For returning unit in Iraq, a battle with doubts, resignation & cynicism

[kpete]

For returning unit in Iraq, a battle with doubts
Airborne vets see long-term, uncertain mission of training security forces
By Thanassis Cambanis, Globe Staff | January 8, 2006




KIRKUK, Iraq -- Captain John McLaughlin's company of combat veterans has returned to Iraq. They have brought far fewer illusions this time around, exchanging unalloyed enthusiasm for Operation Iraqi Freedom in the spring of 2003 for a mix of professionalism, resignation, and cynicism.

The enlisted men from the 101st Airborne Division now know much more about the country, confidently factoring in competing ethnic agendas as they navigate the claims of Kurds, Arab Sunnis and Shi'ites, and Turkomen.

Most dismiss the American debate over the merits of the war as irrelevant, many of them saying they fight out of loyalty to the Army even if they think its mission in Iraq is unrealistic. Most profess no love for Iraq and its people.

When these air assault paratroopers returned to Iraq in October, the theater of battle was barely recognizable to them.

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