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Title: Low Morale Has U.S. Troops in Iraq Pretending to Patrol
Source:
alternet
URL Source: http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/66160/
Published: Oct 29, 2007
Author: Dahr Jamail
Post Date: 2007-10-29 22:26:10 by A K A Stone
Keywords: None
Views: 487
Comments: 17
Morale among US soldiers in the country is so poor, many are simply parking their Humvees and pretending to be on patrol, called "search and avoid" missions. New York -- Iraq war veterans now stationed at a base here in upstate New York say that morale among US soldiers in the country is so poor, many are simply parking their Humvees and pretending to be on patrol, a practice dubbed "search and avoid" missions. Phil Aliff is an active duty soldier with the 10th Mountain Division stationed at Fort Drum. He served nearly one year in Iraq from August 2005 to July 2006, in the areas of Abu Ghraib and Fallujah, both west of Baghdad. "Morale was incredibly low," said Aliff, adding that he joined the military because he was raised in a poor family by a single mother and had few other prospects. "Most men in my platoon in Iraq were just in from combat tours in Afghanistan." According to Aliff, their mission was to help the Iraqi army "stand up" in the Abu Ghraib area of western Baghdad, but in fact his platoon was doing all the fighting without support from the Iraqis they were supposedly preparing to take control of the security situation. "I never heard of an Iraqi unit that was able to operate on their own," said Aliff, who is now a member of the group Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). "The only reason we were replaced by an Iraqi army unit was for publicity." Aliff said he participated in roughly 300 patrols. "We were hit by so many roadside bombs we became incredibly demoralized, so we decided the only way we wouldn't be blown up was to avoid driving around all the time." "So we would go find an open field and park, and call our base every hour to tell them we were searching for weapons caches in the fields and doing weapons patrols and everything was going fine," he said, adding, "All our enlisted people became very disenchanted with our chain of command." Aliff, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), refused to return to Iraq with his unit, which arrived in Kirkuk two weeks ago. "They've already lost a guy, and they are now fostering the sectarian violence by arming the Sunnis while supporting the Shi'ites politically ... classic divide and conquer." Aliff said he is set to be discharged by the military next month because they claim his PTSD "is untreatable by their doctors". According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the number of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans seeking treatment for PTSD increased nearly 70% in the 12 months ending on June 30. The nearly 50,000 VA-documented PTSD cases greatly exceed the 30,000 military personnel that the Pentagon officially classifies as wounded in both occupations. VA records show that mental health has become the second-largest area of illness for which veterans of the ongoing occupations are seeking treatment at VA hospitals and clinics. The total number of mental health cases among war veterans increased by 58%; from 63,767 on June 30, 2006, to 100,580 on June 30, 2007, according to the VA. Other active duty Iraq veterans tell similar stories of disobeying orders so as not to be attacked so frequently. "We'd go to the end of our patrol route and set up on top of a bridge and use it as an over-watch position," Eli Wright, also an active duty soldier with the 10th Mountain Division, said. "We would just sit with our binoculars and observe rather than sweep. We'd call in radio checks every hour and say we were doing sweeps." Wright added, "It was a common tactic, a lot of people did that. We'd just hang out, listen to music, smoke cigarettes, and pretend." The 26-year-old medic complained that his unit did not have any armored Humvees during his time in Iraq, where he was stationed in Ramadi, capital of the volatile al-Anbar province. "We put sandbags on the floors of our vehicles, which had canvas doors," said Wright, who was in Iraq from September 2003 until September 2004. "By the end of our tour, we were bolting any metal we could find to our Humvees. Everyone was doing this, and we didn't get armored Humvees in country until after we left." Other veterans, like 25-year-old Nathan Lewis, who was in Iraq for the invasion of March 2003 until June of that year while serving in the 214th field artillery brigade, complained of lack of training for what they were ordered to do, in addition to not having armored Humvees for their travels. "We never got training for a lot of the work we did," he explained. "We had a white phosphorous mortar round that cooked off in the back of one of our trucks, because we loaded that with some other ammo, and we weren't trained how to do it the right way." The "search and avoid" missions appear to have been commonplace around much of Iraq for years now. Geoff Millard served nine years in the New York Army National Guard, and was in Iraq from October 2004 until October 2005 working for a general at a Tactical Operation Center. Millard, also a member of IVAW, said that part of his duties included reporting "significant actions", or SIGACTS, which is how the US military describes an attack on their forces. "We had units that never called in SIGACTS," Millard, who monitored highly volatile areas like Baquba, Tikrit and Samarra, said. "When I was there two years ago, there were at least five companies that never had SIGACTS. I think 'search and avoids' have been going on there for a long time." Millard said "search and avoid" missions continue today across Iraq. "One of my buddies is in Baghdad right now and we email all the time," he explained, "He just told me that nearly each day they pull into a parking lot, drink soda and shoot at the cans. They pay Iraqi kids to bring them things and spread the word that they are not doing anything and to please just leave them alone."
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#1. To: A K A Stone (#0)
FBCB2 would preclude these guys' stories. But I wasn't there so what would I know.
What is FBCB2? I don't know how widespread this supposedly is. But I can see it happening. I mean who wants do drive around with a target on their head.
I would have no problem at all with the government shutting this site down for this article being posted. If you showed a pattern of this kind of behavior (during war time, esp) I would have you taken out of circulation.
I didn't actually read the whole article. It sounded interesting I was going to read it completly later. I guess I'll give it a full read now. What is the offending part?
I didn't read the whole thing either, mostly just the title and a few words. It runs down the troops and tries to destroy their morale. That's enemy behavior, pure and simple.
I just read over it. I tend to believe that this is in fact happening. These are apparently troops themselves talking. What is wrong with the truth about what is happening getting out. If the troops are over there and this is going on then they already know about it. If it isn't true they can discount it as bullshit. I don't support the war. I also don't like seeing all these soldiers getting killed over there. For all the money we spent on this war it would have been cheaper to just have the government buy up the oil and give it out as a welfare benefit.
So what do you do for a living Mr Tannen. Have you ever been in the service? Do you think we should have declared war instead of passing a law to the US code that gives the President the power to enforce UN resoultions. Yeah and any President in the future.
It is a system to show where all the 'friendlies' are on a map screen. It was designed to mainly prevent fratricide. Kind of like your cell phone. It shows where and who you are.
So you are basically saying they are being tracked. And that their commanders would know if they were just sitting around. I had exactly that same thought a little while ago. I thought maybe the trackers might just be on the vehicles. Then the article would make sense. "they were parked and looking for this or that over there" or whatever. So you are saying this article probably isn't true. If that is what you are saying. You could very well be correct. Do you consider this article "enemy talk" as Biff does?
Hopefully the enemy can't hack into this system. That would be very bad for our troops. They should just bring them home. They marched them in they can march them right back out. On a side note I have about 30 or so video tapes (6hrs each) full of the original news footage when the Iraq war started. Someday I am going to have to go through it and put some stuff up on youtube.
They were probably slick enough to tell their superiors that they were doing so and so on foot, while their vehicle was parked wherever it was. GIs aren't stupid.
No they aren't. Most of them are supporting Ron Paul. At least that is who is apparently getting the most money from them. I was working a couple of weeks ago at a mans house repairing a window and something else that escapes me now. Anyway it was for an Air Force guy who was just back from Afghanistan. He said it wasn't bad where he was. That they were building schools and infrastructure. He said he was glad the he wasn't in Iraq. That it was much more dangerout there. I enjoyed talking to the man and working for him. My father was a soldier in the army for 20 years.
Of course they are. Would a sane man enlist to go to Iraq and get his legs blown off or be slaughtered?
Bucks too hard plays too rough, 2000 pounds of dangerous stuff, The way he looks he wants to tear me apart, But the way he throws me nearly stops my heart,-Buck and Roll.
The troops serve no purpose, therefore they can all go straight to hell. And you can too.
Bucks too hard plays too rough, 2000 pounds of dangerous stuff, The way he looks he wants to tear me apart, But the way he throws me nearly stops my heart,-Buck and Roll.
God, you're stupid.
I was just saying what I thought. I don't really feel like discussing it with you.
And you're a propagandized sheep.
Bucks too hard plays too rough, 2000 pounds of dangerous stuff, The way he looks he wants to tear me apart, But the way he throws me nearly stops my heart,-Buck and Roll.
#2. To: Fred Mertz (#1)
FBCB2
#3. To: A K A Stone (#0)
Whatcha Lookin' At, Butthead
#4. To: Biff Tannen (#3)
#5. To: A K A Stone (#4)
Whatcha Lookin' At, Butthead
#6. To: Biff Tannen (#5)
#7. To: Biff Tannen (#5)
#8. To: A K A Stone (#2)
#9. To: Fred Mertz (#8)
#10. To: Fred Mertz (#8)
It is a system to show where all the 'friendlies' are on a map screen.
#11. To: A K A Stone (#9)
So you are saying this article probably isn't true.
#12. To: Fred Mertz (#11)
GIs aren't stupid.
#13. To: Fred Mertz (#11)
GIs aren't stupid.
#14. To: Biff Tannen (#5)
#15. To: continental op (#14)
Whatcha Lookin' At, Butthead
#16. To: A K A Stone (#6)
Whatcha Lookin' At, Butthead
#17. To: Biff Tannen (#15)
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