaminated water, and from our cluster bombs. The people do not see us living up to our promises of liberation and democracy. Until we do what we promised them and get out of there, they will keep killing us and hating us. Put yourself in their shoes for a minute. Every American needs to ask themselves what they would do in the same situation. I guarantee you that they would not sit back and do nothing. They would want to fight back in whatever way possible.

O2- Good point! I get really mad when they kill or injure one of my men, but I have to examine why the attacks are happening. I am there to lead and protect my men, and that means I have to be aware of what is causing the attacks and what would stop them. I have asked many Iraqis what it will take to get the attacks to stop. They all tell me that the US needs to do what they said they would do, and leave them to run their own country. The majority of Iraqis believed that the US would come in, get rid of Saddam, and then go right back home. You and I both know that is not going to happen anytime soon. We are going to be there for at least another year or more in a very large force. There is no way that Bush and his cronies are going to give up all that oil and contracting dollars.



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

[catmandu57]

1. We're going to be hearing more stories like this

As more and more soldiers finally get to come home.

[opihimoimoi]

2. We have been hearing them and now its approaching the Cresendo

Its all over for the Shrub. He is toast.

[enough]

3. Read it and weep.

Thanks for posting this. Every American should see it.

Snip>

JS- Let me ask you how you feel about serving in Iraq and being involved in the war.

O2- I m proud that I served my country, I am proud to be an American soldier. That is why it is so hard for me to say stuff like this about our leaders and the government. I hate doing this, but what the Pentagon and Bush are doing to our soldiers makes me sick. I also get sick when I think about how many Iraqi civilians I saw killed and terribly maimed. I have seen hundreds of kids missing body parts or dying from dysentery and diarrhea from contaminated water. I saw orphans who had lost every family member and were starving in the street.

There are whole packs of orphans roaming around Baghdad and some of the other cities. They scavenge for scraps and beg for food. It got really bad after the Red Cross and the UN pulled out. Seeing hundreds and hundreds of maimed and starving children is one sight you will never forget. I can t sleep sometimes, and I hear the kids crying in my nightmares. I saw little kids with injuries like I never dreamed possible.

snip>

The madness and chaos that hit the whole country was completely overwhelming. I know a lot of my guys will come home with PTSD or worse. We had a lot of guys flown out for going off the deep end. You could just see it in their yes. They were right at the breaking point or already over the edge. I heard about million mile stares, and now I really know what they are talking about.

snip>

I think it is probably affecting at least half the men over there. It s probably way more than that out of the ones in combat situations everyday. They have had to evacuate at least 5000 soldiers for mental reasons already. Who knows how many are having problems and are afraid to tell anyone. I know that I will never be the same again. I have nightmares and can t sleep very well. I know I won t ever forget some of the things I saw, there is no way you can ever wipe out the sight of dead kids and women, or seeing your men get slaughtered.

more>


I was near a hospital for a few weeks after the ground war ended. I saw hundreds of dead kids, and kids dying from gangrene and infection. If you ever smell someone who has severe gangrene and flesh rotting you would know what I was talking about. That is one smell you will never forget. To see a little child with their arm or leg rotting off is one of the most gruesome sights I could have imagined.

[Punkingal]

4. OMG...

This just makes me heartsick...you imagine all sorts of things, but to hear someone say this makes you realize it's all so much worse than we at home can even imagine.

[Bandit]

8. I saw little kids with injuries like I never dreamed possible.

And he is not the only soldier to see these things. Our guys will be haunted by these things for the rest of their lives. No one will come back from Iraq the same person they were when they went over there. God I hate this Administration because it makes me remember also.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

5. "better the devil ya know than the devil ya don't know"... rings true

for the Iraqi's

[Papa]

6. Everyone at DU should read this

Thanks for posting this. Very sad, but everyone in America should hear what these 2 officers have to say.

[revcarol]

7. Would like to see this forcibly put into the hands of some of our

Presidential candidates who voted for the war or who just thought we were going about it in the wrong way, without allies or waiting 60 days and such.

the horrors or war and the U. S. not having any reason to be over there are NOT limited to the Vietnam war.They have these children's deaths and maimings on their hands just like the President and cabal.

Enabling evil is just as bad as committing it.

[leftchick]

9. right on revcarol....

The enablers are just as guilty and have as much blood on their hands as those in power. For God's sakes, we screamed at, emailed and phoned our elected officials trying to stop the coming atrocities of war....

[seventhson]

14. Yup - Thanks Joihn Kerry

a$$ O

[brainwashed_youth]

10. poor guys

they need prayer and a new president to get them out of that hellhole. It's like Pink Floyd says "Bring the Boys Back Home".

[tom_paine]

11. Amazing article

(if true, these are uincorroborated, anonymous interviews)

Either way... :kick:

[enough]

12. kick (nt)

.

[wabeewoman]

13. This is so maddening!

My only hope is that sometime, somewhere, someway the people who are responsible for this will pay...Too many innocent already have.

[Moderator]

15. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1077766