Active-duty US troops become outspoken critics of Iraq war

[unhappycamper]

Active-duty US troops become outspoken critics of Iraq war
By Brad Knickerbocker | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the August 29, 2007 edition


A recent op-ed about the war in Iraq charged that upbeat official reports amount to "misleading rhetoric." It said the "most important front in the counterinsurgency failed most miserably." And it warned against pursuing "incompatible policies to absurd ends."

Five years into a controversial war, that harsh judgment in a New York Times opinion piece might not seem surprising, except for this: The authors were seven US soldiers, writing from Iraq at the end of a tough 15-month combat tour.

In books and professional journals, blogs, and newspapers, active-duty military personnel are speaking publicly and critically as never before about an ongoing war.

Respectfully, but with a directness and gritty authenticity that comes from combat experience – sometimes written from the battlefield – they offer a view of current strategy, military leadership, and the situation on the ground that is more stark than Pentagon and White House pronouncements.

Part of this reflects weariness with the war. But it also represents a shift in military culture where speaking up publicly is more usual and acceptable than in previous conflicts, experts say, thanks to changes in technology and society.

"This is the first post-Internet, post-digital-camera war" in which "the line between private lives and public lives has been blurred," says Eugene Fidell, a former military lawyer who teaches military justice at Yale.

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[Uben]

1. Soldiers do not back this war

I have letters from soldiers in Iraq saying this war was waged for money, ie defense contractors. They do not believe in this war and they do not beleive we are doing justice to the Iraqi people. They have sent me hundreds of pictures. I want to post some of them here someday, the photography is outstanding. I must first get permission from them to post them, out of respect.

[Squatch]

2. It's been an interesting transition

2 years ago, I would say only about 1 in 5 or 6 of my fellow soldiers did not support the war. Today, it's the exact opposite.

[The Vinyl Ripper]

5. The military was all too ready to go and..

Kick ass and take names..

In other words, kill people and break things.

They *wanted* this war, wanted it badly.

Now that things have turned out to not be so much fun, they are changing their minds.

Vietnam wasn't that damn long ago. The institutional memory in the military is just about non existent.

We need better educated troops, the officers at least should have known better. Anyone with a passing knowledge of the history and culture of Iraq and the Middle East in general could see the invasion and occupation of Iraq was a disaster in the making.

Stan Goff once remarked that the US military is the most fragile in the world. Our military comes from a pampered consumer culture and any prolonged hardship effects morale drastically for the worse.

If the generals had any honor they would have resigned en masse rather than throw their troops into what they should have damn well known was an unwinnable meat grinder.

And yes, I'm a vet, a damn pissed off one I might add.

[Lint Head]

3. It's great to hear....but.....

they did volunteer to die for the country. They do have a right to speak freely. I do not understand how anyone would want to volunteer for the military as long as the criminals in the White House are waging war for profit, greed and power. They are protecting nobody. Soldiers are dying for the corporations :dem:

[Squatch]

4. I sure as hell didn't "volunteer to die for my country"