[Cross-posted at Deny My Freedom and MyLeftWing]
Move over, New York Times. Another newspaper has now displaced you as the prime enemy of America.
Yes, today's Washington Post has a featured article about the morale of a particular battalion stationed in Baghdad. It describes, in detail, the hopelessness and utter lack of morale or purpose that our soldiers are confronting, day in and day out, on their daily patrols.
Want to see more Aid and Comfort to the enemy? Excerpts and commentary below the fold.
"Think of what you hate most about your job. Then think of doing what you hate most for five straight hours, every single day, sometimes twice a day, in 120-degree heat," [Army Staff Sgt. Jose Sixtos] said. "Then ask how morale is."
But don't worry, America. We're on the verge of victory in Iraq. Morale is high.
But at least, even if the soldiers hate doing the job it takes, at least they believe in the mission, right? Hmm. Let's see about that:
"It sucks. Honestly, it just feels like we're driving around waiting to get blown up. That's the most honest answer I could give you," said Spec. Tim Ivey, 28, of San Antonio, a muscular former backup fullback for Baylor University. "You lose a couple friends and it gets hard."
But it's a struggle we have to engage in, isn't it? This conflict is epic in scope, right? I mean, Bush compared it to World War II. Time to get another think:
"No one wants to be here, you know, no one is truly enthused about what we do," said Sgt. Christopher Dugger, the squad leader. "We were excited, but then it just wears on you -- there's only so much you can take. Like me, personally, I want to fight in a war like World War II. I want to fight an enemy. And this, out here," he said, motioning around the scorched sand-and-gravel base, the rows of Humvees and barracks, toward the trash-strewn streets of Baghdad outside, "there is no enemy, it's a faceless enemy. He's out there, but he's hiding."
But it's a monumental historical struggle, isn't it? The very idea of bringing Democracy™ to the Middle East is a struggle of epic proportions. To paraphrase Morpheus: isn't that worth fighting for? Isn't that worth dying for? And the answer to that rhetorical question is--a stark, resounding no:
Steffey said he wished "somebody would explain to us, 'Hey, this is what we're working for.' " With a stream of expletives, he said he could not care less "if Iraq's free" or "if they're a democracy."
But seriously! We're spreading Freedom™ across the globe! Who could possible disagree with the nobility of that goal?! Oh wait--the Iraqis themselves.
He kept talking. "They say we're here and we've given them freedom, but really what is that? You know, what is freedom? You've got kids here who can't go to school. You've got people here who don't have jobs anymore. You've got people here who don't have power," he said. "You know, so yeah, they've got freedom now, but when they didn't have freedom, everybody had a job."
Read the whole article. I wish I could just copy and paste the whole damn thing. The end result of our invasion and occupation of Iraq has become tragically clear--even among the soldiers who must believe in the mission to have a chance at retaining their sanity.
Our soldiers were not told that they would be rebuilding an entire country from scratch. Our soldiers were not told that they would be serving as the unwilling referee in a WWF match between two ruthless chair-throwing opponents.
"My personal opinion, I don't speak for the rest of anybody, I just speak for me personally, I think civil war is going to happen regardless," Steffey responded. "Maybe this country needs it: One side has to win. Be it Sunni, be it Shiite, one side has to win. It's apparent, these people have made it obvious they can't live in unity."
Our soldiers recognize the futility of their current position. They recognize that despite whatever peacekeeping help they may provide to the local communities to which they are assigned, they will be constantly under attack and will essentially only be delaying the inevitable.
It is time to end the occupation of Iraq. We have long exceeded the point at which we could do any further good.