Discontent rife in US military ranks

On October 10, in a remarkable story headlined “For Marines, a Frustrating Fight”, the Washington Post published the comments of a group of soldiers from the First Battalion, Second Marine Regiment, who are stationed in Iskandariyah, a predominantly Shiite city 50 km southwest of Baghdad. Anti-occupation cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army militia, as well as other resistance groups, have considerable support in the area and fighting has been more or less continuous since the invasion.

The marines spoke freely to the Post about the realities of fighting against Iraqi guerrillas who can rely on popular support. They expressed resentment over the way the war is being reported in the US and over the lies used to justify the invasion in the first place.

The Bush administration’s lie that has had perhaps the most demoralising effect on the soldiers was the claim they would be treated as “liberators”. Instead, they confront a civilian population that despises them as invaders and is providing a constant stream of recruits to the armed resistance.

Lance Corporal Carlos Perez, 20, stated: “Sometimes I see no reason why we’re here.... We’re supposed to be looking for Al Qaeda. They’re the ones who are supposedly responsible for the September 11 attacks. This has no connection at all to September 11 because this war started just by telling us about all the nuclear warheads over here.... I’ve only been here two months, but every time you go out people give you bad looks and it just seems like everybody wants to shoot you.”

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http://wsws.org/articles/2004/oct2004/mili-o16.shtml