Today's issue of the Charleston Gazette (the "liberal" paper in our state's capital)has a fantastic interview with a Marine just back from his second tour in Iraq. Thought that everyone here would be interested. Marine Cpl. Dan Wyatt's unit was involved in the invasion and capture of Baghdad and other hotspot areas in Iraq on his first tour, and on the second was stationed near Karibalah, a hotspot near the Syrian-Iraqi border. During one patrol, they ran into a lot of grafitti scrawled on the walls saying "Slow death."
(more below the fold)
Here's the part that hit me in my gut -- the part that the MSM ought to pick up on and do more stories about these days:
""His photographs tell part of the tale. An insurgent lying dead in a field of reeds, his head separated from his body. A fluffy white dog, eating the hand of another dead guerrilla.
Wyatt's videotapes tell another story. Rows of Marines stand silently, eyes fixed on a too-familiar sight: two rifles thrust bayonet-down behind two empty pairs of combat boots, topped by two empty helmets. As taps played, some Marines twisted their mouths against tears. Others brushed their hands across their cheeks.
"People who say it's getting better ..." Wyatt said. "I would like them to enlist, and go see how great it is firsthand.""
The article details how things were very positive for him and his unit the first tour, with minimal casualties and a lot of positive interaction with the local Iraqis. This second tour, the unit has hunkered down, rarely venturing out beyond patrols to capture insurgents, preferring to stay safe behind the razor wire.
Money quote:
""On the first deployment, we had people giving us the thumbs-up, inviting us into their homes for tea and kabobs," Wyatt said. "On that second deployment, here's how it was: us in our Humvees with our guns pointed out, and the Iraqi people in the shadows, looking at us.""
The whole article can be viewed at:
http://wvgazette.com/section/News/2005062221?pt=0
I think the site may require registration to view it, but it is free, if I recall correctly. (There is also a nice letter about Senator Byrd in the comments section today, just FYI.)
Sure hope I have done this diary correctly. The article is very well done. The Charleston Gazette has published a series of letters from this particular soldier during both his deployments, along with those from a few other soldiers. Most people that I know here are very big on supporting the troops, but the sentiment about the management of the war is turning sour, even among the most loyal Bushies. Articles like this, telling things from a soldier's perspective, are making a big difference, I think, in how the incompetence and failure of planning is perceived these days -- and even the staunchest of repugs here is beginning to ask questions (among themselves, at least). No wonder the poll numbers are down.
I don't do many diaries here, but I thought this article was something that everyone should see. If you know a soldier who was deployed and had similar experiences, perhaps you should encourage your local reporters to speak with him or her as well. Often coming from the voice of someone who has truly been there, it can be a much more effective platform for getting the hardest of heads to rethink what they have been told is true. Our soldiers deserve better than what they are getting from the Pentagon and the White House, that's for sure, and we all deserve the whole truth, unvarnashed, in order to decide what is our next step. Thanks for looking.