If this is true and saves American lives, then all God's people
say...AMEN!
On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 09:14:41 -0600, Truth - Neocon babble not welcome
here <truth@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>Low Morale Has U.S. Troops in Iraq Pretending to Patrol
>
>By Dahr Jamail, IPS News. Posted October 26, 2007.
>
>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.
>
>See: http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/66160/
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