Fatigue cripples US army in Iraq

Fatigue cripples US army in Iraq

observer.guardian.co.uk

Lieutenant Clay Hanna looks sick and white. Like his colleagues he does not seem to sleep. Hanna says he catches up by napping on a cot between operations in the command centre, amid the noise of radio. He is up at 6am and tries to go to sleep by 2am or 3am. But there are operations to go on, planning to be done and after-action reports that need to be written. And war interposes its own deadly agenda that requires his attention and wakes him up.

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Mod Edit: Removed excessive copy/paste over the 500 character limit.

[edit on 12-8-2007 by UM_Gazz]

When you take the physical, mental, psychological and spiritual toll on our troops from repeated and endless tours and add to that the fact that we are wearing out material out faster than it can be replaced; (and this only after four years) ... the only conclusion that can be drawn, is that this war is actually making us weaker.

If this is an accurate snapshot of conditions on the ground now... Iran is safe from us... there will be no more wars coming from the bush administration... If this is true the condition and morale of our troops are worse than after Vietnam.

observer.guardian.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 12-8-2007 by grover]

The question has to be asked... are the people in charge of this war, both civilian and military unaware of the damage constant and endless redeployments as well as the drain on material supplies is doing to the services; or do they just not care?

Originally posted by grover
The question has to be asked... are the people in charge...both civilian and military unaware of the damage constant and endless redeployments

No

as well as the drain on material supplies is doing to the services;

Yes

do they just not care?

Nope, not one bit.

Yet we are still here, representing Liberty. For an oppressed people, who are unable to do so for themselves.

The Iraqi Army in the AO I'm in, are afraid to go out by themselves, ie no Americans around. If we were to leave any of the out posts, they would beat us back to our own FOBs. No joke, it has happened already, none of them want us to leave yet. They are composed of people who are so indoctrinatred towards dictatorship, that doing anything is not considered. they are just too used to being dominated by former Leaders and lap dogs of said leader/s.

With proper continued training by US forces, those who are couragious enough, can and will start to adapt to this new way of living.

It is called Freedom. One thing valued by any human, any place and that should not even be a question. Every body deserve such, despite cultural differences. The people around here are and have been reporting insurgent acivity.

They want to live in peace, for once....and now they have the chance.

That is what I am fighting for, those who can not fight for themselves.


Imagine that, some one who is willing to do so for a stranger, ina foreign land. When the only oath taken, was to do so for their own Nation. If we are willing to do so for others, and we are, think about what we will do for our own people.

Never fear, ADVISOR is here.

Well maybe they have always known about it, but kept it quiet until they could find an useful "use" for this information. For example, this is perfect timing to come out with this "army getting tired" story because it can start to alter the masses thinking that a draft option may be necessary in America. By convincing the U.S. population that the army is getting to tired to be an effective democracy spreader anymore, maybe people will start to think that a draft is "okay" to help keep the efficient patriotic institution afloat... Especially since there are so many other factors on the horizon that the army may need to deal with, what with the potential Chinese threats, the North Koreans, Iran, Pakistan, Venezuela & Cuba, Russia is starting to stand up for their piece of the global pie, etc...

So, although I agree, the armed forces must be getting tired of all this, no doubt, I think it is very well timed propaganda by the "democracy-spreaders" to start to infiltrate the feelings of acceptance for the upcoming draft...

So to answer your question, the people in charge of this war are fully aware of this situation, they do care, and are now in the beginning stages of doing something about it... So start to look for a lot more of this type of propaganda to start hitting the main stream media...

I am sorry I don't buy the notion that we are over in Iraq fighting for their freedom or protecting ours. bush minor and cheney the dick don't give a rats ass about the Iraqis or their freedoms.... our troops are bleeding and dying for a lie... its all about, ego, greed and oil.

Ego... so a petty little man can say that he finished what his father failed to do.
Greed... a give away of US tax dollars to jr and cheney's buddies under the cover of reconstruction.
oil.... speaks for itself.

I don't mean to impinge your service adviser; I am a vet myself... but the bush administration has lied so many times about so many things that next to on one believes a word they say anymore. I don't even think they believe what they say anymore either.

[edit on 12-8-2007 by grover]