"Driving around waiting to get blown up"

The WaPo has a great article chocked full of quotes from US soldiers on the ground in Baghdad. Morale in Baghdad is low and falling. As the the description of fighting has shifted from "fighting terrorists" to "preventing sectarian violence" they seem to have a growing sense of lack of mission.

Steffey said he wished "somebody would explain to us, 'Hey, this is what we're working for.' " With a stream of expletives, he said he could not care less "if Iraq's free" or "if they're a democracy."

I'll repeat what I've been saying for months(April, June, July,) "Mr. Bush, Mr. Rumsfeld, what's the mission?" These guys will fight like hell if you tell them what they're supposed to do. And the fact that they don't know, says alot about the leadership.

Driving around waiting to get shot at is a very poor tactic.

(Notice that these guys were willing to go "on the record." That didn't happen a year ago which tells me this is very widespread.)