Must read IMHO

The title is:

The War as We Saw It

An Op-Ed by 7 soldiers returning from Iraq and offered in the NYT. One quick snippet:

VIEWED from Iraq at the tail end of a 15-month deployment, the political debate in Washington is indeed surreal. Counterinsurgency is, by definition, a competition between insurgents and counterinsurgents for the control and support of a population. To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched. As responsible infantrymen and noncommissioned officers with the 82nd Airborne Division soon heading back home, we are skeptical of recent press coverage portraying the conflict as increasingly manageable and feel it has neglected the mounting civil, political and social unrest we see every day. (Obviously, these are our personal views and should not be seen as official within our chain of command.)

So you judge. Who's right? Personally I believe those who've been in Iraq over the fat asses in Washington who make up their own reality. But its your choice.

(read more)