More quotes from "phony soldiers" sparks more RW outrage

[ProSense]

'I Don't Think This Place Is Worth Another Soldier's Life'

After 14 months in a Baghdad district torn by mounting sectarian violence, members of
one U.S. unit are tired, bitter and skeptical.

By Joshua Partlow
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, October 27, 2007; Page A01

BAGHDAD, Oct. 26 Their line of tan Humvees and Bradley Fighting Vehicles creeps through another Baghdad afternoon. At this pace, an excruciating slowness, they strain to see everything, hoping the next manhole cover, the next rusted barrel, does not hide another bomb. A few bullets pass overhead, but they don't worry much about those.

"I hate this road," someone says over the radio.

Asked if the American endeavor here was worth their sacrifice -- 20 soldiers from the battalion have been killed in Baghdad -- Alarcon said no: "I don't think this place is worth another soldier's life."

"It's just a slow, somewhat government-supported sectarian cleansing," said Maj. Eric Timmerman, the battalion's operations officer.

"What we later found out is they weren't really moving anyone in, it was a cover for the INP to go in and evict what Sunni families were left there," recalled Bifulco, 23, a West Point graduate from Huntsville, Ala. "We showed up, and there were a bunch of Sunni families just wandering around the streets with their bags, taking up refuge in a couple Sunni mosques in the area."

Over time, the neighborhood became a battleground that residents fled by the thousands. Hundreds of shops shut down, schools closed, and access to basic services such as electricity, fuel and food deteriorated. "The end state was people left. They felt unsafe," said Timmerman, the operations officer.

"We were so committed to them as a partner we couldn't see it for what it was. In retrospect, I've got to think it was a coordinated effort," Timmerman said. "To this day, I don't think we truly understand how infiltrated or complicit the national police are" with the militias.

"I'm frustrated. After 14 months, I've got a lot of thoughts in my head. Do they fundamentally get giving up individual rights and power for the greater good?" Glaze said. "I'm going to leave here being skeptical of everything."

"This is a dangerous place," said Capt. Lee Showman, 28, a senior officer in the battalion. "People are killed here every day, and you don't hear about it. People are kidnapped here every day, and you don't hear about it."

"The closer we get to leaving, the more we worry about it," said Alarcon, 27, sitting at a plastic table with several other soldiers outside their outpost in Sadiyah. "Being here, you know that any second, any time of the day, your life could be over."

"We had two mechanics working in the motor pool get hit by mortars," Alarcon said. "You would have never thought." Both died.

"I honestly thought we were making a difference in Tikrit. Then we come back to a hellhole," Marino said. "That was a playground compared to Baghdad."

Balloon Juice has snarky post that captures the wingnuts' lunacy.

[muntrv]

1. Draft balloon juice into Iraq. They'll piss and shit on themselves and cry for mommy.

Also, drop 'em in the "same street that John McCain visited, that is hustling and bustling."

[ProSense]

2. I believe the post is sarcasm. n/t

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

3. Made all the more amazing...

That it comes from John Cole.

[ProSense]

6. Actually, he nails them.

Recent posts here and here.

[11 Bravo]

4. Out on a limb, are you?

[ProSense]

5. Huh?

[ProSense]

7. Countering "Dubyaland spin"

On the WaPo article in the OP:

The story shows a rare, on-the-record glimpse from the people in the line of fire, who have the best view of what a nightmare our occupation of Iraq has become, who can tell it as it is free of Dubyaland spin. The division is more nervous than usual as their tour of duty nears its finish.

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