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Words from the front-lines“Hey, I’m from Texas, and let me tell you that, right now, I hate Bush. Not for getting us into Iraq in the first place - I’m not even going to go there - but now he can’t figure out a way to get us home except in a body bag.” - Anonymous GI from the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Najaf, Iraq  “We’re losing people everyday, and for not a good reason. Among my group of friends, we don’t want Bush to get elected. We feel if Bush gets re-elected we will go back to Iraq, which we don’t want to do. I honestly think we’re fighting this war for oil. Why else would we be there? We have Saddam Hussein. I personally think Osama bin Laden’s dead.” - Marine Lance Corporal Ward Stone, after being wounded and returning home from fighting in Fallujah, Iraq.
“There’s no clear definition of why we came here. First they said they have WMD and nuclear weapons, then it was to get Saddam Hussein out of office, and then to rebuild Iraq. I want to fight for my nation and for my family, to protect the United States against enemies foreign and domestic, not to protect Iraqi civilians or deal with Sadr’s militia.” - Army Spc. Nathan Swink “9 out of 10 of the people I talk to, it wouldn’t matter who ran against Bush - they’d vote for them. People are so fed up with Iraq, and fed up with Bush.” - Anonymous GI, Najaf, Iraq. “Everyone’s watching it. It’s shaping a lot of people’s image of Bush.” - Anonymous Marine Corporal, commenting on the impact of “Fahrenheit 9/11” on troops, Ramadi, Iraq. “You have to give them credit. They do an amazing amount with what little they have.” - Sgt. 1st Class Mike Dewilde, 3rd Platoon, 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, commenting on Al-Sadr’s militiamen in the battle at the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, Iraq. “There’s nothing good that can come of it. We win, we lose. We lose, we lose.” - Anonymous Army operations officer, on the possible outcomes of the battle for the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, Iraq. “Wives, daughters, husbands. You just know you’re destroying that tomb. It doesn’t feel right sometimes.” - Sgt. Hector Guzman, 5th Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, during the battle for the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, Iraq. “It’s all a game over there. It’s all about politics, oil - who the heck knows? I’m livid. We never really knew what was going on. We were told, ‘We’re here to do good, to help Iraqis, they want us here.’ And we know that’s just pep talk from politicians - a bunch of professional liars. Everything in Iraq pissed me off. … You never knew if the guy in there was innocent or not, and half the time he was.” - Army infantrymen home on leave from Iraq after doing raids on Iraqi homes. “More and more [Iraqi] people want us to go home. Believe me, we want to go home.” - Army Private 1st Class Rachel Bosveld, in a letter home. “I’m scared even to take a shower in case they mortar us. I want to go home and be with my wife and start a family.” - Army Specialist Luis Cruz, Baquba, Iraq. “People are tired of us being here. It’s the same as if someone came to the U.S. and started taking over. You’d do what you’d have to do.” - Marine Lance Corporal Anthony Robert. “We shouldn’t be here. There was no reason for invading this country in the first place. We just came here and [angered people] and killed a lot of innocent people. I don’t enjoy killing women and children, it’s not my thing.” - Anonymous Marine infantryman, Ramadi, Iraq. Sources: Scott Taylor, "Najaf Nurses Wounds of War," Al-Jazeera, June 10, 2004, http://irishantiwar.org/news/item.tcl?scope=public&news_item_id=100878 Mike Morris, "Wounded Marine returns home," Union Democrat, August 17, 2004 http://www.uniondemocrat.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=14944 Ann Scott Tyson, "A strident minority: anti-Bush US troops in Iraq," Sept. 21, 2004, Christian Science Monitor, http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0921/p02s02-usmi.html Todd Pittman, "U.S. troops fight militants in Najaf cemetery tombstone by tombstone," Associated Press, August 13, 2004 http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/08/14/military/19_24_068_13_04.prt http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53557-2004Aug10.html M.L. Lyke, Seattle Post Intelligencer, August 27, 2004 http://www.healthyplace.com/Communities/Anxiety/news/ptsd_veterans.asp http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5932640/ http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040907/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_us_toll_troops_040907205153 Anne Barnard, "GIs in Iraq are asking: why are we here?," the Boston Globe, Aug 12, 2004 |
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