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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Skywatcher who wrote (95318)	1/12/2007 3:59:21 PM
From: SiouxPal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 361547

Kicking A Dead Horse by BarbinMD Fri Jan 12, 2007 at 10:03:05 AM PST The day after George Bush announced that 21,500 more troops would be sent into Iraq as part of Operation Run Out The Clock, he headed down to Fort Benning, Georgia to sell his latest victory plan. And: To ensure that there would be no discordant notes here, Maj. Gen. Walter Wojdakowski, the base commander, prohibited the 300 soldiers who had lunch with the president from talking with reporters. If any of them harbored doubts about heading back to Iraq, many for the third time, they were kept silent. Since those soldiers were silenced, let's hear from some who are currently on the ground in Iraq, reacting to the news of Bush's speech, beginning with Spec. Daniel Caldwell: "They're kicking a dead horse here. The Iraqi army can't stand up on their own." "It's a joke," said Pfc. Drew Merrell, 22, of Jefferson City, Mo., shaking his head and flashing a smile as the Stryker rolled through Baghdad. "They feed us what they want," said Spec. Josh Lake, 26, of Ventura, Calif., referring to the intelligence. "I guarantee that everyone in the city knows where we're going. Because the IA told them. The only thing they don't know is how big a force we're coming with." "Pretty soon the Shiites will be tired of our presence, just like the Sunnis," said Lake, noting that the squad now makes almost daily trips to Hurriyah. "The general feeling among us is we're not really doing anything here," Caldwell said. "We clear one neighborhood, then another one fires up. It's an ongoing battle. It never ends." "We're constantly being told that it's not our fight. It is their fight," said Sgt. Jose Reynoso, 24, of Yuma, Ariz., speaking of the Iraqi army. "But that's not the case. Whenever we go and ask them for guys, they almost always say no, and we have to do the job ourselves." "You do have corruption problems among the ranks," said Sgt. Justin Hill, 24, of Abilene Tex., the squad leader. "I don't know what they can do about that. They have militias inside them. They are pretty much everywhere." Caldwell, as he listened to the conversation, leaned his head back and said: "I want to go back and play my PlayStation." It's easy to see why Bush didn't consult with these men while crafting his "new way forward." dailykos.com