With allies in enemy ranks, GIs in Iraq are no longer true believers

International Herald Tribune
5/27/07

BAGHDAD: Staff Sergeant 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 past 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 Safstrom, a member of Delta Company of the 1st 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."

more:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/27/news/delta.php


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On this Memorial Day, the best way we can support our troops is to bring them home!

Squad Leader - Sergeant Kevin O'Flarity - from the story linked above summed up up this way:

"I don't believe we should be here in the middle of a civil war. We've all lost friends over here. 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. If it was something I felt righteous about, maybe. But for this country and this conflict, no, it's not worth it."

His real enemy is domestic, President George W. Bush.

:thumbsup: