RAMADI, Iraq – American troops in one of the most dangerous corners of Iraq welcomed plans for change Wednesday as the Pentagon prepared for a new chief and a bipartisan commission urged a new war strategy.
But many of the soldiers from Company C, 1st Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment were skeptical they’ll be going home anytime soon, despite a high-level U.S. panel’s recommendation that most combat troops leave Iraq by early 2008.
“There’s no way we’re leaving in two years no matter what any recommendation says,” Spc. Eisenhower Atuatasi, 26, of Westminster, Calif., said. He thought 2012 was more realistic.
Sgt. Christopher Wiacik, 28, of Lavonia, Mich., also was pessimistic.
“It’s just a study group. It’s not really going to affect the president. I don’t see any major changes happening until presidential elections start,” Wiacik said. “I think both sides will promise to get troops out and give timelines then, but not before.”
The U.S. Army troops, based in the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Ramadi, are still reeling from learning two months ago that their tour was being extended until at least February.
“We’ve been here for 12 months now and there’s been no progress,” said Spc. Richard Johnson, 20, of Bridgeport, Conn., as he manned a machine gun on the rooftop of an outpost ringed by a shallow moat of sewage.
Nearby buildings have been leveled by rocket or tank fire, and others are riddled with bullet holes. The neighborhood only has electricity a few hours a day and most streets are barricaded with barbed wire and blast walls.
“It’s like holding a child’s hand. How long can you hold onto his hand before he does something on his own?” Johnson said. “How much longer do we have to get shot at or blown up?”
The U.S. military said in a statement that 10 Americans had died in four separate incidents but gave no further details, pending notification of relatives. In addition to the 10 casualties, the U.S. command said two U.S. soldiers were killed Sunday in Baghdad and a Navy sailor were killed in Anbar province on Monday.
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