In their own words, the troops on the ground:

LATimes:

With tours extended, multiple deployments and new tactics that put them in bare posts in greater danger, they feel leaders are out of touch with reality.

In the dining hall of a U.S. Army post south of Baghdad, President Bush was on the wide-screen TV, giving a speech about the war in Iraq. The soldiers didn't look up from their chicken and mashed potatoes.

As military and political leaders prepare to deliver a progress report on the conflict to Congress next month, many soldiers are increasingly disdainful of the happy talk that they say commanders on the ground and White House officials are using in their discussions about the war.

And they're becoming vocal about their frustration over longer deployments and a taxing mission that keeps many living in dangerous and uncomfortably austere conditions. Some say two wars are being fought here: the one the enlisted men see, and the one that senior officers and politicians want the world to see.

"I don't see any progress. Just us getting killed," said Spc. Yvenson Tertulien, one of those in the dining hall in Yousifiya, 10 miles south of Baghdad, as Bush's speech aired last month. "I don't want to be here anymore."


Oh, my. At this rate, the wingnuts will have to start swiftboating the entire military. Or, perhaps someone will finally get a clue and bring them home.

I wonder if the repubs have thought about the eventuality of all these angry, voting surviving Veterans returning home, and the outcome of future elections? I don't think they have. I'm not certain if that is because they don't expect enough survivors to have any significant impact, or they're just stupid. Kind of a toss up, isn't it?

Don't forget, it won't be just the Veterans, it will be their families, their friends, anyone who hears their horror stories and their voiced displeasure with their governent leaders.

-Diane