Pretending to patrol, ill-equipped U.S. soilders conduct ‘search and avoid’ missions

By Dahr JamailUpdated Nov 7, 2007, 04:27 pm
WATERTOWN, N.Y. (IPS/GIN) - The morale of U.S. soldiers in Iraq has plunged so low that many have begun parking their Humvees and pretending to be on patrol, according to an active-duty soldier with the 10th Mountain Division.
Phil Aliff, who is stationed at Fort Drum in upstate New York, said more and more soldiers have begun engaging in these “search and avoid” missions.
“We were hit by so many roadside bombs we became incredibly demoralized, so we decided the only way we wouldn’t be blown up was to avoid driving around all the time,” said Mr. Aliff, who served nearly one year in Iraq from August 2005 to July 2006, in the areas of Abu Ghraib and Fallujah, both west of Baghdad. “Most men in my platoon in Iraq were just in from combat tours in Afghanistan.”
“Morale was incredibly low,” Mr. Aliff continued, adding that he joined the military because he was raised in a poor family by a single mother and had few other prospects. He said he participated in roughly 300 patrols.
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