See other Resistance Articles
Title: American troops in Afghanistan losing heart, say army chaplains
Source:
[None]
URL Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/ne ... Afghanistan/article6865359.ece
Published: Oct 8, 2009
Author: Martin Fletcher
Post Date: 2009-10-08 09:57:15 by Horse
Keywords: None
Views: 7646
Comments: 240
American soldiers serving in Afghanistan are depressed and deeply disillusioned, according to the chaplains of two US battalions that have spent nine months on the front line in the war against the Taleban. Many feel that they are risking their lives — and that colleagues have died — for a futile mission and an Afghan population that does nothing to help them, the chaplains told The Times in their makeshift chapel on this fortress-like base in a dusty, brown valley southwest of Kabul. “The many soldiers who come to see us have a sense of futility and anger about being here. They are really in a state of depression and despair and just want to get back to their families,” said Captain Jeff Masengale, of the 10th Mountain Division’s 2-87 Infantry Battalion. “They feel they are risking their lives for progress that’s hard to discern,” said Captain Sam Rico, of the Division’s 4-25 Field Artillery Battalion. “They are tired, strained, confused and just want to get through.” The chaplains said that they were speaking out because the men could not. The base is not, it has to be said, obviously downcast, and many troops do not share the chaplains’ assessment. The soldiers are, by nature and training, upbeat, driven by a strong sense of duty, and they do their jobs as best they can. Re-enlistment rates are surprisingly good for the 2-87, though poor for the 4-25. Several men approached by The Times, however, readily admitted that their morale had slumped. “We’re lost — that’s how I feel. I’m not exactly sure why we’re here,” said Specialist Raquime Mercer, 20, whose closest friend was shot dead by a renegade Afghan policeman last Friday. “I need a clear-cut purpose if I’m going to get hurt out here or if I’m going to die.” Sergeant Christopher Hughes, 37, from Detroit, has lost six colleagues and survived two roadside bombs. Asked if the mission was worthwhile, he replied: “If I knew exactly what the mission was, probably so, but I don’t.” The only soldiers who thought it was going well “work in an office, not on the ground”. In his opinion “the whole country is going to s***”. The battalion’s 1,500 soldiers are nine months in to a year-long deployment that has proved extraordinarily tough. Their goal was to secure the mountainous Wardak province and then to win the people’s allegiance through development and good governance. They have, instead, found themselves locked in an increasingly vicious battle with the Taleban. They have been targeted by at least 300 roadside bombs, about 180 of which have exploded. Nineteen men have been killed in action, with another committing suicide. About a hundred have been flown home with amputations, severe burns and other injuries likely to cause permanent disability, and many of those have not been replaced. More than two dozen mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles (MRAPs) have been knocked out of action. Living conditions are good — abundant food, air-conditioned tents, hot water, free internet — but most of the men are on their second, third or fourth tours of Afghanistan and Iraq, with barely a year between each. Staff Sergeant Erika Cheney, Airborne’s mental health specialist, expressed concern about their mental state — especially those in scattered outposts — and believes that many have mild post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). “They’re tired, frustrated, scared. A lot of them are afraid to go out but will still go,” she said. Lieutenant Peter Hjelmstad, 2-87’s Medical Platoon Leader, said sleeplessness and anger attacks were common. A dozen men have been confined to desk jobs because they can no longer handle missions outside the base. One long-serving officer who has lost three friends this tour said he sometimes returned to his room at night and cried, or played war games on his laptop. “It’s a release. It’s a method of coping.” He has nightmares and sleeps little, and it does not help that the base is frequently shaken by outgoing artillery fire. He was briefly overcome as he recalled how, when a lorry backfired during his most recent home leave, he grabbed his young son and dived between two parked cars. The chaplains said soldiers were seeking their help in unprecedented numbers. “Everyone you meet is just down, and you meet them everywhere — in the weight room, dining facility, getting mail,” said Captain Rico. Even “hard men” were coming to their tent chapel and breaking down. The men are frustrated by the lack of obvious purpose or progress. “The soldiers’ biggest question is: what can we do to make this war stop. Catch one person? Assault one objective? Soldiers want definite answers, other than to stop the Taleban, because that almost seems impossible. It’s hard to catch someone you can’t see,” said Specialist Mercer. “It’s a very frustrating mission,” said Lieutenant Hjelmstad. “The average soldier sees a friend blown up and his instinct is to retaliate or believe it’s for something [worthwhile], but it’s not like other wars where your buddy died but they took the hill. There’s no tangible reward for the sacrifice. It’s hard to say Wardak is better than when we got here.” Captain Masengale, a soldier for 12 years before he became a chaplain, said: “We want to believe in a cause but we don’t know what that cause is.” The soldiers are angry that colleagues are losing their lives while trying to help a population that will not help them. “You give them all the humanitarian assistance that they want and they’re still going to lie to you. They’ll tell you there’s no Taleban anywhere in the area and as soon as you roll away, ten feet from their house, you get shot at again,” said Specialist Eric Petty, from Georgia. Captain Rico told of the disgust of a medic who was asked to treat an insurgent shortly after pulling a colleague’s charred corpse from a bombed vehicle. The soldiers complain that rules of engagement designed to minimise civilian casualties mean that they fight with one arm tied behind their backs. “They’re a joke,” said one. “You get shot at but can do nothing about it. You have to see the person with the weapon. It’s not enough to know which house the shooting’s coming from.” The soldiers joke that their Isaf arm badges stand not for International Security Assistance Force but “I Suck At Fighting” or “I Support Afghan Farmers”. To compound matters, soldiers are mainly being killed not in combat but on routine journeys, by roadside bombs planted by an invisible enemy. “That’s very demoralising,” said Captain Masengale. The constant deployments are, meanwhile, playing havoc with the soldiers’ private lives. “They’re killing families,” he said. “Divorces are skyrocketing. PTSD is off the scale. There have been hundreds of injuries that send soldiers home and affect families for the rest of their lives.” The chaplains said that many soldiers had lost their desire to help Afghanistan. “All they want to do is make it home alive and go back to their wives and children and visit the families who have lost husbands and fathers over here. It comes down to just surviving,” said Captain Masengale. “If we make it back with ten toes and ten fingers the mission is successful,” Sergeant Hughes said. “You carry on for the guys to your left or right,” added Specialist Mercer. The chaplains have themselves struggled to cope with so much distress. “We have to encourage them, strengthen them and send them out again. No one comes in and says, ‘I’ve had a great day on a mission’. It’s all pain,” said Captain Masengale. “The only way we’ve been able to make it is having each other.” Lieutenant-Colonel Kimo Gallahue, 2-87’s commanding officer, denied that his men were demoralised, and insisted they had achieved a great deal over the past nine months. A triathlete and former rugby player, he admitted pushing his men hard, but argued that taking the fight to the enemy was the best form of defence. He said the security situation had worsened because the insurgents had chosen to fight in Wardak province, not abandon it. He said, however, that the situation would have been catastrophic without his men. They had managed to keep open the key Kabul-to-Kandahar highway which dissects Wardak, and prevent the province becoming a launch pad for attacks on the capital, which is barely 20 miles from its border. Above all, Colonel Gallahue argued that counter-insurgency — winning the allegiance of the indigenous population through security, development and good governance — was a long and laborious process that could not be completed in a year. “These 12 months have been, for me, laying the groundwork for future success,” he said. At morning service on Sunday, the two chaplains sought to boost the spirits of their flock with uplifting hymns, accompanied by video footage of beautiful lakes, oceans and rivers. Captain Rico offered a particularly apposite reading from Corinthians: “We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; perplexed but not driven to despair; persecuted but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.”
Poster Comment: “The many soldiers who come to see us have a sense of futility and anger about being here. They are really in a state of depression and despair and just want to get back to their families,” ...“They feel they are risking their lives for progress that’s hard to discern,”... “They are tired, strained, confused and just want to get through.”...“We’re lost — that’s how I feel. I’m not exactly sure why we’re here,” ...“I need a clear-cut purpose if I’m going to get hurt out here or if I’m going to die.”...Sergeant Christopher Hughes, 37, from Detroit, has lost six colleagues and survived two roadside bombs. Asked if the mission was worthwhile, he replied: “If I knew exactly what the mission was, probably so, but I don’t.”...sleeplessness and anger attacks were common....The men are frustrated by the lack of obvious purpose or progress....“We want to believe in a cause but we don’t know what that cause is.”...To compound matters, soldiers are mainly being killed not in combat but on routine journeys, by roadside bombs planted by an invisible enemy....“Divorces are skyrocketing. PTSD is off the scale. There have been hundreds of injuries that send soldiers home and affect families for the rest of their lives.”...“All they want to do is make it home alive and go back to their wives and children and visit the families who have lost husbands and fathers over here. It comes down to just surviving,”...He said the security situation had worsened because the insurgents had chosen to fight in Wardak province, not abandon it...two chaplains sought to boost the spirits of their flock with uplifting hymns, accompanied by video footage of beautiful lakes, oceans and rivers.
[Thread Locked] Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 236.
#3. To: Horse, All (#0)
Wish I were a fly on the wall and could see and hear the activity in the Oval Office today. They gotta be scrambling. Too bad you didn't attach photos to this. They are telling.
There will be much turmoil in this corrupt government today. The congress authorized the money for more war yesterday and today the troops are telling them to go to hell. I love this.
And to think that there are retired officers giving interviews on TV that said McCrystal was not cut out for such responsibility. I hope that "officer" is choking on his words as we post.
At least McChrystal has stood up and told it like it is. Obumski fired McKiernan, and if he fires McChrystal the roof will fall in.
Obama has His own Corregidor. This after a 30k Bush-like surge. The blood is dripping from the hands of the Obama phone bank queens.
Can you add the photo the original post, it needs to be seen???
Well done, Obama!
It is unfair to blame Obama for this. He got stuck with two no-win wars from the Bush Admistration --- and lots of Republican shrapnel about how evil it would be to "cut and run". Additionally, we do owe something to our allies in the coalition for joining with us, and we owe something to the civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan for wrecking what little they had. So Obama is wrestling with an octopus; how to end the war without being called names for it. (I used the octopus metaphor because I thought the more appropriate reference to Uncle Remus' tar baby would be seen as racially insensitive.)
How can anyone be as FULL of SHIT as you are ??
Wasn't the Kenyan selected by brain dead goofs based on a series of speeches he gave offering HOPE we'd leave Iraq? PS: We're a year into his first term and we still have 150k troops there. Do these leftist pigs love war as much as the Bushies? (Sorry for the rhetorical question).
He never said he'd act in contradiction to the advice of the commanders of our operations there. Which is why people like Cindy Sheehan never signed on with support for him to be elected. What I see by his policies in both theaters of operation is an awareness that satisfying either the Neocons or Code Pink is a sure fire route to political oblivion. I served in the U.S. Army for about nine years total. I am a firm believer that once started, disengagement from a war is more complicated and harder than starting one. If he fails to get to the point where we are out of Iraq and do not see the light at the end of the tunnel in Afghanistan, his potential to be re-elected will be compromised. That much I am happy to give you, because it is true enough. ;-)
He's acting in contradiction to the bogus peace prize he just received. Obama is every bit the murdering, blood coated thug politician Bush (43), Clinton, Bush (41), Reagan, Ford, Nixon, etc were. Wake up from your idolization of political psychotics and look at what is right and wrong.
Actually, Bush was very pigheaded with his "I'm the decider and if you don't like it, tough" attitude. Obama is far more sensitive to the process of input and pro-active advocacy of peace. We agree on the point that President Obama needs to have his feet kept to the fire to remember it is the American people ultimately who have the say on whether we stay in either country militarily or not. I do want to see these troops come home and the wars ended. But I don't want a short term gain of peace to the detriment of our security in the future. If he works to satisfy the first mentioned objective while making sure the second is not ignored, he will be doing his job. The biggest worry I have is how his lack of brass in dealing with Israeli Zionists will be the pulled thread that unravels what he is trying to knit. Unless he gets on the learning curve where he realizes the depth and scope of the Israeli factor that threatens to boil things over, all he is trying to do could be for nothing.
Still hopelessly trapped in what they say, rather than what they do. My premise stands; Obama is every bit as blood soaked as any of his contemporaries. Just deal with it.
And I say I hear what you are saying and I respect your worries. But my contention is that the jury is still out on whether he is wrong in walking the centerline of the road on these wars started by Neocons. And if so, will he correct course, or will he be hit by traffic, as that is always the jeopardy of the centerline. I am willing to give him the benefit of doubt for now, and this is due to my belief system which whether I like it or not was molded by my experience in the military. Rest assured though, that if you prove to be more right then I am right now in October of 2009 as his term progresses, I won't be shy about admitting it. I never hero worship just because I vote for someone, as it is easier to win a presidency than it ever is to keep the office for a second term. Just ask Jimmy - the hostage crisis ate my brain - Carter. ;-)
Of course you give the treasonous-murderous Barry Hussein the "benefit of doubt" - you and he share the same warped core "belief system."
-- Quote re-punctuated for clarity --- Well now, reference items of his system of beliefs such as that Muslims have the right to be American citizens and freely practice their religion here as per the First Amendment and legal rulings that have weight in enforcing this contention under the auspices of our system of law that operate under Stare Decisis. Which of course is the legal principle by which judges are obliged to obey the precedents established by prior decisions. Let us use this as an example to address your above quoted assertion. Now, I know you hate all Muslim religious belief, and I assume you don't consider them 'real' Americans who deserve the right to be here or to worship as they believe. I assume as well you don't ever want to see a Muslim as POTUS, or feel Muslims should be in the U.S. Armed Forces, especially in the role as Chaplain. I have Muslim friends, many of whom I got to know while working at Portland Saturday Market, including a retired Egyptian General who made his bones militarily by being a bright light of success in the dark blight of failure the Seven Day war turned out to be for Egypt. I also knew some very talented and dedicated Muslims in the U.S. Army. I support the right for them to be here, to worship as they chose, to witness and promote their faith if they wish to, and their right to serve in the military here, or even for one to serve as president. I submit my belief system in many ways adheres tighter to Constitutional law and even Founder's intent then yours' does. And I do so with the caveat of acknowledging my assumptions of your belief on this example my indeed be wrong. I also submit you have a right to your belief system every bit as much as I have to mine. But I doubt you feel the same way here. It sounds to me in listening to you that you would feeel more comfortable seeing people like me suppressed and stifled. Just as sure as I am that if I am wrong here, that you will let me know that I am.
Your submissions have been found to not ONLY be 'lacking', but COMPLETELY delusional. Again, to what do you attribute your mind-numbingly Traitorous and bereft of your dignity ??? You illegal alien invader loving, pissing on the Constitution, Marxist- collectivist RAT...
Try answering from the brain next time. Answering from the gonads just gives you a really weird verbal salad of a post. My little lacking lackey of a brown boot licking loser. ;-D
How in the world can a boot licking syco like you take you seriously when you are the biggest cartoon on this website, Fobama butt licker ???
I object to your language and rudeness. I know you don't like Mike but this has got to stop.
Fuck that Traitor and every one that stands with these heinous degenerates. You aren't ready to lead, Maggie...
I am leading by example. You don't fight tyranny by being uncivilized and rude. You don't want to vote for me, fine don't vote for me.
You, my olde friend, are deluded. But all the best...
Why? Because I don't believe in being an ass?
#1 - because you believe that running a worthless campaign at this point will make a difference #2 - because you have chosen to play nice with those that will gladly finish off you, your family and everyone like you You do your thing and I'll do mine. Let's compare notes in 6 months. (Of course, being a Lady is always commendable but we're beyond the bullshit if you will)
Even the IRA had a political side. I choose Buford Pusser's style.
You're a fool if you think it applies here. I never thought you a fool, Maggie...
Then why think me one now? Because I call you on your lack of decorum? Hardly grounds for the fool title. I would much rather see posts that say something. Of what value is repeatedly attacking anyone on an internet forum? It does nothing to educate the masses.
I'm not running for office, Mag. I'm preparing for the final battle of this war. Do you UNDERSTAND where we are ?
Dear God another bureaucrat is about to be hatched! We are saved!
You can't even save yourself you ludicrous SOB...
Are you going to make me one more of your 11,573 targets?
I hate to break this to you, but one of your clients is responsible for your sorry ass...
Are you saying I am not going to make your list? Well gosh darn it, dang nab it and golly.
Arator made backward philosophy of war in practice at the Greasy Grass/Little Big Horn.
LOL I would wager you and Arator swap semen, knowing what I know...
Well, one thing for sure I do know; I hear more about penis related things listening to you in forum then any place else I've been I can remember. But I would say that just makes you homo-erotic somewhere in your subconscious mind. You are too sociopathic to do the meat market thing.
Mike - the guy gave up. It looks like you won another round discussing your perspective with reason and civil acumen. Congratulations.
You're such a faggot, rooster...
You lost. You are a loser. And the only reason why you lost is because you can't focus. You can't substantiate any of your viewpoints whether good, bad or ugly. You are akin to a skid-row bum talking trash because you are trash.
Eheheeeee I can't wait be-otch...
Got those 11K targets, I see.... ROTFL.
There are no replies to Comment # 236. End Trace Mode for Comment # 236.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#4. To: Phant2000 (#3)
Wish I were a fly on the wall and could see and hear the activity in the Oval Office today. They gotta be scrambling.
#6. To: Cynicom (#4)
The congress authorized the money for more war yesterday and today the troops are telling them to go to hell.
#7. To: Phant2000 (#6)
(Edited)
And to think that there are retired officers giving interviews on TV that said McCrystal was not cut out for such responsibility.
#8. To: Cynicom (#7)
#9. To: Jethro Tull (#8)
#11. To: Cynicom (#9)
#104. To: Jethro Tull (#11)
#114. To: Shoonra, WEASEL MIKE, corn flake ferret (#104)
It is unfair to blame Obama for this. He got stuck with two no-win wars from the Bush Admistration --- and lots of Republican shrapnel about how evil it would be to "cut and run". Additionally, we do owe something to our allies in the coalition for joining with us, and we owe something to the civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan for wrecking what little they had. So Obama is wrestling with an octopus; how to end the war without being called names for it. (I used the octopus metaphor because I thought the more appropriate reference to Uncle Remus' tar baby would be seen as racially insensitive.)
#115. To: Rotara (#114)
#117. To: Jethro Tull (#115)
#118. To: Ferret Mike (#117)
He never said he'd act in contradiction to the advice of the commanders of our operations there.
#120. To: Jethro Tull (#118)
#121. To: Ferret Mike (#120)
Actually, Bush was very pigheaded with his "I'm the decider and if you don't like it, tough" attitude.
#127. To: Jethro Tull (#121)
#131. To: Ferret Barry, Jethro Tull (#127)
I am willing to give him [Barry Hussein O] the benefit of doubt for now, and this is due to my belief system....
#136. To: Liberator (#131)
(Edited)
"Of course you give the treasonous-murderous Barry Hussein the 'benefit of doubt' - you and he share the same warped core 'belief system.'"
#137. To: WEASEL MIKE, miKe mKKarthy, ferret mike, corn flake lying COMMIE GREATER GOOD POS (#136)
I submit my belief system in many ways adheres tighter to Constitutional law and even Founder's intent then yours' does.
#138. To: Rotara (#137)
#141. To: OBAMALAMADINGDONGER SUCKING BOOT LICKER, ferret mike, shoonra, miKe mKKarthy, WEASEL MIKE, corn flaker (#138)
(Edited)
#145. To: Rotara (#141)
#148. To: farmfriend (#145)
I object to your language and rudeness. I know you don't like Mike but this has got to stop.
#154. To: Rotara (#148)
You aren't ready to lead, Maggie...
#157. To: farmfriend (#154)
#158. To: Rotara (#157)
You, my olde friend, are deluded.
#161. To: farmfriend (#158)
#168. To: Rotara (#161)
#1 - because you believe that running a worthless campaign at this point will make a difference
#2 - because you have chosen to play nice with those that will gladly finish off you, your family and everyone like you
#173. To: farmfriend (#168)
I choose Buford Pusser's style.
#187. To: Rotara (#173)
I never thought you a fool, Maggie...
#193. To: farmfriend (#187)
#200. To: Rotara (#193)
I'm not running for office, Mag.
#204. To: buckeroo (#200)
#212. To: Rotara (#204)
You can't even save yourself you ludicrous SOB...
#214. To: buckeroo (#212)
#217. To: Rotara (#214)
#222. To: buckeroo (#217)
--
#225. To: WEASEL MIKE, ferret mike, miKe mKKarthy, Traitor, arator (#222)
#227. To: Rotara (#225)
"I would wager you and Arator swap semen, knowing what I know... "
#228. To: Ferret Mike (#227)
#229. To: buckeroo (#228)
#232. To: Rotara (#229)
#233. To: buckeroo (#232)
Loser ?
#236. To: Rotara (#233)
Replies to Comment # 236.