Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan

My Perspective

Regardless of your stance on the U.S. military occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, the experiences of the many young men and women who have served on both fronts should not go unrecognized.

Last night at Busboys and Poets, a progressive bookstore/restaurant on the corner of 14th and V streets in Northwest D.C., Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) unveiled its book "Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan: Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations" as an encore to the weekend of live testimony from veterans last March that marked the 5th anniversary of the Iraq War.

I can only wish it had come sooner and that more Americans, particularly policymakers, would dare listen to what they do not wish to hear, much less believe. While I was not able to attend the original hearings at the National Labor College (the original venue was my alma mater the University of Maryland, but the 5th anniversary of the war coincided with Spring Break), I did watch the testimony on my favorite media outlet, Democracy Now!, and was struck by the courage of the men and women who so boldly spoke out against atrocities I had never witnessed and could only imagine. Looking every bit like the famed Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) over thirty years prior, except with shorter hair, they defied their superiors in Washington, presenting the realities on the ground in sharp contrast to the jockeying of the politicians and the reports of the top U.S. newspapers and major networks. Needless to say, there was a virtual blackout in media coverage of the event.

Of all the testimony that moved me, compelled me to vomit, cry, or even laugh at the absurdity of it all, I will never forget the veteran who broke down into tears after recounting how he was ordered to steal an Iraqi man's car and followed through with the order despite serious misgivings. I forget his name, but I remember his voice: "I took his car...his livelihood. That's probably all he had." He knew at that point that he did not belong in Iraq and that confiscating an innocent man's car was not what he had enlisted to do. The gentleness of his spirit sends shivers up my spine as I write this. Juxtaposed with the testimony of former sniper Garret Reppenhagen, who I have heard speak many times at IVAW events, recalling the bloody deaths of countless Iraqi civilians (some at his own hands), this soldier's compassion for that one car-less Iraqi inspires hope.