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Winter Soldier: For four days the painful testimony continued. Young men and women who had served in either country testified to war crimes and atrocities they had witnessed or committed. One tore the medals off his shirt and threw them on the floor as he began his narrative. Many wept as did the audience of Iraq and Vietnam veterans. The stories were not unfamiliar, but to hear them from the young veterans gave them a special urgency. ► They told of shooting two farmers who violated the curfew. This was the only time the power was working so they could run the pumps to irrigate their fields. The young sniper and his unit knew who these men were and knew their situation before they opened fire. ► A marine told of his first kill-- an old, unarmed man on a bicycle at the wrong place at the wrong time. His commander congratulated him for the act. ► Several veterans said it was common to carry a stash of weapons and shovels to plant near bodies of unarmed civilians they had killed to make it look as if they were combatants. ►
One group of soldiers was told to move into a certain
Baghdad neighborhood that had been designated a “free fire zone”
(no civilians). So they shot at everything and everyone
that moved and discovered afterward that they had killed 700-800 civilians.
No weapons were found. It took great courage for these Winter Soldiers to speak out. Carlos Mejia, former conscientious objector and Iraq veteran, spoke for many : “War is dehumanizing a whole new generation of this country and destroying the people in the country of Iraq. In order for us to reclaim our humanity as a military and as a country, we demand the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all troops from Iraq, care and benefits for all veterans, and reparations for the Iraqi people so they can rebuild their country on their terms.” Phyllis Grady For more info: go to the Iraq Veterans Against the War, Democracy Now, and Veterans for Peace websites. |