"What did we invade here for?"

As George Bush prepares to funnel more troops into the war for Baghdad, some American soldiers already there ask pointed questions and make trenchant observations.

Spec. Joshua Steffey:

Steffey said he wished "somebody would explain to us, 'Hey, this is what we're working for.' " With a stream of expletives, he said he could not care less "if Iraq's free" or "if they're a democracy."

"The first time somebody you know dies, the first thing you ask yourself is, 'Well, what did he die for?' "

Sgt. Christopher Dugger:

"We're trained as an Army to fight and destroy the enemy and then take over," added Dugger, 26, of Reno, Nev. "But I don't think we're trained enough to push along a country, and that's what we're actually doing out here."

Spec. David Fulcher:

"I mean, if you compare the casualty count from this war to, say, World War II, you know obviously it doesn't even compare," Fulcher said. "But World War II, the big picture was clear -- you know you're fighting because somebody was trying to take over the world, basically. This is like, what did we invade here for?"

"How did it become, 'Well, now we have to rebuild this place from the ground up'?" Fulcher asked.

The architects of the invasion and occupation of Iraq often throw up soldiers like these as human shields against criticism of delusional goals, botched strategies, incompetent planning, and a war that should never have been launched in the first place. But any comparison of those politicians to the men and women sent to fight and ordered to hold and stabilize an entire country is an insult to those troops. The vast majority of American soldiers are doing what soldiers at their best always do: their duty, to the best of their ability. When such soldiers ask the kinds of questions and express the kind of frustration we hear now out of Baghdad, it should shame us all. We sent them, after all...though to what end, only God knows.

"It's frustrating, but we are definitely a help to these people," [Dugger] said. "I'm out here with the guys that I know so well, and I couldn't picture myself being anywhere else."

If the Vulcans in the White House had an ounce of the integrity of Sgt. Dugger and his troops, even now I would feel somewhat better about America in Iraq. But then, if they had such integrity, America probably wouldn't be there.

(Cross-posted.)