Leaders visit; front-line troops say 'Yeah, so?'

[kpete]

Leaders visit; front-line troops say 'Yeah, so?'
By Arwa Damon
CNN

Thursday, April 27, 2006; Posted: 11:17 a.m. EDT (15:17 GMT)

BALAD, Iraq (CNN) -- As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld made their surprise visits to Baghdad on Wednesday, many of the troops stationed north of Baghdad, in Balad and Dujail, say either they didn't know about it or didn't care.

"I'd ask him for a plane ticket home to see my wife. I have barely seen her in the last two years," said a young sergeant, who did not want to be identified. Like many of the soldiers with the 4th Infantry Division, he is on his second deployment to Iraq.

Some joked that whenever VIP's come to visit they just go to the main bases and meet the "fobbits," the nickname given to troops who do not go outside the barbed wire.

"They have to get out to see the people that are doing the jobs they are making them do. If they didn't they would not be very good leaders," said Maj. Michael Humphreys, one of the few soldiers here willing to tell journalists some of his opinions on senior leadership.

more at:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/04/27/damon.baladtroops/index.html

[opihimoimoi]

1. The Troops are beginning to resent Photo Ops on their Backs