Blue Platoon

The Washington Post profiles a platoon in Iraq. Many quotes in the story come from the diary of one of the soldiers:

Tickal described himself as apolitical: "Truthfully, I don't care who the president is. I would have signed up to come over here anyway." But he criticized the apathy of Americans who, he wrote, failed to understand the stakes in Iraq: "I hope people back home understand what we are doing, keeping our country free. Truthfully I think our country needs a kick in the ass. Most people believe it doesn't affect them. Who cares? Well, I CARE."

The experiences of the 17-man "Blue Platoon," as the unit is called, go to the heart of the growing debate over the continued involvement of U.S. troops in Iraq. The days are infused not with the politics of war but the stark realities of it: tragedy and loss, loneliness and exhaustion, resilience and camaraderie in the face of a stubborn and deadly insurgency. The platoon's daily life has been ordered by nothing more than the merciless patrol schedule, twice-daily, four-hour combat missions that inevitably place the soldiers in the paths of attacks aimed at killing them.

American soldiers in Iraq: tragedy, loss, loneliness, exhaustion, resilience, camaraderie. Their daily life: merciless, in the path of attacks

Insurgents: stubborn and deadly.

Reporter Steve Fainaru isn't up to Mike Yon's standard (but in fairness, who is?) - but but read the whole thing.