GIs Disdainful Of Bush "Happy Talk": "Don't See Any Progress-Just Us Getting Killed" (LAT)

[kpete]

GIs' morale dips as Iraq war drags on

With tours extended, multiple deployments and new tactics that put them in bare posts in greater danger, they feel leaders are out of touch with reality.
By Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 25, 2007

YOUSIFIYA, IRAQ -- In the dining hall of a U.S. Army post south of Baghdad, President Bush was on the wide-screen TV, giving a speech about the war in Iraq. The soldiers didn't look up from their chicken and mashed potatoes.

As military and political leaders prepare to deliver a progress report on the conflict to Congress next month, many soldiers are increasingly disdainful of the happy talk that they say commanders on the ground and White House officials are using in their discussions about the war.

And they're becoming vocal about their frustration over longer deployments and a taxing mission that keeps many living in dangerous and uncomfortably austere conditions. Some say two wars are being fought here: the one the enlisted men see, and the one that senior officers and politicians want the world to see.

"I don't see any progress. Just us getting killed," said Spc. Yvenson Tertulien, one of those in the dining hall in Yousifiya, 10 miles south of Baghdad, as Bush's speech aired last month. "I don't want to be here anymore."

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more at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-morale25aug25,0,3144924.story?coll=la-home-center

[MethuenProgressive]

1. Too bad Bush only 'listens to the Generals'...

Fuck you, George W. Bush.

[The Vinyl Ripper]

2. "I don't want to be here anymore."

Sad to know he wanted to be there in the first place.

For all the "support the troops" talk, let's not forget that this "mission" is not one the military went into with a great deal of misgivings on the part of the common enlisted man, let alone the officer corps.

They basically wanted to kill and destroy and were glad to be unleashed on the hapless Iraqis.

[phaseolus]

4. IMO the enlisted guys deserve a pass on that one

...since they don't make foreign policy decisions. They follow orders and go where they're told. True, most of them were politically conservative going into this mess, but after going through what they did, I'm sure the thoughtful ones aren't going to be blindly following any politician with an 'R' after their name when they're back home...

...unless maybe they get lots of scorn from our side, that might keep 'em voting Repub out of spite.

[The Vinyl Ripper]

5. Even if they were to learn a lesson, it won't last..

Anyone who had any knowledge of the history of Iraq knew that the occupation was going to be no cakewalk.

Vietnam wasn't that damn long ago and it's like the institutional military didn't learn a damn thing.

I'm old enough to remember the "Powell Doctrine", whatever happened to that?

[whistle]

3. Ever wonder where the term "GI" came from?

...here are some suggestions:

<snip>
What G.I. Stands For

GI is short for Government Issue.

However, these are all common interpretations or misinterpretations:


- General Issue

- General Infantry or Ground Infantry

- General Inductee

- Government Inductee

More opinions:

o Everything a WWII soldier wore, carried, ate, or used was "Government Issued", so they started referring to them selves by the same title.

o Since soldiers in armored divisions, paratroopers, support staff, medics, etc., are all GI's, it cannot be General Infantry. It stands for Government Issue.

o I know that the term "GI" was first used by the US Government in 1935, and did indeed stand for "Government Issue". But, I also remember reading in the 1940's about the GI's in WW II who were drafted, referred to as "Government Inductees". Granted, the original meaning of the term might have been somewhat corrupted, but at the time (in the 1940's), that's what it DID mean.

o I had always thought that G.I. stood for general inductee - as in drafted. However, those of us who volunteered were GI, too.

In other contexts:

o Your GI tract is your gastro-intestinal tract.