Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan was held March 13th through March 16th, 2008 at the
National Labor College in Silver Spring, MD. was sponsored by Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), with the help and support of
Veterans for Peace (VFP), Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), and others.
The term "Winter Soldier" comes from patriot Thomas Paine when he spoke of and gave thanks to those "Winter Soldiers” who stayed past their enlistments, fought during
the winter at Valley Forge and helped turn the tide and win the American Revolutionary War.
In 1971, during the American war against the people of Vietnam, American veterans, sponsored by VVAW, held the first "Winter Soldier investigation"
(WSI), "An Inquiry into American War Crimes".
The idea was that the American public had a right to know the true nature of the conduct of the war against Vietnam,
that the American public was not getting that information from the American government, and that it was the duty of Patriotic
American Veterans to continue to serve our country, after serving in Vietnam, by providing the public with the reality of
the war as carried out by us, the troops on the ground, with our first-hand accounts.
I was one of the Vietnam Veterans who testified at the first WSI. I went there supporting the war but believing
the public had a right to the truth. During the course of 3 days, the environment allowed me to grow personally
and politically. During my interviews with the filmmakers, I was asked questions in a non-threatening manner
that I had never been asked and had never thought about before.
The process of thinking about the questions and giving honest answers allowed me to come to the realization that
the war was wrong. I also made the decision to join with the other veterans there to help turn VVAW into
a national organization known as VVAW, Inc. and to work against the war.
It was our hope that we would not only end the war but that our country would learn from the mistakes of Vietnam and never allow this to happen to another American generation.
So it was with mixed feelings that I attended Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan.
On one hand, I am very unhappy, to say the least, that my government has done to my children's generation in
the sands of Iraq the very same thing that it did to my generation in the rice paddies of Vietnam. The fact
that I, and many other good citizens, have been helpless in our attempts to control our government has also been
very discouraging.
On the other hand, I know what it is like to be a combat veteran who wants to educate the public and stop the war and
who does not have support of other veterans. I could not let that happen to this generation's combat veterans. So I
am proud to support and stand by the members of IVAW.
I thought that I would be able to handle the testimony but I found myself streaming tears every day.
While thinking about writing this article, I am overwhelmed by the fact that there is so much to tell about the testimony
and I will only be able to relate a small portion of what I heard.
At the first Winter Soldier, we came as we were. Most of us had long hair, beards, wore T-shirts and jeans, and
testified using all of the profanity that we were used to.
At Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan, everyone who testified was dressed in business-type attire and, because of the live coverage,
there was very little profanity. This approach allows those who judge people by their looks and language to
be more open to the information that these veterans have brought with their first-hand accounts. This was a smart idea.
Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan lasted 4 days and consisted of 13 panels. The panels were:
Winter Soldier and the Legacy of GI Resistance
Rules of Engagement: Part 1
The Crisis in Veterans' Healthcare
Corporate Pillaging and Military Contractors
Rules of Engagement: Part 2
Aims of the Global War on Terror: the Political, Legal, and Economic context of Iraq and Afghanistan
Divide to Conquer: Gender and Sexuality in the Military
Racism and War: the Dehumanization of the Enemy: Part 1
Racism and War: the Dehumanization of the Enemy: Part 2
Civilian Testimony: The Cost of War in Iraq
and Afghanistan
The Cost of the War at Home
The Breakdown of the Military
The Future of GI Resistance
I have 24 pages of notes from these 4 days and I am going to touch on some of the things that impacted me the most. There was a kind of magic at the first Winter Soldier that was repeated
at the second.
When veterans come home from war, they become dispersed throughout our civilian society. Regardless of which
war we fought in, we tend not to share our painful experiences with others, especially those who are close
to us. Many of us feel that civilians will not understand us, that they do not understand the real nature of warfare,
or that they will be judgmental. We don't want to burden our loved ones with our pain so we keep it inside of us,
where sometimes it festers and explodes in fits of anger that we don't even always understand. This is
not healthy and some of our PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) spreads to the very loved ones we try to protect with
our silence.
At Winter Soldier, we become surrounded by others just like ourselves. We know that there will be lots of understanding
and support. This allows us to make ourselves vulnerable, open up and bare
our souls. This is very therapeutic for us and is as important to me as is giving the public an accurate picture
of what we are doing on the ground.
My good friend Zollie Goodman testified on "The Crisis in Veterans' Healthcare" panel. Zollie and his wife Daisy
have become good friends of my wife Sherry and mine. They stay with us whenever they visit Gainesville. Zollie testified about how, while he was deployed, Daisy started having complications
with her pregnancy. She was unable to get medical help and lost their child.
Daisy sat with us during Zollie's testimony and was devastated. Later, I asked them why they had never told
us about this. Daisy said that it was a private matter and they did not tell people about it because it was too painful. They
did not intend to share this story when they went to Winter Soldier, but the atmosphere there, with everyone opening up and
making themselves vulnerable, allowed them to also open up and get some of that weight off of their shoulders. This is
the magic that I am talking about.
On the same panel, Joyce and Kevin Lucey testified. Their son, Corporal Jeffrey Lucey, was having psychological problems after
coming home from Iraq. He tried to get help at the VA. The red tape, run-around
and long delays in being able to get help ended when Joyce and Kevin came home to find their son Jeffrey dead --
he had hung himself. Kevin told us how the night before, Jeffrey asked his
dad if he could sit on his lap. His father rocked Jeffrey, a combat Marine, on his lap as they held on to each
other. It was Jeffrey's last place of refuge. In his suicide letter, he apologized to his parents and asked
them to please remember him as the happy kid he was before he went into the Marines.
The Luceys spoke about how when Jeffrey was in Iraq they worried and prayed for his safety. They thought once he got home he would be fine. The son who came
home was different from the son who left and he had more psychological pain than he could live with. The Luceys never
realized that their son's psychological damage could be fatal.
This made me think that most people who have loved ones serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are only thinking about their physical safety and aren't
prepared for the psychological damage that their loved ones will come home with. This is a hidden epidemic
-- its surface is just being scratched. The majority of those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan are still serving; of those who have gotten out of the service, 33% have filed with the VA for PTSD. According
to a CBS study, "One age group stood out. Veterans aged 20 through 24, those who have served during the war on terror.
They had the highest suicide rate among all veterans, estimated between two and four times higher than civilians the same
age." The study also found "In 2005, for example, in just 45 states, there were at least 6,256 suicides among
those who served in the armed forces. That’s 120 each and every week, in just one year."
The testimony from the Rules of Engagement panels was very similar to Winter Soldier I.
Jeff Smith of Orlando testified that the turning point for him came when a farmer was
shot and killed while irrigating his crops at night. The reason he was irrigating his crops at night is that that was
when the electricity came on and provided the water. What upset Jeff the most was that his superiors knew that was why
the farmer was out there, but that didn't matter -- he was violating the rules by being out there at night and so it was okay
to shoot him.
I was surprised to learn that people carrying shovels were legitimate targets because they use shovels to
bury explosive devices. You don't want to go out on your roof with
your cell phone to get better reception because people using cell phones on a roof top are legitimate targets since
cell phones are used to set off explosive devices. Some soldiers carry shovels
and extra rifles with them (called drop weapons) so they can drop them on dead bodies to justify the killing. I guess
you might call this an improvement from Vietnam since
we did not have to plant weapons to justify our killing.
It does not matter what you think or believe about a war or what your intentions are before you get there. Once
you are there and the reality of war hits you, you change. As soon as you see friends getting killed and wounded,
The Mission changes. The new Mission becomes Survival; you want you and your buddies to make it
home safe and sound.
The nature of a war of occupation is such that things only get worse. When you cannot tell the difference between
the people who support you and the people who want to harm you, you make mistakes. Everyone is a potential enemy.
You tend to err on the side of safety for you and your buddies. A Marine named Jason Washburn told how a woman was coming
toward them carrying a large bag. He raised his hand to motion her to stop; she did not. Acting out of fear
of an explosive, they killed her. The bag turned out to be groceries; she was bringing food to them. Not only does this scar our troops but you better believe that the family and friends of that woman are
no longer supporting our troops. You end up with what is called a dead man's
spiral. The harder our troops fight to survive, the more they err; the more people they drive into the arms of those
trying to kill our troops, the more casualties we take. This is the opposite of "Winning Hearts
and Minds".
A number of the people who testified made public apologies to the Iraqis for what they had done.
The fact of the matter is that we invaded Iraq and destroyed their way of life to impose upon them a way of life that our government in its condescending arrogance
considered better for them. We did this in violation of international law and in my mind in violation of ethical and
moral conduct. What our government now hopes to accomplish for the people of Iraq is a country that is stable, where
the different factions are not trying to kill each other, where there is no tolerance for Al-Qaeda or Hezbollah, where the
people have running water, electricity, food in the stores, medicine in the hospitals, physical safety on the streets. We
would want them to be secular rather than fundamentalist.
This is what our
government would consider victory and this is exactly what the people of Iraq had under Saddam Hussein.
I know of no way that we can, with force of arms, take this society that we smashed and crippled and give the people
back the stability that they had.
Racism and War: the Dehumanization of the Enemy panels showed us another side of war. In order for our troops
to be willing to kill others, they must be trained to believe that the lives of our people are more valuable than the lives
of the inhabitants of the country we happen to be occupying. They must believe that the other side has it coming. Liam
Madden, a Marine, said, "Making the enemy into something less than human is fundamental to prosecuting a war."
The Cost of the War at Home
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/24183
Adrienne Kinney, a former NSA (National Security Agency) employee, spoke about how they broke the rules, spied
on Americans and were told not to mention it in their reports. They spied on journalists, the Red Cross and NGOs (non-governmental
organizations). She spoke of how all of these things are now legal and the destruction of the Constitution
is the most damaging cost of this war.
Carlos Arredondo, whose son Alex was killed in Iraq, spoke with anger about how the military is allowed to come on high school campuses and "seduce" the children.
When the Marines came to his home to notify him about his son's death, Carlos ordered them to leave. When they
refused, he took a can of gasoline and burned their vehicle. He got caught in the fire, received 3rd degree burns and
was taken to the hospital. His bill was $42,000 and the hospital put a lien on his house to get their payment.
Divide to Conquer: Gender and Sexuality in the Military
Jeff Key, a Marine, spoke about the idea that showing your emotions and crying is somehow "feminine" or "gay".
Margaret Stevens said that for many female recruits, their first sexual encounter is with their recruiter.
In the West Los Angeles VA Healthcare Center, 41% of woman veterans have reported being sexually assaulted while
serving in the military. According to the Department of Defense, in 2006 there were 2947 sexual assaults in
the military and in 2007 only 8% of the accused rapists were referred for Courts-Martial. Anyone think that the
military is a good career choice for your daughter?
Corporate Pillaging and Military Contractors
Kelly Dougherty, who served as an MP, spoke about how her unit would use deadly force to protect KBR (Kellogg, Brown
& Root) vehicles and when the vehicles would break down, they would abandon them and destroy them on a daily basis.
Since all of the no-bid contracts are cost plus contracts, the contractors get back all of the money for their cost
including replacement of abandoned vehicles and, on top of that, they get a percentage of all their costs. So
the more they waste, the more they make.
The privatization of the war has made the use of mercenary forces from companies like Blackwater very profitable
for the private sector and, since they get paid an enormously larger salary than the troops, this drives up our cost
as taxpayers. These mercenaries also operate outside the rules of war and are not held accountable for their actions. In fact,
they have immunity. It was the killing of four Blackwater contractors in Fallujah that resulted in the turning of Fallujah
into a free fire zone resulting in the death of thousands of Iraqi's and many Marines. The uncontrolled conduct of these
contractors has actually undermined our efforts and the safety of our troops.
It seems to me that we need a constitutional amendment that says that any time American troops are in a war, all corporations
that supply the troops and the war effort must do so at cost; in other words, no war profiteering permitted! If
our children are asked to prove their patriotism by being willing to give up their lives and safety for their country,
why shouldn't the corporations be willing to prove their patriotism by giving up their profit for their country
in time of war?
Aims of the Global War on Terror: the Political, Legal, and Economic context of Iraq and Afghanistan
This panel was about the obvious -- that this is really a war for oil and that this war is illegal. Amy Goodman
hit the nail on the head. She spoke about how the consolidation of the media has narrowed the spectrum of opinion that
used to allow us to see different sides of an issue. She spoke of how private corporations use the public airways for
profit and power, not for the public good. I remember in high school when they used to teach the proud history of our
revolutionary heritage, we were taught that the press was actually the 4th branch of the government and the press's duty was
to be the public eye on the other three branches. The consolidation of the media has taken away our public eye and replaced
it with corporate government propaganda.
It was the exposure of the massacre at My Lai, March 16th, 1968 (with photos in Life Magazine) that led to the first Winter Soldier.
The last day of the Winter Soldier: Iraq
and Afghanistan testimony took place on the 40th anniversary of this tragic
historic event.
The first Winter Solder had 3 days of panels; they were all recorded on film. The film was made into a 93-minute documentary called
"Winter Soldier". All of the rest of the film was destroyed in a fire, lost forever; all we have left today is that
93 minutes. The press ignored our Winter Soldier so until recently, when it was re-released on DVD, most people
had never even heard of it. This time, Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan was streamed live and blogged all over
the world via the Internet and even though the "main stream corporate press" of the United States ignored
it, internationally, Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan was the number one news story on the first day of testimony.
There is no way that this history can be covered up.
The Civilian Testimony: The Cost of War in Iraq and Afghanistan panel was another heartbreaking panel. As a parent, it made
me angry to hear mothers speak about how "terrifying" it was for their children having armed soldiers breaking down their
doors is the middle of the night pointing guns and screaming at them while the men of the family were bound, hooded
and taken away. Every time they spoke of how "terrorizing” it was for their children, it stung my soul. I
wonder how many Americans would be okay with this happening in our homes to our children. It struck me that if the Iraqi
families are feeling terrorized, doesn't that make us the Terrorists?
The Future of GI Resistance
Camilo Meija said it all: "We are still soldiers. We are just not their soldiers anymore. We are the
new Winter Soldiers."
For more information on Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan go to:
http://www.ivaw.org
http://www.afn.org/~vetpeace/
