Iraq vet: "I should die for lies?" he asked.

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http://www.reformer.com/headlines/ci_7296511

Saturday, October 27

SAXTONS RIVER -- The war in Iraq is a war of words and manipulated emotions, said former Marine and anti-war crusader Liam Madden, during a speech given to the student body of Vermont Academy Friday.

Madden, a Bellows Falls Union High School graduate, was a communications specialist who served in Iraq from September 2004 to February 2005.

As an example of this war of words, he talked about companies such as Blackwater.

"Don't call them security contractors," said Madden. "They are cowboys."

Their only reason for being in Iraq, he said "is to cause mayhem."

"They are the worst kind of mercenaries. They are not beholden to any laws. They're not held accountable to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. They're not held accountable by U.S. law. And they are not held accountable by Iraqi law. The role they play is criminal."

Another way the perception of the war has been manipulated, he said, is how Americans have labeled those who have taken up arms against what he called the occupation of Iraq.

"We never really say who is resisting in Iraq," he said. Though there are plenty of labels -- the enemy, terrorists, al-Qaida, foreign fighters and insurgents -- the truth is "Iraqi people are in the resistance," he said.

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1. That these vets are getting into our schools is a big plus

We used to get both sides from Vietnam vets at my high school during that war.

The vets who were against the war appeared much more believable to me back then.

Don