'I believe in the war, but being here sucks' (Guardian Unlimited)

Up2Late

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Fri Nov-23-07 02:51 AM
Original message

'I believe in the war, but being here sucks' (Guardian Unlimited)

Edited on Fri Nov-23-07 02:52 AM by Up2Late

(NOTE: Fair Warning, These are uncensored quotes from actual Soldiers in Iraq.

'I believe in the war, but being here sucks'

In the latest installment of his embed diary, David Smith recalls a few of the sentiments expressed by US troops during his stay in Baghdad

David Smith in Baghdad
Friday November 23, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

Here are some things I've been told, or have overheard, during my time with American soldiers in Iraq:

"I want to die at a f*cking ripe old age, not as some twentysomething kid."

"I did two tours of Afghanistan and I had my doubts about why we were in Iraq. But now I'm here I can see the point of it. It's better than I thought."

"I don't know what we are doing here. It's what, over four years now, and we've still never been told."

(edit)

"It's a volunteer army, but it's not really. In a lot of towns there are no other jobs, so what are you gonna do? Join the army."

(more at link)

<http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2215465,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12>

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nadinbrzezinski

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Fri Nov-23-07 03:04 AM
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1. I have to wonder if they'd be saying different things if that was not an embed

Public affairs is always good at finding troops who will tow the line and they are told what to say in front of reporters

Met troops over the last few and boy it is very different off the record

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Up2Late

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Fri Nov-23-07 03:11 AM
Response to Reply #1

2. Yeah, it does look like he might have "cherry picked" a lot of positive quotes...

...but who really knows, he may have just been embedded with a group of Gung-Ho guys or maybe just well disciplined.:shrug:

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LeftishBrit

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Fri Nov-23-07 03:14 AM
Response to Reply #1

3. Also, I expect troops could easily get into trouble with their superiors...

if they say too much to the media. I'm surprised that there were as many negative quotes as there were.

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Skittles

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Fri Nov-23-07 03:18 AM
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4. that's what happens when right-wing propaganda meets reality

yes INDEED

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mvccd1000

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Fri Nov-23-07 09:07 AM
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5. Sounds exactly like the soldiers I've been working with...

... since July of 2004, which is when I came to Iraq.

As far as I can tell, most of them would describe their ideology exactly like the quote at the top:

"I believe in the war, but being here sucks." Since I've been here, I've been through four different rotations of troops, and the attitude does not vary much, whether it's National Guard or regular Army.

I would say the quotes are accurate.

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