IRAQ: UNITED STATES 3RD INFANTRY DIVISION DISAPPOINTED BY DECISION TO KEEP THEM IN IRAQ INDEFINITELY

Record ID: 337921

  • 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 SAYING "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. The moral is good and we are doing a lot to work on the quality of life. We are trying to get them out of here, re-deploy out of here but they have to stay focused on the mission. I think they know that and this kind of shows today that they are still focused on the mission." 1.45 4. SLV SOLDIERS SITTING IN BASE 1.49 5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SGT. THOMAS SLAGO, SAYING "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. One day the company commander called us out for a mission and said we are going to be here probably for another two and half more months." 2.16 6. SLV SOLDIERS AT BASE 2.20 7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SGT ERIC WRIGHT, SAYING: "I felt probably a level of hopelessness that I have never felt before in my life. I felt just like the knock out punch I guess. We got the first punch in the beginning of June. We thought we were going home and at the beginning of July we thought we were going home, so this was the third time, so I felt really hopeless." 2.47 8. SCU WRIGHT'S HAND 2.51 9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SGTERIC WRIGHT, SAYING "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." 3.15 10. SCU TIRED LOOKING SOLDIERS AT BASE (2 SHOTS) 3.25 11. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SG. ERIC WRIGHT, SAYING "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." 3.42 11. SLV HUMVEES IN BASE 3.56 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • 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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