This article really lays out all of the problems we’re facing in this war that don’t have to do with the inability of the Iraqi government to get their shit together.
Fatigue cripples US army in Iraq
The Americans he commands, like the other men at Sullivan – a combat outpost in Zafraniya, south east Baghdad – hit their cots when they get in from operations. But even when they wake up there is something tired and groggy about them. They are on duty for five days at a time and off for two days. When they get back to the forward operating base, they do their laundry and sleep and count the days until they will get home. It is an exhaustion that accumulates over the patrols and the rotations, over the multiple deployments, until it all joins up, wiping out any memory of leave or time at home. Until life is nothing but Iraq.
Hanna and his men are not alone in being tired most of the time. A whole army is exhausted and worn out. You see the young soldiers washed up like driftwood at Baghdad’s international airport, waiting to go on leave or returning to their units, sleeping on their body armour on floors and in the dust.
Where once the war in Iraq was defined in conversations with these men by untenable ideas – bringing democracy or defeating al-Qaeda – these days the war in Iraq is defined by different ways of expressing the idea of being weary. It is a theme that is endlessly reiterated as you travel around Iraq. ‘The army is worn out. We are just keeping people in theatre who are exhausted,’ says a soldier working for the US army public affairs office who is supposed to be telling me how well things have been going since the ‘surge’ in Baghdad began.
Complete piece of media driven BS!!!!!
BS I tell you.
Reporter goes to Iraq and reports what he is told???
Yes, of course. Total Bull.
Every soldier in every war is dog tired all the time. Marriages are always on the rocks.
WHERE ARE THE FACTS====FACTS!!!!!!
What is the divorce rate now compare to 2 years ago, compared to Vietnam etc. No facts? then what you got is BS.
BS is the media not doing their job. In fact, the media so uniformily doesn’t do its job, I kinda wonder what their job actually is.
On Iraq D-Day it was to rah rah for GOUSA and they all did it. A month ago, the switch was thrown. All we have now is doom and gloom. Ain’t no facts in either set of reportage. Its all BS.
I’m not certain which; but, dude, either you have little understanding of what journalism is and can be – or you just didn’t read the article. Not that it’s the only piece reporting the same experiences.
If you need to sit on your rusty dusty for another couple of years – waiting for sociological studies and Army Psych Teams to report back after the 2008 elections – just say so.
Meanwhile, the poor buggers in Iraq are being wrung out by less time between leave, more time in the theatre of operations, than Nam or WW2 – and that much you can determine with your Google finger.
Not bad. For those too lazy to Google, here’s a recent Army Times article in the same vein: http://tinyurl.com/2lj2bj
just wait until the Brits pull out and the US has to police an intra-Shiite civil war in Basra as well.
I am tired just thinking about it.
WOW you mean the soldiers fighting an ILLEGAL war in Iraq have a five day work week just like me?
Thats harsh. I know I’m tired at the end of the day, sometimes I fall asleep with my clothes on. I have to do my laundry on weekends too, such drudgery.
I remember when I joined the workforce I was all idealistic. I thought I was going to do something special; make a difference. Now I’m just happy if I can get 7 hours of sleep before groundhog day.
I bet those unlucky bastids feel a little bit foolish for signing that enlistment form just about now. I mean they have a shitty life like mine, plus people who hate them for the foreign invaders they are try to kill them with alarming frequency.
Now don’t get me wrong I think we need to do something for our soldiers. Perhaps bring them all home. But I guess that would let “al-Qaeda” get control of our… ahem Iraq’s strategic oil reserves.
First of all ‘it’ needs to be said. WE are not leaving Iraq. We have built, are building military bases all over Iraq. The ‘surge’, republican ‘wait and see’, democratic ‘timed withdraw’ etc. are all bullshit spin proffered by our elected officials to cover up the fact that we are not leaving (until the oil is gone).
It has been so obvious that the ‘topple Saddam’ strategy was a smoke screen or minor reason we are there. Those reasons are corporate war profit and oil. A quote from Chalmers Johnson comes to mind; ‘I guarantee that when war is profitable you will see more of it.’ We are now seeing the results of this so called strategy.
Of course the troops are tired. Most soldiers should have been brought home within a month of the capture of Saddam. Would there have been turmoil? Yup, Iraqi turmoil has been around for hundreds of years especially since wwII. We can not ‘fix’ it and we shouldn’t have tried. Topple Saddam, yes, fix Iraqi politics and tribal civil war, nope, not going to happen. This is such a no-brainer it doesn’t surprise me at all that the current administration fails to make wise decisions about the Iraqi conflict. Their motive is corporate greed and payback.
And while those kids are wasting their lives on a war based on a lie, the Bush kids are marinating themselves with plenty of hard liquor.
#3 – thanks for the article, nice read that…
I agree w/ #6
I dunno how soldiers pulled it off back in WWII tho – if all of what we read in the books is true…
#7
If I was a Bush kid, so would I. Our troops are not wasting their lives, their lives are being wasted for them by corrupt greedy politicians with ulterior motives, democrats by their failure to act, republicans by their acts. Freedom for Iraq my ass.
Back in WWII The soldiers believed they were fighting for the very survival of their nations. Even the USA had been attacked at Pearl Harbor (questionable as the circumstances were). Little wonder they fought with dedication and ferocity.
Now America only fights wars for GOD
Guns
Oil
Drugs
http://www.liveleak.com/user/SGT_USMC
Seems like they should send more troops to Iraq to allow for better rotations. How about vacating the Korean peninsula? I think everyone would agree on passing on Darfur or any additional engagements while Iraq is underway? Maybe better rotations from Bosnia or Kosovo, or those troops in Germany or Japan?
Seems to me a good reason to kick back up the DRAFT…..oh, is that not politically correct? We can send all these troops…..have people put stickers and magnets “Support the Troops” …yet one mention of actually CALLING the US to fight the war that the guy they put in charge (not me…I voted Independent ) decided we needed….and now its a BAD thing?
Just shows how the war has truly affected anyone in the USA thats not in uniform.
#13 – I’m all for supporting the troops – but what I’m not for is the draft.
I appreciate the soldiers, I dont want to BE one.
It must be a video generation thing when they report as news that being a soldier is stressful.
I don’t think a general draft should be legal without a formal declaration of war by Congress. Lets see who puts our youth at risk for old mens’ capital portfolio. Dennis, I expect you to remain at attention until this is accomplished. Good Soldier.
This whole thing was designed to fail.We put a million man army on the streets what the hell did we expect them to do take up knitting.What they did was become a very effective guerrila army.The neocons now will say the media lost the war.They are an incompetent mess that deserve jail.The good news is the Dems will hound them with every chickenshit thing they can think of.There will be no draft without large loop holes for the rich to jump through.Maybe we should let them buy their way out like the repubs did during the civel war.
Draft legal?
The whole war is ILLEGAL under international law.
It was declared unilaterally without concent of the UN.
The decider said we have the right to defend our sovereignty proactively and so we invaded a nation that couldn’t possibly invade us.
Don’t mess with us or we’ll bring Democracy to your country.
WWII and Viet Nam were not like this. It was relatively rare that troops would be on the front line for more then a few days at a time. They lived in the heat, sand, fleas, and identifiable foe.
In Iraq, they go out every day in their armored vehicles. Never knowing if that next curve holds an IED. The summer heat constantly above 110 F. Burned out Iraqi cars, bombed out trucks, dried blood on sidewalks. Constantly scanning for snipers.
Then it is back to a barracks with A/C. Hot meals. Clean sheets. Salve for the heat rash. A cold beer too. Instant messaging to the wife and kids.
This psychological strain is different. Going from the physical 110 F heat to A/C will drain the energy from anyone. Giving soldiers all the comforts of home with quick contact to family will only induce more homesickness. Not knowing the purpose or who they are fighting is most mind numbing.
The best solution is to bring them home.
So where are all the chicken hawks? Those guys all gung ho to send and keep Americans in Iraq yet are too chicken shit to go themselves. The guys like James “Chickenhawk” Hill, “Chickenhawk”Malren, Mx “Chickenhawk”pwr03, Frank “Chickenhawk” IBC, or iHot “Chickenhawk” Air.
At least in ‘Nam we had drugs, booze and chicks, even though they all had to be cleaned up before use.
#21 – In IRAQ they have OPIUM.
Also, for those that think I was being a bit out of line….I served 8 years. I was in the FIRST GULF War. As well as a lot of work in South America….wonder what they ever did with Noriega…..
When it comes to Iraq War analysis I’ll have to pass on The Guardian.
I like Micheal Yon (michaelyon-online.com) who is actually outside the Green Zone embedded with an Air Assault element:
“Despite so much bad news, much of which I deliver, it’s heartening that most of the Iraqis are not fearful of Americans. What many Iraqis REALLY want—and they say it clearly—is to communicate directly with Americans at home.”
#20 – You’re ignorant I’ve said several times that I plan on joining the Army after college, in fact I start training with the ROTC for the Ranger challenge in 2 weeks. Fusion you’re misinformed and you sound like a cranky old man, I’m sorry for what is going on in your life. You should head over to Blackfive.net and try to peddle your styck of making broad generalizations about living in the A/C and drinking beer. I’d be interested to see how you fair. The numerous ex-SEALs, Green Berets, and Airborne would eat you alive.
Does it look like the 1-4 Air Cav has A/C in their rooms? How about no.
http://tinyurl.com/ywn84z That brigade has been living in extremely harsh conditions every since Operation Arrowhead Ripper kicked off, and the Marines that are involved in Operation Marne Torch are not living the life of A/C, beer, and living a comfortable life.
You barely comprehend what occurs in the Green Zone, assuming that is where you base your claims about the portable shipping containers that serve as rooms, but when your analysis comes to the other provinces I’ll pass. Given a blank map of Iraq I doubt you could score 75% of locating and naming the provinces.
Leave me out of your rants in the future.
On a related note, the news that Karl Rove resigned is now 6 hours old, and still not posted here for discussion.
What does it take to be an editor here? Oooh, how about something irrelevant:
Idol-inspired musical voted off after one night
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A musical inspired by the hit reality television show “American Idol” has been voted off the stage in New York — closing one day after officially opening off Broadway.
Now, that’s news!
My bad — Karl Rove WILL resign… theoretically…
However, the “Idol-inspired” musical is definitely history.
My double-bad — it’s posted, just WAY down the page, with a bunch of typical fluff and fill and nonsense between here and there…
#22 – Heard on the radio he’s gonna get extradited to france by the good ol usa
if you’ve never been shot at then SHUT UP, you don’t know and can never know what it’s really like so SHUT UP you don’t deserve to post
supporting the troops means more than cheering on gw, or bashing gw or spewing ignorant crap you f**ktards
In WWII only two Armies never rotated their troops back home for leave, The USSR and the USA. Later after SLA Marshall did his now famous work on troops in combat, he discovered that combat effectiveness declines in ratio with combat exposure & this is regardless of if they’re rookies or trained vets. In essence no one ever gets “use to” combat. This work was one of the reasons for the 12 month tour – or what was called in my boyhood the “Vietnam Year”.
There’s a great army sponsored publication on combat fatigue during the battle of the bulge that is very interesting. I think PBS did a documentary on it in the 90s.
Bottom line – these kids are worn out – let em have all the ac and shit they can use. Hell send them hookers (Barb and Jenna come to mind). They’re fulfilling their duty as best as is possible.
BTW – did anyone see the vid post from about two three weeks ago about the young republican convention? The one where all momma’s little boys and girls were so gung-ho for the war, yet not a one could server due to “bad allergies”. There’s the true republican party!
#23, mx”Chickenhawk”pwr03,
I plan on joining the Army after college,
So what is stopping you from walking down to the nearest recruiter and signing on the bottom line? Today. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Not in two, three or ten weeks. TODAY. Until then you are just another bovine excrement extruding, know nothing, college kid that thinks he is smarter then his professors.
Face it “Chickenhawk”. You want everyone to think you know all there is to know about Iraq. You can only cite a journalist that has to hide within the protection of an army unit. Not only that, but his whole web site is dedicated to those troops, not the war or walking among the people. Geeze, what fools do you think we are.
Your quote from Michael Yon makes no sense, except from an anecdotal point of view. Opinion polls clearly show Iraqis have a dim view of American forces in Iraq.
71% want American forces out within one year.
21% think the Americans are a stabilizing force.
78% believe American forces provoke more conflict than they prevent.
Over half think a withdraw timeline would strengthen the Iraqi Government.
58% believe intraIraqi violence would diminish if Americans withdraw.
61% of Iraqis approve of attacks on Americans (09/2006) vs 47% (01/2006)
78% believe Americans are building massive bases in Iraq and won’t ever leave.
94% have a dim view of al Qaeda and bin Laden.
http://tinyurl.com/ndz9g
So in short, “Chickenhawk” expert. Iraqis want Americans out. They want to control their own destinies. They want to fight their own battles. And they will take what happens as their responsibilities.
Fuck blackfive. Only people like you would have any admiration for a bunch of sociopaths.