Words from the front-lines

“I don’t agree with Iraq. America is never going to leave Iraq. We’re building permanent bases out there now. In Iraq, it is all about money. … The Iraqis don’t want us there. They see us killing their brothers, sons and children, and that makes them resent us. … I don’t like Bush. He has three things on his mind – oil, money and daddy’s war. … Kerry is a bad man. He was all for Iraq before it went sour. I voted for him, but only because he wasn’t George Bush. He was the best of a bad lot.” – Patrick Lackatt, United States Army Reserve.

“I’ve always been against war. I don’t think being in the military means that I am a lover of war. It just means that I believe that this country needs to be defended. When I took that oath of office, I didn’t take the oath to kill people. I took it to defend the country from enemies foreign and domestic.” – Army Reserve Spc. David Lewis, recently returned from serving in Tikrit.

“I don’t want anything to do with him [President Bush]. My belief is that his ego is getting people killed and mutilated for no reason – just his ego and his reputation. If we really wanted to, we could pull out of Iraq. Maybe not completely but enough that we wouldn’t be losing people – at least not at this rate. So I think he himself is responsible for quite a few American deaths. … It’s gonna go on as long as we’re there. There’s always gonna be insurgents trying to blow us up. There’s just too many of ‘em that are willing to do it. You’re never gonna catch all of ‘em. And it seems like they have unlimited amounts of ammunition. So I don’t think it’s ever gonna end.” – Terry Rodgers, 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment

“Many of the people who were attacking me were the poor people of Iraq. They were definitely not members of Al Qaeda, left over Baath Party members, and they were not former members of Saddam’s regime. They were just your average Iraqi civilian who wanted us out of their country. ... I remember the day I left there were hundreds of Iraqis in the streets outside the compound that I lived in. They watched as we moved out to the Baghdad Airport to finally go home. The Iraqis cheered, clapped, and shouted with joy as we were leaving. As a soldier, that hurt me inside because I thought I was supposed to be fighting for their freedom.” – John Bruhns

“You know, this war is so fucking illegal.” – Pat Tillman, in a conversation to his friend while in southern Iraq, before he was killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire and his death covered up by the Pentagon.

“I didn’t ever think we’d get engaged. I just had the basic view of the American public – it can’t be that bad out there. … Personally, I don’t think the sweeps help too much. You find some stuff and most of the bad guys get away. ... For as much energy as we put in them, I don’t think the output is worth it…. I think the most frustrating thing is there’s no sense of accomplishment. You’re biding your time and waiting. But then you lose your friends, and it’s not even for their own country’s freedom.” – Travis Williams, Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Regiment, 4th Division, Haditha Dam, Iraq. After the Iraqi resistance set off a roadside bomb in August, 2005, he was the only surviving Marine from his 12 man squad.

Sources:
Colm Kelpie, "'America will never leave Iraq', US soldier says," August 1, 2005 greatreporter.com, http://greatreporter.com/mambo/content/view/439/2/
Rob Patterson, "Camp Casey Goes to Washington," August 31, 2005, Salon.com, http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/083105M.shtml
Peter Carlson, "Talking Wounded: Terry Rodgers Came Back From Iraq a Changed Man, and Not Just Because of the Bomb," August 10, 2005, Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/09/AR2005080901441_pf.html
Robert Collier, "Family Demands the Truth - New inquiry may expose events that led to Pat Tillman’s death," September 25, 2005, San Francisco Chronicle http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/09/25/MNGD7ETMNM1.DTL
Antonio Castaneda, "The Last Marine: When he lost the 11 others in his squad, he lost a 2nd family —and his zeal for the war," October 2, 2005, Associated Press, http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/051002/marine.shtml