Here’s the story of one marine.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja8kuAHQaWQ[/youtube]
The comments following this video at YouTube substantiate the huge cultural divide that exists in the U.S.
The comment that haunts me the most is about the day-to-day job: breaking down doors and terrorizing numerous innocent people. This occurs because our soldiers can’t tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys–the bad guys don’t have “Bad Guy” stamped on their foreheads. And our soldiers are asked to make these wild guesses day after day after day. It’s like asking a brain surgeon to remove a brain tumor when he or she can’t tell the difference between the “good” cells and the “bad” cells. Would you proceed with surgery in that scenario?
Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), the organization to which this marine belongs, was founded “to give a voice to the large number of active duty service people and veterans who are against this war, but are under various pressures to remain silent.” IVAW stands for:
- Immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces in Iraq;
- Reparations for the destruction and corporate pillaging of Iraq so that ordinary Iraqi people can control their own lives and future; and
- Full benefits, adequate healthcare (including mental health), and other supports for returning servicemen and women.
For more about what it’s like on the ground, consider this interview of Paul Rieckhoff by Keith Olbermann. We’ve written about Paul Rieckhoff before. He authored Chasing Ghosts after serving a tour of duty in Iraq. Paul, who I met at the 2007 National Conference for Media Reform in Memphis, now heads the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
