IRAQ: UNITED STATES 3RD INFANTRY DIVISION DISAPPOINTED BY DECISION TO KEEP THEM IN IRAQ INDEFINITELY
Record ID:
337921
IRAQ: UNITED STATES 3RD INFANTRY DIVISION DISAPPOINTED BY DECISION TO KEEP THEM IN IRAQ INDEFINITELY
- Title: IRAQ: UNITED STATES 3RD INFANTRY DIVISION DISAPPOINTED BY DECISION TO KEEP THEM IN IRAQ INDEFINITELY
- Date: 17th July 2003
- Summary: AL-HABBANIYA BASE, 75 KM WEST OF BAGHDAD, IRAQ (JULY 15, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. SLV SOLDIERS SITTING IN BASE; SLV MAJOR GENERAL BUFORD BLOUNT, COMMANDER OF THIRD INFANTRY DIVISION GREETING TROOPS; SLV TROOPS SITTING (6 SHOTS) 0.41 2. MV GENERAL BLOUNT AWARDING MEDALS TO TROOPS; SLV TROOPS SEATED (4 SHOTS) 1.16 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) BLOUNT SA
- Embargoed: 1st August 2003 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: AL-HABBANIYA BASE, 75 KM WEST OF BAGHDAD, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVA9XNHBRXFB6X1XUIYXEJNVDHA2
- Story Text: Under fire and unwanted by Iraqis, the U.S. 3rd
Infantry Division in the volatile town of Falluja was bitterly
disappointed by a decision to keep them in Iraq indefinitely.
Facing mounting security threats in Iraq, the U.S. military
said on Tuesday (July 15, 2003) that thousands of soldiers
from the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanised) would stay in the
country despite previous plans to send them home in July and
August.
The division was the first American unit to enter Baghdad
during the war and has been in the Gulf since September.
Thirty- seven soldiers from the division have been killed in
the war and its aftermath.
U.S. troops have come under fire from loyalists of toppled
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, armed gangs and relatives of
Iraqis killed by U.S. troops who seek revenge.
Major General Buford Blount, Commander of the Third
Infantry Division, sympathised with his men.
"Everyone wants to go home. I want to go home. These
soldiers have been here about ten months, well over ten months
now. They trained six months hard in the desert, doing hard
hot work and they are still doing a good job here," he said.
After hearing they would head home several times, Third
Infantry soldiers were stunned by news that the gritty streets
of Falluja would be home for the foreseeable future.
"They keep giving us dates and the dates keep getting
pushed back day by day and finally we get these rumours that
we are going to head on this day and head back to Kuwait and
we all get excited and we start getting the mentality that
way. Nobody wants to commit their emotions that way for good
reason," said Sgt. Thomas Slago.
"The guys are hanging in there and they do their jobs, but
you can't help but notice the looks on their face - they are
exhausted - they are physically and mentally exhausted to the
point that some would hope that they get wounded so that they
can go home. Well, just shoot me, I want to go home" said
another soldier at the base, Sg. Eric Wright.
The Third Infantry shoulders a heavy burden in efforts to
stabilise Iraq, controlling restive towns like Falluja, where
anti-American sentiment is boiling over and U.S. troops are
attacked nearly everyday.
U.S. troops are training Iraqi police to eventually take
over Falluja, a plan that is key to bringing back stability to
the town. But policemen have demonstrated against the U.S.
presence and want the Americans to leave now.
"You always get to where you are going on time but you
never ever get home on time or on schedule. Everything is
always delayed and it is the soldiers and the families that
pay the price. I have been married to my wife for two years
and I have only seen her for four months" added Wright.
American troops in Falluja sometimes pause from their
patrols to try and win the hearts and minds of Iraqis. But the
public relations campaign often turns into a verbal war of
attrition over electricity and water supply problems.
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