- FALLUJAH, Iraq (AFP) -- Anger
and resignation prevailed Monday among the American combat troops of Camp
St Mere, just a few kilometers (miles) from the spot where 16 of their
brothers-in-arms died in the downing of a Chinook helicopter.
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- "It sucks, it pisses me off," says Specialist
Wesley Allstead, 22, of the 82nd Airborne Division's Third Brigade Combat
Team, who said he heard about the violent incident when talking on the
phone with his wife.
-
- But the death of American soldiers did not come as a
shock to Allstead, who has become used to the almost nightly fire US patrols
face around Fallujah, a hotbed of resistance to the US-led occupation,
50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Baghdad.
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- "Any mission is dangerous. This is Iraq," he
says, swatting away a fly and pointing to the vast expanse of dust that
surrounds the camp set up at a former Iraqi military base.
-
- "Every time we go on mission, it goes through our
minds -- today it could be one of us," he said, grimly. But when he
enlisted, he knew he might have to put his life on the line, he said.
-
- Another soldier, toting an assault rifle and clad in
full combat gear, had not even heard about Sunday's deaths.
-
- He too was angry when told 16 US soldiers had died in
the downing of their chopper.
-
- "We try to help these people, and they kill us,"
said Private David Hall.
-
- The soldiers were killed as they headed to Baghdad airport
en route to the United States or Germany for 20 days of leave.
-
- "It's awful to think of their families," said
Hall. "I can't help but think what it would do to my wife and kids
if I got killed just as I was heading out, " said Hall.
-
- He saw the shooting of the chopper as a wake-up call
to troops who may have become complacent.
-
- "It makes us notice what the situation really is
here," he said. "They have guys shooting at us all the time,
anywhere there are Americans is a target."
-
- Hall and other soldiers admit they have become used to
daily attacks, including mortar rounds that land almost nightly within
the camp's perimeter, but, until now, always away from troops or buildings.
-
- "It just doesn't make us nervous anymore,"
he said, admitting however that he has given some thought to the possibility
the enemy could improve its aim.
-
- Since Sunday, security has been stepped up at the base,
with checkpoints on the road leading to the entrance further fortified,
heavily armed patrols guarding access and cars thoroughly checked.
-
- But, said Hall, who had guard duty at the St Mere camp
gate Monday, "Anybody could drive a truck up here and blow us up.
That would be good enough for them."
-
- Several 82nd soldiers said morale remained high, and
stressed they remained determined to root out the enemy -- be they loyalists
of ousted president Saddam Hussein or foreign terrorists.
-
- But at least one soldier, an army photographer, was badly
shaken when he saw the wounded who were originally taken to Camp St Mere's
medical facility.
-
- "He had to leave quickly, he couldn't take the screaming,"
said one of his colleagues, Emily Donoghy.
-
- At the gates of the camp, a few hundred meters (yards)
from a field littered with smashed tanks of Saddam's defeated army, soldiers
try not to think too hard of the enemy.
-
- They know he could lurk anywhere or strike anytime.
-
- "They got guys who love shooting at us," said
Hall. "It makes us not want to sit here."
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- http://www.prolog.net/webnews/wed/cj/Qiraq-unrest-helicopter.RCY0_DN3.html
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