Soldiers in Iraq: 'Why are we here?'

Invisible enemy, untrustworthy allies have troops questioning their purpose

NBC News

Updated: 7:26 p.m. ET Oct 6, 2006

The U.S. Cavalry's Crazy Horse, 3rd Platoon ventures out into Southern Baghdad, where the enemy is invisible, Iraqi allies untrustworthy, and where American troops increasingly ask themselves if this is their fight anymore. And who is the enemy?

"It's not clear now who we're always fighting: they're terrorists, they're criminals, they're religious radicals," says Sgt. Mike Schmieder of the Army's 1-14 Cavalry.

"My men are infiltrated by Shiite militias and I can't get rid of them," he says. "If I report them, they'll kill me."

The troops say it's frustrating not to trust their Iraqi counterparts. Do soldiers here ever ask themselves, "Why are we here? Is this our war anymore?"

"Oh yes, all the time. I ask myself that a lot, too," says Spc. Vernon Roberson of 1-14 Cavalry. "We've been here for so long and we've done so much, but it's just so far we can go."