Soldiers' petition

From Ynet News, 14/8/06, by Hanan Greenberg ...

Reserve troops who fought in Lebanon urge government to continue operations until abducted soldiers released

Reserve soldiers called up by the army to join the fighting in Lebanon began Monday to circulate a petition where they protest the fact abducted IDF soldiers in Lebanon have not yet been released. The troops, who are just outside Lebanon at this time, already managed to get hundreds of signatures on the petition.

... The petition reads: "We, reserve soldiers who were called up for emergency duty, view with severity the acceptance of the ceasefire agreement in its current format, as a result of the abandonment of the abducted soldiers. We regret the fact that the fog of battle blurred the original war objectives we were enlisted for and the IDF values we were educated on. We're determined to complete the mission until the return of the abducted soldiers."

.... Itzik Ben-Naim, one of the troops who signed the petition, said: "We won't leave two of our comrades inside (Lebanon.) We didn't come to fight for the sake of playing. We didn't come to make fools of ourselves." Ben-Naim, who saw a member of his regiment killed in battle, added the petition was not a political one. "People are frustrated because the objectives were dissolved. It's important that we continue even just so the abductees' families know the soldiers haven't forgotten the values they were educated on."

Ilan Marciano contributed to the report