WP: For Marines, a Frustrating Fight

[kskiska]

Some in Iraq Question How and Why War Is Being Waged

Sunday, October 10, 2004; Page A01

ISKANDARIYAH, Iraq -- Scrawled on the helmet of Lance Cpl. Carlos Perez are the letters FDNY. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York, the Pentagon and western Pennsylvania, Perez quit school, left his job as a firefighter in Long Island, N.Y., and joined the U.S. Marine Corps.

"To be honest, I just wanted to take revenge," said Perez, 20.

Now, two months into a seven-month combat tour in Iraq, Perez said he sees little connection between the events of Sept. 11 and the war he is fighting. Instead, he said, he is increasingly disillusioned by a conflict whose origins remain unclear and frustrated by the timidity of U.S. forces against a mostly faceless enemy.

"Sometimes I see no reason why we're here," Perez said. "First of all, you cannot engage as many times as we want to. Second of all, we're looking for an enemy that's not there. The only way to do it is go house to house until we get out of here."

Perez is hardly alone. In a dozen interviews, Marines from a platoon known as the "81s" expressed in blunt terms their frustrations with the way the war is being conducted and, in some cases, doubts about why it is being waged. The platoon, named for the size in millimeters of its mortar rounds, is part of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment based in Iskandariyah, 30 miles southwest of Baghdad.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20794-2004Oct9.html

[movonne]

1. I wish they would say something about the useless slaughter

of Iraq's..It makes me sick....

[Aidoneus]

4. he said something about that

he whined about not getting to do that as much as they would like. Quite plainly, in fact. That makes me sick.

[TacticalPeek]

2. Asked if he was concerned that the Marines would be punished for speaking

Asked if he was concerned that the Marines would be punished for speaking out, Autin responded: "We don't give a crap. What are they going to do, send us to Iraq?"


:evilgrin:

[Toots]

14. LOL ....That is so very familar to me only the place is different.

I was drafted and sent to Nam and had exactly that same sentiment.

[PhuLoi]

17. Wha'ya gonna do El Tee, bend my dog tags, make me do my

RR in the LBJ? (I received two article 15's).

[Southpaw Bookworm]

19. That final graf was great

No matter what the grunts do, any punishment can't be worse than being in Iraq. Very telling.

[Rose Siding]

3. Wow. Some of these guys will catch hell for this

snip>
"This is what we call a dog-and-pony show," said Kelly, the heavyset, sharp-tongued lance corporal from Fairbanks. He said the operation was essentially a performance for American reporters who were traveling with the Marines. "This is so you can write in your paper how great our response is," he said.

but this...
snip>
But Perez said he came to think that war in Iraq was unrelated to his anger. "How do I put this?" he said. "First of all, this is a whole different thing. We're supposed to be looking for al Qaeda. They're the ones who are supposedly responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks. This has no connection at all to Sept. 11 because this war started just by telling us about all the nuclear warheads over here."

Snyder, who was listening, added: "Pretty much I think they just diverted the war on terrorism. I agree with the Afghanistan war and all the Sept. 11 stuff, but it feels like they left the bigger war over there to come here. And now, while we're on the ground over here, it seems like we're not even close to catching frigging bin Laden."
-------------

Those two are stealing lines from Kerry.

[ladybugg33]

6. They won't catch anymore hell than Kerry did for his speaking up about

Viet Nam. Sometimes a person just has to take a principled stand and let the chips fall where they may. I believe that Kerry was vindicated for his stand on Viet Nam and he will be vindicated for his position on Iraq as well. The bastards lied!!

[Wright Patman]

10. Just think if he knew the whole truth

He is edging closer to it with his "supposedly responsible" line.

If it was MIHOP, as I now believe, he is under the command of those responsible for it.

[Leilani]

5. This is Vietnam, all over again, with a capital V.

I swear this is deja vu all over again.

This makes me so angry, I want to wring somebodys neck.

It is a political war, planned by politicians, for political reasons.

There is no end in sight, & lots of people are dying needlessly.

[tabasco]

15. Not to worry. Santorum was telling us today on TV how great ...

it's going to be with democracy in Iraq. You see, after we establish a flourishing democracy in Iraq, the rest of the world will become America-loving peaceniks, and everything will be swell.

Funny how that Santorum and his neocon buddies don't join the military so they can help conquer the world with peace and democracy.

The misadventure in Iraq will be every bit as bad as Vietnam if the people continue to allow corporations to rule this Nation.

I am an Airborne Ranger and believe in kicking ass when it is the last resort and absolutely necessary. I have nothing but contempt for these cowardly, un-American neocons like Santorum. They don't give a damn for this mortar platoon or any of the troops.

[BeyondGeography]

7. It's enough to restore your faith in the youth of America

Some of these kids are ballsy and sharp as hell!

Sample:

"The reality right now is that the most dangerous opinion in the world is the opinion of a U.S. serviceman," said Lance Cpl. Devin Kelly, 20, of Fairbanks, Alaska.

Lance Cpl. Alexander Jones, 20, of Ball Ground, Ga., agreed: "We're basically proving out that the government is wrong," he said. "We're catching them in a lie."

[MisterP]

8. Full Metal Jacket:

half want to get out, the other half want to mow down anything that moves to "protect American lives" or some such rot.
Bush, on the other hand, was Full Dinner Jacket.

[DulceDecorum]

9. I cannot imagine

what it is like
to enter the next world,
and be greeted by a three year old Iraqi girl
who tugs on your hand and says
"why did you kill me?
I just want to know what I did wrong."

[0007]

11. At least a major newspaper printed the way our troops feels

and why this is a fucked up venture.

[saigon68]

12. "To be honest, I just wanted to take revenge," said Perez, 20.

Joined up to kill a few "RAG-HEADS"

[Richardson08]

13. stop sending mixed messages...stay the course...blah,blah,blah

[Longhorn]

16. I just emailed this article to my Marine son.

It's currently the most emailed WP article. Wonder how many other military families are sharing this, among other?

[Moderator]

18. Kick

:kick: