"It's a joke." US soldier assesses "The Surge"

Here's what Bush's "surge" is accomplishing. Via LeDaro and ThinkProgress. The video provided by ThinkProgress is a segment of the ABC Nightline report provided by a journalist embedded with a group of US soldiers for two weeks. The words that seem to have caught everyone's attention is:

I challenge the President or whoever has us here for 15 months to ride alongside me. I’ll do another 15 months if he comes out here and rides along with me every day for 15 months. I’ll do 15 more months. They don’t even have to pay me extra.

Have no fear. That is never going to happen. The guy who ultimately made the decision to have that soldier there couldn't see his way clear to finish his military obligation in a unit not committed to combat. His advisers, most of his cabinet and most assuredly the cheerleaders at PNAC wouldn't come within a thousand miles of a combat zone without slipping in their own shit.

The one line that actually caught my attention however, was this one by Corporal Joshua Lake:

It's a joke. We'll have spent fourteen months "in contact". Basically, fighting all fourteen months.

Now there have probably been a few breaks, but there is no indication from what Lake says that there has been any significant rotation out of the combat area. His description of the situation he and his troops are facing is: four to six hours dealing with combat, improvised explosive devices, searches, etc. and then four to six hours off, which would be insufficient rest under any circumstances.

For months on end. If the unit's continuous "in contact" time was only twelve of those fourteen months, the number of days of combat exposure would have exceeded 350.

By comparison, in the 2nd World War the troops that landed on the beaches on D-Day, June 6th, 1944 and fought their way into Germany took 335 days. One of the longest continuous stretches of "in contact" time during that eastward campaign was 73 days, and that was considered excessive.

A number of studies have attributed increased combat exposure to increased risk of symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder. What is also clear is that there is a direct correlation between combat exposure and later substance abuse, chronic unemployment, relationship breakdown and spousal abuse.

Corporal lake is absolutely correct. Bush's "surge" is a joke - for Bush and company. For the "boots on the ground" it is horror show and once they come home, it will get worse.