What a classic example of biased reporting from the Washington Post today with this article:
BAGHDAD, July 26 Army Staff Sgt. Jose Sixtos considered the simple question about morale for more than an hour. But not until his convoy of armored Humvees had finally rumbled back into the Baghdad military base, and the soldiers emptied the ammunition from their machine guns, and passed off the bomb-detecting robot to another patrol, did he turn around in his seat and give his answer.
"Think of what you hate most about your job. Then think of doing what you hate most for five straight hours, every single day, sometimes twice a day, in 120-degree heat," he said. "Then ask how morale is."
Frustrated? "You have no idea," he said.
The rest of the article is spent trying to spin the opinions of three, count them….three, soldiers and then blanket the whole military operation with these opinions.
But some soldiers in the 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Division — interviewed over four days on base and on patrols — say they have grown increasingly disillusioned about their ability to quell the violence and their reason for fighting. The battalion of more than 750 people arrived in Baghdad from Kuwait in March, and since then, six soldiers have been killed and 21 wounded.
"It sucks. Honestly, it just feels like we're driving around waiting to get blown up. That's the most honest answer I could give you," said Spec. Tim Ivey, 28, of San Antonio, a muscular former backup fullback for Baylor University. "You lose a couple friends and it gets hard."
Does anyone not believe that war sucks? Losing friends, almost losing your life time after time, would wear the best of us. But this does not mean that our whole military feels this way. In fact one of the three stated basically the same thing:
"It's frustrating, but we are definitely a help to these people," he said. "I'm out here with the guys that I know so well, and I couldn't picture myself being anywhere else."
Of course the WaPo doesn't really acknowledge this statement. They move onto this statement:
The commanders in Baghdad and the Pentagon are "looking at the big picture all the time, but for us, we don't see no big picture, it's just always another bomb out here," said Spec. Joshua Steffey, 24, of Asheville, N.C.
Take it from a Marine, troops bitch. I bitched everyday I was in the field, I bitched about our brass, about the food, we all bitched. Soldiers the world over have bitched about things since the Roman times I'm sure. It doesn't mean that they will not do the job they signed up to do nor that they don't feel the mission is worthwhile.
Just another baised piece of reporting by our MSM in their ongoing attempts to discredit this Administration.
Other's Blogging:
Take it from a Marine, troops bitch. I bitched everyday I was in the field, I bitched about our brass, about the food, we all bitched. Soldiers the world over have bitched about things since the Roman times I’m sure. It doesn’t mean that they will not do the job they signed up to do nor that they don’t feel the mission is worthwhile.
See author page
“A b*tching Marine is a happy Marine”
If soldiers and Marines stop b*tching, THAT is the time to raise the alarm.