South of Baghdad, U.S. troops find fatigue, frustration

[unhappycamper]

An Iraqi detainee sits quietly, blindfolded and hands bound, while soldiers search a house during a late-night mission.


South of Baghdad, U.S. troops find fatigue, frustration
By Chris Collins | McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Thursday, August 30, 2007


SOUTHEAST OF SALMAN PAK, Iraq — Standing in a small room in the Iraqi home they'd raided an hour earlier, a dozen soldiers from the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division were trading jokes when 1st Sgt. Troy Moore, Company A's senior enlisted man, shouted out.

"We're bringing democracy to Iraq," he called, with obvious sarcasm, as a reporter entered the room. Then Moore began loudly humming the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Within seconds the rest of the troops had joined in, filling the small, barren home in the middle of Iraq with the patriotic chorus of a Civil War-era ballad.

U.S. officials say that security has improved since the Sledgehammer Brigade, as the 3rd Brigade is called, arrived five months ago as part of the 30,000-strong buildup of additional U.S. troops to Iraq and took control of an area 30 miles southeast of Baghdad. The brigade, with 3,800 soldiers, has eight times the number of troops that were in the area before.

Although the soldiers who since spring have walked and ridden through this volatile area mixed with Sunni and Shiite Muslims have seen some signs of progress, they still face the daily threat of roadside bombs, an unreliable Iraqi police force, the limitations of depending on Iraqis for tips and the ever-elusive enemy.

"Even though we've out-stayed our welcome, in the big picture of whether we've helped or not, I know we have," said Sgt. Christofer Kitto, a 23-year-old sniper from Altamont, N.Y. "But now it's just in a state of quagmire. The U.S. time here has come and gone."


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[Ilsa]

1. "The U.S. time here has come and gone."

Maybe in the long run some of the people who have survived will benefit. But I suspect all of the civilians have paid a high price for this.

Here's a segment from The NewsHour last night on PBS that has video of soldiers and counselors for PTSD vet patients.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/military/july-dec07/stress_08-31.html

[msongs]

2. self-justification run amok nt

[Toots]

3. "in the big picture of whether we've helped or not, I know we have,"

In what possible way I wonder? How is Iraq better off today than it was in 2001? Back then they had electricity and sewage treatment centers. They allowed women to engage in daily life as any person does male or female. They were a secular society and had an extremely good education system. Although they endured American sanctions they had almost complete freedom. They could travel any place they wished inside or outside their country without intervention. How are they better off today in any possible way?

[Middle finga]

4. We have helped some iraqis

the cowardly expatriates like Chalibi, Allawi, Al-Maliki and most of the other members of the puppet government. They seem to be the only ones who's benefited from our removal of Saddam. Even Al Sadr was irrelevant under Saddam.