Talking pundits have the meme that the war is going well.
Generals, dripping with tin, tell us from podiums that all is well.
From the nightly news, it seems we have a montonous series of wins.
But what are our troops saying? Those who are on the front line being shot at have the best idea of where the war is going.
Without further ado or commentary, I will post below comments found in the New York Times International section, N15, of Sunday Oct 24, 2004.
"This is Vietnam," said Cpl. Daneil Planalp, 21, of San Diego. "I don't eve know why we're over here fighting. We're fighting for survival. The Iraqis don't want us here. If they wanted us here, they'd help us. They're certainly not helping us in this city."
Lance Cpl. Jamie Stutton, 21, of Nashville stared at a line of cars, M-16 at the ready. "The funny thing that we laugh at sometimes is that the terrorists and us want the same thing. We don't want to be here and they don't want us to be here."
"The public don't have a clue what's going on here," said Cpl. Patrick Hansen, 24, of Tweksbury, Mass. "The Iraq story will come in fourth on the TV news, behind Betsy the Cow having a first-prize calf at the county fair. Then it'll go back to Bob the weatherman."
"They know we're here, they know what we do, they know our routes," said Staff Sgt. Jose Gomez, 28, of Beeville, TX, "We're used to coming in, blowing stuff up. Now we just wait to get hit."
"The enemy doesn't follow the same rules we do. They use civilians as shields, they use mosques against us, they use graveyards," said Cpl John Rios, 29, of Corpus Cristi, TX.
"It's just like growing up in the ghetto," said Cpl. Kevin Armentrout, 24, of Lakesland, FL., "If the cops roll in and ask where the crack dealers are, they're not going to tell. Nobody wants that problem. They know where the muj are. But they're not going to tell us."
"This isn't hell, but what we do is hell," said Sgt. Clarence Sentell Jr., 25, of Artesia, N.M.
Remember my previous journal about WIA:KIA ratios?
In six weeks here, six members of this batallion have been killed and 72 wounded.
A 1:12 ratio! Much higher than my guestimated 1:8, 1:6 ratio.
While driving a 4 1/2 mile route to deliver food to bases, on a run some marines call "suicide train," nine bombs went off for an average of one every halfmile. Guerrillas pop out and take shots with AK-47s and RPGs. But, when the marines fire back or give chase, they find the insurgents have slipped into the palm groves and narrow alleys and mosques, melting in with the civilians and floating away like so many dust motes.
Winning the war? All is well? Fuck no. Bring them home.