Marines starting to question why they are in Iraq

[Blue_Roses]

For Marines, a Frustrating Fight
Some in Iraq Question How and Why War Is Being Waged

By Steve Fainaru
Washington Post Staff Writer
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.
Pfc. Kyle Maio, 19, spots Lance Cpl. Carlos Perez, 20. Maio said he thinks U.S. officials are not being candid about Iraq because of upcoming U.S. elections.

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.


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

[WLKjr]

1. well apparently he hasn't talked to the Knuckledraggers

back here at home for a while. They would tell him he is dead wrong even though he is seeing this shit with his own eyes and they only hear it on Tee Vee.

[RaleighNCDUer]

4. Well, who's he supposed to believe --

Rummy or his lying eyes?

[WLKjr]

7. believe what he see's and not what he's told

[deadparrot]

2. They should damn well be questioning why.

Those young men and women deserve to be at home with their friends and families, not fighting a miserable war for make believe reasons.

[Stew225]

3. I had heard where the troops are getting more

sources of information and I'm encouraged that they're "thinking"! Military people are trained to blindly obey! This post offers encouragement.

[Jacobin]

5. He needs to up his daily dose of Rush, shoot a few more Iraqis

and he'll feel all better again.

[teach1st]

6. We're catching them in a lie

"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."

Poor kids don't know that progress is being made in Iraq. Although there are significant differences, this is reminding me more and more of Vietnam.

[Kanary]

9. All the sarcasm aside, those two quotes could be taken a number of ways.

I'm wondering what Kelly means by "dangerous". Dangerous for whom? The servicemen and women? Dangerous for the government?

Kanary

[LibertyorDeath]

8. starting

[Blue_Roses]

10. yeah, well, some people are slow learners

:shrug: or just blind.