De defensa

…En Afghanistan apparaît un phénomène redoutable: une chute bien préoccupante du moral des G.I.’s. Le Times de Londres publie, le 8 octobre 2009, un long article sur le moral des forces US en Afghanistan. Le texte est écrit à partir du témoignage de deux chapelains aux armées, qui viennent de passer 9 mois dans diverses unités US en opérations. Un seul mot: une confusion totale des esprits, avec le moral à mesure, qui est une bonne façon de définir cette “guerre” si étrange, sans queue ni tête, sans front, sans victoire ni défaite, sans but ni stratégie, qui dure depuis huit ans et dont on débat à Washington lisant des bouquins sur la guerre du Vietnam, pour savoir comment commencer la guerre en Afghanistan…

«American soldiers serving in Afghanistan are depressed and deeply disillusioned, according to the chaplains of two US battalions that have spent nine months on the front line in the war against the Taleban. Many feel that they are risking their lives — and that colleagues have died — for a futile mission and an Afghan population that does nothing to help them, the chaplains told The Times in their makeshift chapel on this fortress-like base in a dusty, brown valley southwest of Kabul.

»“The many soldiers who come to see us have a sense of futility and anger about being here. They are really in a state of depression and despair and just want to get back to their families,” said Captain Jeff Masengale, of the 10th Mountain Division’s 2-87 Infantry Battalion. “They feel they are risking their lives for progress that’s hard to discern,” said Captain Sam Rico, of the Division’s 4-25 Field Artillery Battalion. “They are tired, strained, confused and just want to get through.” The chaplains said that they were speaking out because the men could not.»

Les conditions opérationnelles sont toutes marquées par la confusion, l’absence d’identification de l’ennemi, etc. «The soldiers complain that rules of engagement designed to minimise civilian casualties mean that they fight with one arm tied behind their backs. “They’re a joke,” said one. “You get shot at but can do nothing about it. You have to see the person with the weapon. It’s not enough to know which house the shooting’s coming from.” […]

»The men are frustrated by the lack of obvious purpose or progress. “The soldiers’ biggest question is: what can we do to make this war stop. Catch one person? Assault one objective? Soldiers want definite answers, other than to stop the Taleban, because that almost seems impossible. It’s hard to catch someone you can’t see,” said Specialist Mercer.

»“It’s a very frustrating mission,” said Lieutenant Hjelmstad. “The average soldier sees a friend blown up and his instinct is to retaliate or believe it’s for something [worthwhile], but it’s not like other wars where your buddy died but they took the hill. There’s no tangible reward for the sacrifice. It’s hard to say Wardak is better than when we got here.”»

La conclusion est donnée par l’un des chapelain interrogé, le capitaine Masengale. Une guerre sans cause, des soldats sans cause, vieille histoire… «Captain Masengale, a soldier for 12 years before he became a chaplain, said: “We want to believe in a cause but we don’t know what that cause is.”»

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