For Enlisted Soldiers only, please - serious question...?

Question

I follow the news in Iraq closely, and have been very upset by two incidents in particular: the events at Haditha and the rape/murder of a young Iraqi girl and her family. I realize this is a war and it's far from pretty out there. As an American I am trying to understand what is pushing our men to commit such atrocious acts? Yes, there's the 'few bad apples' theory, but can a good apple be turned bad? I can only imagine the stress our troops are under in such a war zone. What I want to know is: what are our soldiers thinking about this war right now?

I am sick of hearing our disconnected politicians pontificate about this war, and want to seek the truth. I am very interested in knowing more from our soldiers' point of view - serious thoughts/answers only, please.

First of all (Doug B), there's no need to be condescending, "Hun." I am not a judge or jury and am only expressing my reaction to what I'm hearing (like one of the rapists' confessions, for example). I am an average American and this is what we are getting over here on this side - I am trying to find out what's REALLY going on, which is why I asked.

Of course I imagine there are good things taking place over there - since I asked your opinion, why don't you tell me some of them?

Regarding the 'American Way' - isn't seeking the truth the 'American Way' as well? I'm tired of people pulling out the 'unAmerican' card whenever anyone brings up this war. That's unAmerican in iteself!

The answers so far are interesting, but focusing a lot on American Media (biased reporting, etc is certainly an issue, but my question). Lets put down the cons vs. lib rhetoric for a minute, as it doesn't get us anywhere!

When answering keep this in mind : it's not about MY opinion - I am looking for YOUR opinion on this war, as a soldier. Thanks.

Answer 1

First off, let me say that I am a Sgt. in the United States Army Reserve...

In answer to your question, a few things that comes to mind are what you have said earlier about a few bad apples, but I believe the problem is a little more deeply rooted than this...

Try to imagine what a typical warrior (I include all services by saying warrior) goes through on a daily basis at the hands of insurgents, sympathizers, etc...So to start you have mental stress, you are at war, you are always physically tired, drained emotionally, missing your family. There are more factors to be sure, but these are just a few...

And then you see them, the very people you are fighting for, dying for, crying over lost comrades for because your friend has died in an IED blast a few days ago....and it happens. You see a citizen of Iraq, and maybe they say or do something that you take as an insult and BOOM! You snap. The anger of having to be in the sand, all the fighting, the loss...you decide in that moment to take out ALL of your hurt, anger, and pain out on this Iraqi.

My fellow warriors are not being torn apart just physically, but mentally as well. With no outlet, and little support in dealing with the overwhelming volume of emotions and stress that a warrior feels on a daily basis, the only outlet becomes violence. It may manifest in different ways, but the outcome is usually violent in most cases. Is it excusable? Not a chance....Understandable? Depends on the situation. Is it preventable? Unknown...some people appear to be perfectly normal until something pushes them over the edge.

I am a nurse, I have not yet gone overseas to participate in the war, but in a sense, I AM participating. You see, I work in a VA Hospital, and I have young men on my floor now, that aren't any older than 25, who have had their lives taken in some aspect from them. None of them will ever be the same, forever changed by a war that nobody wanted. These young guys have told me not to go to Iraq....things that they have gazed upon to horrific to try and recount.

What do we soldiers think of this war? Well we cannot speak out against our commander in Chiefl but I will say we would rather not be involved. Hope this helps give you some insight.

B

Answer 2

don't trust anything the liber-controlled media says... not everybody in the military is a murderer or rapist, and not many have forgotten why we are fighting in Iraq. My dad served in Iraq in 2003 (yeah back when the war started in Iraq), and he works with people who have been to Iraq in the last 6 months, and people who are being sent there in the next few months...
the media just wants the American populace to think that everything in Iraq is bad, that nothing good is coming out of it, that America is in the wrong, that... well I think you get the idea.

In reality, the people are happy to see the troops. They realize that this means a change for the better. With American troops comes the promise of freedom, the possibilty of not having a dictatorship or theocracy, which is what they had under Saddam. Troops are giving hope to the Iraqi populace, in addition to toys and school supplies to the kids over there... maybe if these kids have a slight bit of happiness, the entire country will be better off... but of course, you'll never hear about that from the media... it's all just about death and violence and destuction on the part of the US... and nothing bad on the side of the Isalmic extremists. (though technically, what the liberal media is doing could be called aiding and abiding the enemy in time of war... or treason. Which is against the Constitution *see Article 3 of the US Constitution, the Judicial Branch, for the full text*)

Answer 3

A very good question.

I retired as an E-8 a few years ago and must say that while I support our troops, I do not support Bush and his phony war for Oil and Haliburton.

I think that many of the soldiers joined for what they think is a just war and find that the Iraqi people do not want us there, the infrastructure is worse than under Saddam and that Bush's war has killed more innocent people than Saddam did during his entire reign.

Of course, the fact that many of them are on their third and fourth tours and have lost their jobs, their families are on food stamps and might have lost their homes is a big factor as well.

They also come to realize that the people who are sending them to war are a man who deserted from his National Guard obligation and others who were "too busy to serve" or "had other things to do".

The PNAC and the "Patriot Act" are turning the US into Russia as it was in the 50s and 60s, destroying our world standing and the middle class as we go.

Answer 4

Unfortunately, Doug B has the partial right of it. The news media only tells us what is going wrong, but that is EVERYWHERE. This is unfortunate, because we can see for ourselves what's wrong, we all need some good news every now and again. Example, I saw an article where 3 people drowned trying to rescue a child and I can only assume the child lived since it wasn't mentioned.

As for our service members in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other hostile zones, they are going thru hell. They are experiencing things that we can only have nightmares about. There will always be "bad apples" in every unit and organization, regardless of whether it's the military or a civilian company. Those few make it SO much harder for the rest of us.

I can only offer this: for the amount of personnel that we currently have stationed in hostile areas, we hear of VERY few "bad apples", and that says the world of the discipline and hard work of those service members that are doing the right things, for the right reasons, at the right time.

I hope that you don't take the news to heart, and remember that there are more service members taking the hard, legal and moral right, than there are those that try to ruin our hard earned good name.

Answer 5

You honestly can't imagine what warfare can do to an average, guy next door. I spent two years in combat & saw things that still don't seem real today 40yrs. later. War has no rules(other than to survive) no matter what anybody will tell you. Strange & terrible things happen and are carried out by people that , at another time & place, would never dream of doing something like that. I'm not trying to justify another soldiers actions. That is not possible, nor is it fair. All humans are capable of incredibly amazing things, good or bad. My point is, war will inevitably cause normal people to respond abnormally, for the better or worse.

Answer 6

While we tend to get a better cut, you have to realize that the US Military is simply a cross-section of American society. You get some truly outstanding, noble people, and somtimes you get shitbags who slip through the cracks. The rape is horrifying, and yet there they are, on trial, and they'll receive appropriate punishment if found guilty. The Haditha thing is a lot more complex since Senators like Murtha jumped in there to make political hay out of it before the investigation was even complete. We're still waiting to hear the final, official decision on what happened there.

Most of the guys I know look at it like this. It sucks and we don't want to go, but we swore an oath and this is part of it. All we want to do is get out there, complete the mission, take care of our friends so we all go home together, and please God, go home safely.

Answer 7

Like any conflict, I would rather not be there. I am proud of what I have done while I was there. I am glad the US military was sent. I was in the war and more.

Good things: I helped get medical supplies to hospitals that had little more than a bed. I helped rebuild schools. I removed weapons from schools. Insergents kept weapons in schools to hide them from us. I put myself between gunfire and civilians. I helped fix civilian vehicals. My corpman gave medical aid to every civilian he was able to help. Some of them were even med vaced to get more medical aid.

The bad: Let the courts decide who is guilty. Colaterial damage is bound to happen. Some people did not want us there just as much as we did not want to be there. After seeing death and fighting everyday for a year you become desencitized to it. Being decinsitized in such a way seems to mess with some peoples since of morals.

Answer 8

Sounds like you have judged the guys guilty before the trial.
That is not the American Way. Which is why we are at war
with the terrorists. If you really want to know what is going on
over there talk to some Iraqis who live in the US and ask them
what they think. Invariably I have found they are very grateful
for the US servicemen who are bringing freedom and sanity
to a nation that was under siege by a monster for so many years.
I Corinthians 13;8a, Love never fails!!!!! GO USA!!!!!

Answer 9

There is a lot of things people go through while over there.

It is said that it take a person 2 months to start showing signs of mental illness when in a combat situation. The Army usually is deployed over there for a year at a time so you can imagine what happens. I support the war and have been over there 2 times and I am perfectly fine. I guess its just how you take things in.

You are going to get diffrent responses from diffrent people but I am for the war and I believe that we should be over there.

Answer 10

I've said this many times and I'm getting very sick of repeating this.

The News is always full of bad stuff.
Try and find any good news.
You can't
If a boy scout walked an old lady across the street, that's not news, if a boy a scout walked an old lady across the street and raped her, that's news.

So is the same with Iraq and the middle east. If Iraq is doing good, then who cares?
If Iraq is doing bad, then everybody cares.
Get it hun?