US soldier: We are not making progress

[babylonsister]

http://www.thebluestate.com/2007/06/us-soldier-we-a.html

US soldier: We are not making progress

Each day, you hear the news about the grim security situation in Iraq, while the right-wing says the exact opposite is happening. Enough with the media and the pundits. How do the soldiers feel? Here is an excerpt from letter by US Sergent Jason Walker in Baghdad:

The truth from a soldier from the ground in the middle of Baghdad. We are not making progress. I can tell you from the last time I was here in 05 that we are fighting a whole new beast. Instead of a few individuals from a different land we are now fighting the whole country.

The streets are empty. The people that supported liberty and freedom have long been killed or have moved. I cleared a group of houses the other day that was at least 50% abandoned. The only people that seem to want us here are the people we put in power.

...All this being said it's not the fight for freedom that upsets me. If I saw citizens dragging terrorists in the streets and wanting Liberty I would gladly give my life for that cause. That is not the case at all. The people keep their mouth's shut and therefore the Terrorists leave them alone. Thats all they want anyway.

Well a Army is held together by a "cause" . A cause to hold the soldiers together, a cause to give them some cause for sacrifice. Four of my close friends gave that sacrifice the other day. Death is part of a soldiers life. It is the accepted risk. The price for Liberty. The hardest part has been justifying thier sacrifice. Is so many good many lost worth the freedom of a country who doesn't really want us here. I say no.

The letter went on to ask for the help of every political blog in getting this message out to as many people as possible.

3,559 US troops have lost their lives since the war began. So far, President Bush's troop surge has exposed even more US soldiers and put them at risk. Despite the added effort, Baghdad is still the least safest place in Iraq, while nearby suburbs have seen a dramatic increase in violence.

[harlinchi]

1. K & R!

The only people that seem to want us here are the people we put in power.

Truer words have never been spoken!

[Blackhatjack]

2. The truth he is stating just makes it all the more heartbreaking....n/t

[dkofos]

3. Sorry, the Dem Congress thought it was better for the country to

go along with the pResident.
Have a nice day.

[genie_weenie]

4. Dick- "Why the fuck does this shitbag soldier have a forum to speak?"

"Get me his fucking CO on the phone now," an angry Dick screams from his bunker, his hand reflexively clutching at the tightness in his chest.

A few minutes later in the Green Zone, SSG Remf answers a call in his AC trailer. A calm voice asks for LtCol Careerist. "Sir, there's a call from DC for you on the STU-III," SSG Remf relays down the tailer.

"Hello? This is LtCol Careerist."

"LtCol if you don't want to lose your fuckin' retirement contractor plans with KBR or Boeing you will shut that sumabitch Walker up right the fuck now!"

"What?!? Who is this?!!"

"This is a call from the Head of Government. The 4th Branch. Now get moving on that problem." -click-

[alcibiades_mystery]

5. I'm sick of hearing from the troops

This particular soldier sounds utterly mystified in the first place, imagining that there actually is a good cause for being in Iraq, that that cause has something to do with "terrorism," and that the only reason that cause is now unworthy is because the Iraqi people don't have the fortitude to pursue it. In other words, this particular soldier seems like he's bought the ideological package complete, and only has mixed feelings because it seems to fail in practice. But this isn't at all the case. There is no good cause, Iraq is completely separate from any issue of terrorism, and the Iraqi people are not to blame for their predicament. The American people are, including this soldier.

But all this is neither here nor there. The real problem with these "soldier testimony" strategy is that it vests decision-making authority in the military apparatus. I don't care what the "troops" have to say. I really don't. Or rather, the "troops" have only just as much say as any other citizen in our democracy, and their positions should be given no more weight or value than anyone else's. We've marched far enough on the road to fascism with this bizarro Troop Fetish. I feel for those who have been ordered to this absurd illegal war. I really do. But policy in a democracy is made by the people, and the more we accord the "troops" an inordinate authority to speak on matters of policy, the more we rest the power of decision from its proper location: the people, regardless of their first person encounter with the policy.

[babylonsister]

7. I'm not. I don't walk in their shoes, so I think what they say matters. nt

[alcibiades_mystery]

8. It matters just as much as what any other citizen says, and no more

n/t

[Squatch]

6. When the rank-and-file soldiers sound like this, things are not

going well.

Although soldiers are genetically preprogrammed to bitch about anything and everything, these reports from them are starting to paint a picture that the fighting force, as a whole, is demoralized.