The NYT’s Michael Kamber spent a week with Delta Company, an infantry company in Baghdad, and talking to more than a dozen soldiers in the unit. They’re disillusioned, frustrated, skeptical that their mission is worthwhile, and slowly beginning to realize that the Iraqis they’re training are the same Iraqis attacking them.
Staff Sgt. David Safstrom does not regret his previous tours in Iraq, not even a difficult second stint when two comrades were killed while trying to capture insurgents.
“In Mosul, in 2003, it felt like we were making the city a better place,” he said. “There was no sectarian violence, Saddam was gone, we were tracking down the bad guys. It felt awesome.”
But now on his third deployment in Iraq, he is no longer a believer in the mission. The pivotal moment came, he says, this February when soldiers killed a man setting a roadside bomb. When they searched the bomber’s body, they found identification showing him to be a sergeant in the Iraqi Army.
“I thought: ‘What are we doing here? Why are we still here?’ ” said Sergeant Safstrom, a member of Delta Company of the First Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division. “We’re helping guys that are trying to kill us. We help them in the day. They turn around at night and try to kill us.”
I know it’s a holiday, and a lot of folks probably aren’t going to be keeping up on the news today, but I hope people will read this article. Every word.
There was a firefight on April 29, for example, near Delta Company’s base. The united faced about 60 insurgents during a gun battle that raged for two and a half hours. “When the battle was over, Delta Company learned that among the enemy dead were at least two Iraqi Army soldiers that American forces had helped train and arm.”
Capt. Douglas Rogers said it was “a watershed moment” for the unit. They realized they were fighting the same Iraqi security forces that are supposed to be allied with U.S. troops. “Before that fight, there were a few true believers.” Captain Rogers said. “After the 29th, I don’t think you’ll find a true believer in this unit.”
“In 2003, 2004, 100 percent of the soldiers wanted to be here, to fight this war,” said Sgt. First Class David Moore, a self-described “conservative Texas Republican” and platoon sergeant who strongly advocates an American withdrawal. “Now, 95 percent of my platoon agrees with me.” […]
To Sergeant O’Flarity, the Iraqi security forces are militias beholden to local leaders, not the Iraqi government. “Half of the Iraqi security forces are insurgents,” he said.
As for his views on the war, Sergeant O’Flarity said, “I don’t believe we should be here in the middle of a civil war.”
“We’ve all lost friends over here,” he said. “Most of us don’t know what we’re fighting for anymore. We’re serving our country and friends, but the only reason we go out every day is for each other.”
“I don’t want any more of my guys to get hurt or die,” he continued. “If it was something I felt righteous about, maybe. But for this country and this conflict, no, it’s not worth it.”
To hear John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, the Bush White House, and other war supporters tell it, these courageous soldiers — heroes, all — want to “wave a white flag” to al Qaeda. They don’t want to fight a war on terror. They want to cut and run.
That’s absurd to the point of outrage. I suspect conservative war supporters would dismiss an article like this, suggesting that this is just one unit, and their comments reflect the opinions of just a dozen or so soldiers. Maybe, Republicans would argue, their perspective is unique and part of a small minority.
It’s possible, but I don’t think so. Articles like these have become too common. Troops are on the front lines, and they’re training our enemies and making al Qaeda’s job easier. They can’t tell friend from foe, they see no end in sight, and they no longer believe their mission is worthwhile.
To support these troops is to support bringing them home.