In a soldiers' haven, worry and frustration taking a toll

[soup]

As members of the 101st Airborne trickle back from Iraq, cracks are showing in the once unwavering confidence.

By WES ALLISON, Times Staff Writer
Published November 7, 2003

Snips from the article:
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"You can't leave, but you can't win. ... All they're doing now is getting people killed."
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At times, some sound like congressional leaders quizzing the Bush administration: What's the plan for handing control to the Iraqis? Will the United States be rotating troops into Iraq forever? Where's the international support? Where's Hussein?

"What are we really trying accomplish?" asked Kalah Gilbreath, 29, whose husband is a staff sergeant in an artillery company. He served in Desert Storm, Bosnia and Kosovo, and she won't complain, but as the unrest continues, she worries. "You have soldiers dying, and you wonder why."
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"We haven't found weapons of mass destruction, and we didn't have the backing of the United Nations, and now we're the ones there occupying a country that doesn't want us," said Isom, who manages a fast-food restaurant.

"We're going to support our guys, because they're our guys, but we're not sure what they're fighting for anymore."
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much more here:
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/11/07/Worldandnation/In_a_soldiers__haven_.shtml

[leftchick]

1. chimpass says everyday what they are dying for...

"our freedoms"... :puke:

[soup]

2. Thank you for the response, leftchick.

Wish this important article had a 'better' title. It's sinking faster than my hopes for the future.

[saigon68]

5. His and Cheney's Halliburton

That's what they are dying for Corporate Profits.

[DS1]

3. stick around for the last paragraph

it's a doozy. Bootcamp really does a hell of a job.

[Johnyawl]

4. reality will set in fast for those newbies

I remember being like that. It's called "young, dumb, and full of cum"(testosterone, actually, but that doesn't rhym), and it doesn't last. The 'old guys' will laugh at them, make fun of them, and protect them from their own stupidity, until they wise up. At least, that's what they did for me in 1969.

[pfitz59]

6. Young and ignorant...the way Shrub likes 'em!

"Pvt. Russell Hubert, 19, of Byron Center, Mich., is a mechanic. His buddy, Peter Hutchins, 20, of Sanford, Maine, is a gunner.
They don't watch the news. The news lies, they say, and overplays the violence. They do not question the mission in Iraq. They leave in about a week."

They'll get there just in time for the end of Ramadan. Can anyone say "Tet 2003"?