IRAQ: Grumbling in Mesopotamia

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Recent conversations with two American soldiers in Iraq suggested a discontentment with the United States’ civilian leadership, both Democrat and Republican.

A centrist officer and a conservative-leaning officer expressed the feeling that America’s political leadership had asked the Army to bear the weight of U.S. policy. Both men said they were appalled by what they saw as the White House’s failure to send enough troops to Iraq in the past and the recent political football over the funding of military operations in Iraq. They spoke with resentment about State Department employees’ resistance to serving over here.

One of the men was leaving the Army soon, rather than risk another lengthy deployment. Both men said they believed that U.S. politicians were not measuring up to the Army’s sacrifices.

— Ned Parker in Baghdad