Portrait of a pacifist: Jo Metson Scott's images of dissenting soldiers in Iraq

[ismnotwasm]

(A book I'm planning on getting)

The photojournalist's book about former soldiers – which coincides with the 10th anniversary of the invasion – shows the consequences of laying down your weapons and speaking out

"After I made my public testimony about the atrocities I had experienced, my brother publicly disowned me on Facebook for everyone to see. He left comments about how I was a puppet, and being used ... He said I wasn't his brother any more, that I wasn't even a man. I've taken a lot. "

These words belong to Ryan Endicott, who joined the US Marine Corps in 2004, aged 20, and served in Iraq for seven months in 2005. He was given an honourable discharge in 2008. The following year he spoke about his experiences at an Iraq Veterans Against the War event in 2009. He has the words "Forgive me, for I have sinned" tattooed on his back.

Endicott is one of several dissenting soldiers that photojournalist Jo Metson Scott has photographed over five years for her book The Grey Line. She describes it as "a reflection on the war told from the perspective of Britain and American soldiers who have spoken out against the invasion of Iraq." It is also a reflection of the fallout of such a stance. "Their voices," she adds, "have been met with varying consequences, from being outcast to imprisoned, shunned to celebrated."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/photography-blog/2013/mar/19/iraq-veterans-metson-scott-dissent

[upaloopa]

1. That happened to us returning from Vietnam

in the sixties. Not that we said we were against the war though many of us were.
Society sees you either as fighting for freedom or a baby killer.