U.S. troops in ready for battle, but pray for peace in Iraq

SOUTH OF THE KUWAIT-IRAQ BORDER, Kuwait -- "I eat raw meat for breakfast!" a group of U.S. soldiers barked in unison before storming wooden shacks in an urban warfare drill.

The young men who would spearhead any attack on Iraq say they are pumped up, confident and fully prepared for war. When the sun goes down and the drills are over, however, many speak of their fears -- and pray there will be no bloodshed at all.

"There's a certain amount of fear in everybody. It just depends if a guy wants to talk about it," said Pvt. Desmond Lackey, one of 130 U.S. soldiers on the urban warfare training exercise this week in the Kuwaiti desert a few miles south of the Iraqi border.

The 20-year old recruit from Jay, Okla., clutches an M-16 assault rifle after sweeping through a mock village with night vision goggles -- an exercise to practice clearing rooms and making split-second decisions about when and whom to shoot.

"Always," he responds when asked if he, too, is afraid.

Although exact numbers have not been divulged, tens of thousands of U.S. troops have amassed in the Kuwaiti desert for a possible assault on Iraq. Washington says Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein must rid his country of all weapons of mass destruction or face war.

Soldiers interviewed at the desert outpost on Wednesday and Thursday -- all from the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division based in Fort Stewart, Ga., -- expressed a diversity of opinions about what the future might hold. All said they were ready and willing to perform their duties -- but enthusiasm for a possible war was decidedly mixed.

War preparations

Some soldiers, cut off from newspapers and radio reports, were eager to find out the latest about Saddam's brinkmanship or the international squabbles surrounding a possible war.

"Most of the guys are thinking, 'send us to do this or send us home.' ... Nobody wants to go in and pull the trigger -- ever," said 27-year-old Capt. Chris Nixon, of Woodstown, N.J.

Preparation for urban warfare is essential because U.S. military planners believe Saddam might forgo desert battle and instead amass his forces in cities, possibly putting U.S. troops in more danger and risking massive civilian casualties.

Capt. Chris Carter of Athens, Ga., who commands the unit undergoing the urban warfare training, said the Americans' superior preparation and technology will erase any advantage Saddam's troops might have because of their intimate knowledge of urban areas.

"It's their ground, but we'll make it our ground," he said.

The commander's confidence was echoed by many soldiers, who said they've been working hard to sharpen their reflexes. In the case of urban warfare, that means split-second coordination with platoon mates and being hyper-alert to snipers.

Some soldiers, however, depicted urban fighting as a nightmare.

The Iraqis "want us to come in and pick us off," said Wendell Jack, a 30-year-old sergeant from New York.

Spc. Peter Alsis, 22, of Pepperell, Mass., said he had little doubt Iraqi troops would use civilians as cover, or station themselves in hospitals and schools. In that case, "there's not a whole lot we can do. And I'm sure they know that, too," he said.

America's mixed feelings about a possible war were reflected among the soldiers in Kuwait.

Sgt. Jack, who said he lost a cousin in the World Trade Center attack, said "Bush is playing the same thing Saddam is playing. It's a game."

And Gordon Brown, a 25-year-old sergeant from Peoria, Ill., said his grandfather, a World War ll veteran, "thinks this war is all about oil and all about wealth. He wants us to get out."

Angel Lopez, a 32-year-old private from San Juan, Puerto Rico, said in Spanish: "I ask God that there will be no war."

One soldier, who asked that his name not be used, said his girlfriend was among those in the United States who marched to protest the war last week.

Those protests elicited many emotions among the troops, with some, including 35-year-old Staff Sgt. Thomas Slago, saying he wished they would stop.

Slago, of Woodland Hills, Calif., added, however, that the freedom to disagree is the sort of value being defended by U.S. troops in the Gulf.

He said troops are there so protesters can do that if they want to. "But I don't agree with them," he said.

Even the soldiers who expressed reservations about the war said such sentiment would not affect their performance.

Having mixed feelings "is not going to bring you down," said Alsis, the specialist from Massachusetts. "That's our job: to go in, take them out and come back home."

Capt. Peter Johnson, a Presbyterian chaplain accompanying troops in Kuwait, said he thought the soldiers have good morale despite some misgivings.

"Some think to themselves, 'I might have to take another person's life.' They're introspective about that," he said.

"Some are scared," continued the chaplain, of San Diego. "But I think that's a good sign. I think they have a healthy fear."