For Marines, a Frustrating Fight

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Registered: 03-24-2003
For Marines, a Frustrating Fight
31
Sun, 10-10-2004 - 11:36am
Some in Iraq Question How and Why War Is Being Waged

By Steve Fainaru

Washington Post Staff Writer

Sunday, October 10, 2004; Page A01

ISKANDARIYAH, Iraq -- Scrawled on the helmet of Lance Cpl. Carlos Perez are the letters FDNY. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York, the Pentagon and western Pennsylvania, Perez quit school, left his job as a firefighter in Long Island, N.Y., and joined the U.S. Marine Corps.

"To be honest, I just wanted to take revenge," said Perez, 20.

Now, two months into a seven-month combat tour in Iraq, Perez said he sees little connection between the events of Sept. 11 and the war he is fighting. Instead, he said, he is increasingly disillusioned by a conflict whose origins remain unclear and frustrated by the timidity of U.S. forces against a mostly faceless enemy.

"Sometimes I see no reason why we're here," Perez said. "First of all, you cannot engage as many times as we want to. Second of all, we're looking for an enemy that's not there. The only way to do it is go house to house until we get out of here."

Perez is hardly alone. In a dozen interviews, Marines from a platoon known as the "81s" expressed in blunt terms their frustrations with the way the war is being conducted and, in some cases, doubts about why it is being waged. The platoon, named for the size in millimeters of its mortar rounds, is part of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment based in Iskandariyah, 30 miles southwest of Baghdad.

The Marines offered their opinions openly to a reporter traveling with the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines during operations last week in Babil province, then expanded upon them during interviews over three days in their barracks at Camp Iskandariyah, their forward operating base.

The Marines' opinions have been shaped by their participation in hundreds of hours of operations over the past two months. Their assessments differ sharply from those of the interim Iraqi government and the Bush administration, which have said that Iraq is on a certain -- if bumpy -- course toward peaceful democracy.

"I feel we're going to be here for years and years and years," said Lance Cpl. Edward Elston, 22, of Hackettstown, N.J. "I don't think anything is going to get better; I think it's going to get a lot worse. It's going to be like a Palestinian-type deal. We're going to stop being a policing presence and then start being an occupying presence. . . . We're always going to be here. We're never going to leave."

The views of the mortar platoon of some 50 young Marines, several of whom fought during the first phase of the war last year, are not necessarily reflective of all or even most U.S troops fighting in Iraq. Rather, they offer a snapshot of the frustrations engendered by a grinding conflict that has killed 1,064 Americans, wounded 7,730 and spread to many areas of the country.

Although not as highly publicized as attacks in such hot spots as Fallujah, Samarra and Baghdad's Sadr City, the violence in Babil province, south of the capital, is also intense. Since July 28, when the Marines took over operational responsibility for the region, 102 of the unit's 1,100 troops have been wounded, 85 in combat, according to battalion records. Four have been killed, two in combat.

Senior officers attribute the vast difference between the number of killed and wounded to the effectiveness of armor -- bullet-proof vests, helmets and reinforced armored vehicles, primarily Humvees -- in the face of persistent attacks. As of last week, the Marines had come upon 61 roadside bombs, nearly one a day. Forty-nine had detonated. Camp Iskandariyah was hit by mortar shells or rockets on 12 occasions; 21 other times, insurgents tried to hit the base and missed.

Realities on the Ground

Several members of the platoon said they were struck by the difference between the way the war was being portrayed in the United States and the reality of their daily lives.

"Every day you read the articles in the States where it's like, 'Oh, it's getting better and better,' " said Lance Cpl. Jonathan Snyder, 22, of Gettysburg, Pa. "But when you're here, you know it's worse every day."

Pfc. Kyle Maio, 19, of Bucks County, Pa., said he thought government officials were reticent to speak candidly because of the upcoming U.S. elections. "Stuff's going on here but they won't flat-out say it," he said. "They can't get into it."

Continued...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20794-2004Oct9.html

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-31-2003
Sun, 10-10-2004 - 9:10pm
No, I can't say that I have, nor have I had a reason to as I am not aware of any impeachable offenses by President Bush. I did do the search and looked at the first site, it's run by a U of I professor. Does he, or anyone else have the backing of any members of congress?
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Registered: 10-01-2004
Sun, 10-10-2004 - 9:32pm
Are you seriously saying that you do not understand the historical significance of the election in Afghanistan and that women were allowed to vote for the first time ever?
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Registered: 12-07-2003
Sun, 10-10-2004 - 9:54pm
<>

Wrong. Women in Afghanistan were given the right to vote in 1964, which was later taken away by the rise of the Taliban.

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Registered: 03-24-2003
Sun, 10-10-2004 - 10:19pm
>>Are you seriously saying that you do not understand the historical significance of the election in Afghanistan and that women were allowed to vote for the first time ever?<<

Hmmmmm... no, I don't understand it, oy. Have I seen you on the feminist board?

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Registered: 12-07-2003
Sun, 10-10-2004 - 10:26pm
I read an article a long time ago (before 9/11 and the War on Terror) about the situation of women in Afghanistan. The article made the very poignant point that one of the saddest aspects of the Taliban's treatment of women was that women in Afghanistan were quite free prior to their rise to power (I know I don't need to explain how the Taliban came to power or who helped them to do this). Women were professionals, doctors, lawyers, etc. They did not wear burkas. They could vote. I think that this makes it especially sad what happened to these women. They went from being doctors to not being able to see a doctor-- period. This is the true tragedy, in my opinion.
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Registered: 03-24-2003
Sun, 10-10-2004 - 10:49pm
I agree. Yet women here went through a losing of gains made as well. Beginning roughly around 1930, many women were chased out of professions, this as being gay, based on prominent writings of the time, came to be seen as abnormal. Women who were professors at all women institutions were chased out for fear they were lesbians and would corrupt young women. Curriculums were changed to be more domestic oriented. It would not be until the 1960's that we would begin to reverse what was lost. It can happen, and we must always be aware that it could... taking gains for granted is not a good thing.


Edited 10/10/2004 10:53 pm ET ET by rayeellen
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Registered: 08-31-2003
Sun, 10-10-2004 - 11:15pm
So it's a very good thing that these women are gaining their rights back and are no longer relegated to a subhuman position in this country. Seems like some wonderful progress to me.
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Registered: 12-07-2003
Mon, 10-11-2004 - 12:06am
The problem is that the election was seen as unfair by many in the country. In history, we can see the result, in many countries, of US-backed leadership. It's not a pretty picture. The US often puts people into power, not because they will do things in the best interest of the people, but because they are in the best interest of the US. I hope this is not the case here, but we'll see. I have no problem with the steps that are being taken to include women in Afghani society, but I'm worried about what will happen to women if the US-backed government collapses under pressure by other groups in the country. Who knows who will take power if this happens.
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Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 10-11-2004 - 1:10am

<<"My understanding is women did not vote in any great numbers, forbidden by their partners from doing so. Such progress.">>....your glass is sooooo half empty Rayeellen! Is it perfect yet? No. Is it a great start? Yes. Keep in mind what this nation went through in the past decades, and observe where it is today after just 3 years? What are the register percentages for the US-elections? Did FL improve its systems in the past 4 years?








AFP Photo

Afghan women pose with their voting registration cards as they await admittance to a polling station in Shiberghan, northern Afghanistan. Observers gave their approval to Afghanistan's first-ever presidential election, deeming it "fairly democratic" and rejecting opposition calls for a re-poll on the grounds of fraud.

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Afghan women having their say in landmark presidential election


By Stephen Graham
ASSOCIATED PRESS

October 10, 2004

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – As Bibi Gul voted in Afghanistan's landmark presidential election yesterday, she cried recalling how she lost her husband to war, raised five children under the Taliban and was threatened with having her hand chopped off if she dared cast her ballot.



"I have so many troubles, sometimes my mind is not right," the 45-year-old said in a crowd of blue and green burqas at a women-only polling station in Kandahar, the former capital of the oppressive regime.


"If Karzai becomes president, maybe we will get some land and be able to go to Mecca. What we need is Islam, which is peace."

More than 4 million women registered for yesterday's presidential election, 41 percent of the 10.5 million people who signed up to vote in this country of an estimated 25 million.

Many more were voting among Afghan refugee communities in Pakistan and Iran. Moqadasa Sidiqi, a woman and a student whose family fled Kabul in 1992, became the first Afghan to cast a ballot in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, at 7 a.m.

Although opposition candidates claimed the polls were unfair because the ink used to mark people's thumbs so they vote only once rubbed off too easily, women here hoped the polls would mark the advent of women's suffrage in a country steeped in conservative Islamic tradition.

The figures for registered women voters were a revelation, suggesting Afghan women are determined to help draw a democratic line under a quarter-century of strife. Still, they lag in much of the Pashtun-dominated south, where many Afghans still believe women should leave their home only in a medical emergency.

In the courtyard of the Haino School for Girls close to Kandahar's main mosque, scores of women lined up yesterday morning, chatting excitedly and pressing around the doors of the small classrooms used as makeshift polling booths.

The ballot was supposed to be secret. But election staff said no screens were delivered in time, leaving women to mark their papers – some with a loop, some with a line and others with a squiggle – in front of the poll worker handing them out.

After squinting at the pictures on the long green ballot – most of the women were illiterate – almost all chose Karzai, a fellow Pashtun. An ethnic Hazara challenger appeared to be running a distant second. None was considering the lone female candidate from distant Kabul.

Women registered most avidly in cities such as the relatively cosmopolitan capital, and across the north and center, where ethnic minorities take a more relaxed view of patriarchy. Competition between ethnic groups in mixed areas also spurred tribal elders to marshal a bloc vote from their women.

At a polling station in Kabul, Gul Sum, a 60-year-old ethnic Hazara housewife wearing a black veil, showed off a thumb stained with the ink from special pens shipped in from India. Some of them apparently ran dry.

Sum said the vote would help glue the country back together after more than two decades of violence and poisonous ethnic division. She prayed that militants would not make good on their threat to attack the process.

"In the line waiting with me, there were women from all the different groups: Pashtun, Tajik, Uzbek, Hazara," Sum said. "For the first time, women are having a say in the future of Afghanistan. We are fed up with war."

There was gratitude but no thumping for women's rights, which are enshrined in Afghanistan's new constitution, passed in January.

"I came to vote for Karzai to bring peace and make sure the young men have jobs," said a woman in Kandahar hidden by a yellow burqa whose voter ID card identified her only as Fatima, 45.

Four women were among the dozen election workers killed by anti-government militants during the months of voter registration, but Fatima said she had no fears about voting because her husband had given his permission.

She said she was relieved that the Taliban's draconian interpretation of Islamic law, which saw millions of women and girls forced out of work and education and whipped in the street for showing as much as an ankle, had been swept away.

Still, Bibi Gul said that on her way to the polls she received a reminder of the hard-line regime – which was ousted by an American bombing campaign in late 2001.

"A man with a scarf around his head asked me where I was going. He said: 'If you vote, I will see it from your thumb and I will cut off your hand,'

Djie

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Registered: 08-05-2004
Mon, 10-11-2004 - 1:15am