WASHINGTON, 17 October 2003 — A survey of US troops in Iraq by the military newspaper Stars and Stripes has found that nearly three-quarters of those questioned said unit morale was low or average, and that nearly half did not plan to re-enlist. The survey, published in the Wednesday edition of the paper, is part of a seven-part series on troop morale and re-enlistment problems in Iraq. The Stars and Stripes is Pentagon-funded newspaper published by civilians — often former military — with some military personnel also working on staff.
Among the findings:
• Some 34 percent of those surveyed said morale was low or very low, 27 percent said it was high or very high, and the rest said it was average. Morale levels however varied considerably — reservists ranked morale as lowest, while Air Force and Marine units largely considered their morale high.
• Many Reserve and National Guard respondents said they often felt like second-class soldiers who received lesser quality equipment, support and treatment than their full-time comrades.
• Air Force bases and food services were markedly better than those for army units, and army soldiers who saw those sites said the division undercut morale and teamwork.
• Nearly half of those surveyed said they do not plan to re-enlist. Military leaders told the paper that enlistment rates historically drop after conflicts, and overall military re-enlistment appears fine, according to the Pentagon.
• More than one-third said that their mission was “not clearly” or “not at all” defined. Reservists had the most complaints in this category, the newspaper found, while Air Force and Marine respondents had the least complaints.
When asked how worthwhile the war in Iraq was for the United States, 67 percent agreed that it was “worthwhile,” while 31 percent said it was of little or no value.
The survey was based on a standard list of 17 questions the newspaper presented to 1,935 US soldiers in Iraq over a three-week period in August. Reporters visited 50 US military camps in northern, central and southern Iraq interviewing soldiers and collecting survey answers.
A roadside bomb in Saddam Hussein’s hometown killed a four-year-old Iraqi girl and wounded her sister yesterday as they were walking to school, a US Army medic said. Guerrillas might have been targeting a nearby US tank column in central Tikrit, said Capt. Alex Morales, physician’s assistant for the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment.
“They were on their way to school and the device went off,” said Morales, who had visited the hospital where the girls were taken. Jihan Omran died after she was taken to hospital. Her sister, Zeinab, 12, was in stable condition with shrapnel wounds, Morales said.
A Reuters photographer saw Zeinab partly covered with a blanket in hospital, an eye and both feet bandaged. The girls’ father, Abbas, sat at her bedside, holding her hand. Tikrit, about 130 km north of Baghdad, is a focus of Iraqi resistance to US forces occupying Iraq. Roadside bombs are a favorite weapon of guerrillas facing US forces.
Iraqi police, meanwhile, detained a dozen supporters of a radical Shiite Muslim cleric yesterday, evicting them from a municipality building in Baghdad’s teeming Sadr City suburb. Police spokesman Capt. Basim Mahmoud said the detainees, followers of Moqtada Al-Sadr, had been brought to police headquarters in Baghdad.
