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G.I.'s Disillusioned About the War

Soldiers from 82nd Airborne say they favor withdrawal

By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff

Posted May 28, 2007 8:45 AM CDT

(Newser) – More than a dozen soldiers from the elite 82d Airborne division tell the New York Times that they now see the war in Iraq as futile. “In 2003, 2004, 100 percent of the soldiers wanted to be here, to fight this war,” says one platoon sergeant who advocates withdrawal. “Now, 95% of my platoon agrees with me.”

Even the most gun-ho soldiers are disillusioned, they tell the Times, by the lack of loyalty among Iraqi soldiers.  "What are we doing here? We help them in the day. They turn around at night and try to kill us," another sergeant says.

A young boy seeks shelter behind a soldier with the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne division after gunshots rang out at the scene where just a few minutes earlier a suicide car bomber blew himself up in a busy commercial district in central Baghdad on Monday,  May 28, 2007, killing...
A young boy seeks shelter behind a soldier with the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne division after gunshots rang out at the scene where just a few minutes earlier a suicide car bomber blew himself up in a busy...   (Associated Press)
A young boy seeks shelter behind a soldier with the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne division after gunshots rang out at the scene where just a few minutes earlier a suicide car bomber blew himself up in a busy commercial district in central Baghdad on Monday,  May 28, 2007, killing...
A young boy seeks shelter behind a soldier with the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne division after gunshots rang out at the scene where just a few minutes earlier a suicide car bomber blew himself up in a busy...   (Associated Press)
A young boy seeks shelter behind a soldier with the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne division after gunshots rang out at the scene where just a few minutes earlier a suicide car bomber blew himself up in a busy commercial district in central Baghdad on Monday, May 28, 2007, killing...
A young boy seeks shelter behind a soldier with the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne division after gunshots rang out at the scene where just a few minutes earlier a suicide car bomber blew himself up in a busy...   (Associated Press)
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