Winter Soldier Jason Washburn: "She was bringing us groceries. We blew her to pieces for it."

[Hissyspit]

Testimony of Jason Washburn, Marine CPL at today's Winter Soldier panel on 'Rules of Engagement:' "We were allowed to shoot anything we wanted."

Three tours - Najaf, Haditha.

"I remember one woman was walking by carrying a huge bag walking toward. I used a (grenade launcher). When the dust settled, we realized the bag contained groceries. She was bringing groceries to us and we blew her to pieces for it."

"In another instance, we were ordered to go to a fuel station. Iraqis rushed us to get fuel. The response was 'what do you think we want you to do, go rough them up.' We really beat the hell out of them with rifles, fists, broken bleeding or unconscious on the ground. We just left them there."

"Most of the innocents I actually saw get killed were behind the wheel of a vehicle, taxi drivers..."

Death of the mayor of the town: Shown images of body in vehicle and told 'This is what good Marine shooting looks like.' "We were tasked to go apologize to the family."

Carried 'drop' weapons or shovels to drop "in case they accidentally did shoot an innocent, we could drop the weapon and make them look like an insurgent. This was commonly encouraged, but only behind closed doors. It was pretty common."

Marine SGT Jason W. Lemieu: "I can only guess how many innocent people died due to the rules of engagement."

"Long enough after the IED explosion, that the people driving by didn't know anything had happened, they could only wonder why the Marine was shooting at them."

After soldier was told to kill woman with bag of fruit and soldier refused, officer shot her himself.

"The rules of engagement changed frequently, contradicted themselves... with no way to identify their attackers, Marines frequently viewed them as a joke or something to work around." The rules of engagement were "incompetent."

Marine Jon Turner just removed his dogtags and ribbons and threw them in front of himself: "I don't work for you anymore."

"I had my first confirmed kill. He was innocent. I don't know his name; I call him the 'fat man.' I killed him in front of his brother and uncle. It took 7 of his family members to carry him away. I was congratulated for my first kill."

"I am sorry for the hate and destruction I inflicted on innocent people. I am sorry for the hate and destruction others have inflicted on innocent people. This needs to come out so that this war ends or people will continue to die."

---

View testimony live at: http://ivaw.org

To watch this feed full screen, open Quicktime 7, select "Open URL" from the File menu, and enter: rtsp://qtlive.dvlabs.com/ivaw.sdp

We are experiencing an extremely high level of traffic on the IVAW website because of interest in Winter Soldier. If you have trouble accessing the main website, please try back later.

[laststeamtrain]

1. K & R

[Hissyspit]

30. Original "Winter Soldiers: Iraq & Afghanistan" informational thread...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3004582

[babylonsister]

2. Kick! We need to listen to these stories. Thanks, Hissy. nt

[superkia]

3. If Americans knew the reality of this war, it would be over but...

they continue to hide this mess. I don't understand how the media personnel sleeps at night, knowing what they are enabling, for a good paying job. Same with the mercenaries, blood for money!

[bobthedrummer]

4. Active Winter Soldier related thread from Editorials and Other Articles

"'Soldiers and Democracy: Know Your Rights!' by Jonathan W. Hutto, Sr. (3-5-2008)" thread started 3-6-2008

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x343184

:patriot:

[malaise]

5. The truth is coming out slowly

What a fugging mess.

[1776Forever]

6. Very hard to hear but reality. So many lives lost. We will probably never know the amount.

It makes one sick and I cannot even imagine how these men feel. God bless them and their families for they will have to live with this nightmare for the rest of their lives. With two sons who have served it doesn't go away.

God bless the families who lost loved ones too. There are no winners here!

:grouphug:

[HCE SuiGeneris]

7. Watching and crying...

So incredibly wrong.

[marmar]

8. What can you say except "Heaven Help Us!" .....

.... If there is a such thing as karma, :scared:.

[Hissyspit]

9. Iraqi Army Soldier: "The men that we just killed were the deputy governor's body guards."

"They were not only innocent, but they were our allies."

"This is the kind of confusion that goes on Iraq everyday."

"It goes on over and over. We don't have any photos of it. We don't have any stock footage. If we did we would have more Abu Ghraib scandals."

[GreenPartyVoter]

10. God, what a mess!

[Hissyspit]

11. IVAW's Jabbar MacGruder: "The problem is not the rules of engagement. The problem is the occupation

itself! It's time to bring the soldiers home."

[Breeze54]

12. I've been in tears off and on all day listening to this...

:cry:

Both of my veteran sons (oldest was in Iraq) are on their way home from work to listen now.
I notified both my older brothers, who were drafted to Vietnam too and told my sisters.

-------------------------

Info. for those who don't know what this is about....

Hundreds of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans gather in Washington DC

for Winter Soldier Iraq Veterans Against the War

To mark five years of the U.S. occupation of Iraq, Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW)
will gather beginning today through Sunday at the National Labor College near Washington,
D.C. to disclose the realities of U.S. war policy in a public investigation called
Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan.

Veterans and civilian survivors of both conflicts will give public testimony and share
the eyewitness stories that have been censored from the American public about the true
human cost of these occupations. This testimony also will reveal how the Iraq occupation
is tactically un-winnable, morally wrong, and has brought our military to its breaking point.


The Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan proceedings will be carried via satellite on the
Deep Dish network, Free Speech and Link T.V., public access television stations, the Pacifica
Radio network, and via web streaming on http://www.ivaw.org

Listen Here: http://warcomeshome.org/

Friday, March 14 Satellite TV, internet video, internet audio, radio
7:00PM - 8:30PM Aims of the Global War on Terror: the Political,
Legal, and Economic Context of Iraq and Afghanistan

Saturday, March 15 Satellite TV, internet video, internet audio, radio
9:00AM - 10:30AM Divide To Conquer: Gender and Sexuality in the Military
11:00AM - 1:00PM Racism and War: the Dehumanization of the Enemy: Part One
2:00PM - 3:30PM Racism and War: the Dehumanization of the Enemy: Part Two
4:00PM - 6PM Civilian Testimony: The Cost of War in Iraq and Afghanistan
7:00PM - 8:30PM The Cost of the War at Home

Sunday, March 16 Internet video, internet audio, radio
10:00AM - 1:00PM The Breakdown of the Military
2:00PM - 3:15PM The Future of GI Resistance

[bluesmail]

13. I amspeechless and numb

can barely type

[tuckessee]

14. "Congratulated" for his "first kill". An innocent man.

To top it off his buddies congratulated him after they knew he killed an innocent man.

Keep telling yourselves it's just a few bad apples, America - maybe it will go away if you wish hard enough..

[Breeze54]

15. What happened when you were there?

:shrug:

[tuckessee]

16. ??????

I was quoting from Marine Jon Turner's testimony in the OP.

[Breeze54]

17. Really? Because your reply sounded very judgemental, as if you were there in the heat of the war....

"Keep telling yourselves it's just a few bad apples, America" - tuckessee

And knew all about rules of engagement and what orders they were under.

I was just wondering about what you did when you were there.

[dixiegrrrrl]

18. Amy Goodman gave a great talk just now..very moving

Hopefully it will be repeated on the Democracy Now site, or the Winter Soldier video.
Before she spoke, someone gave a marvelous intelligent history of the American plan for the Middle East.
Hope y'all will be able to catch these talks in re-runs...

Today is bringing me back to 40 years ago, but it does seem like yesterday.

[Breeze54]

21. Thanks, dixiegrrrrl

I believe www.ivaw.org and http://www.kpfa.org/ have archives of all
the Winter Soldier 2008 testimony's and interviews from the beginning.

:hi:

[tuckessee]

19. So I have to engage in an illegal war & occupation

and shoot innocent people before I can form an opinion about it?

I'm glad I never commented on German anti-partisan actions in the Ukraine since I was never in an SS or Polizei combat unit and therefore (according to your logic) there's no way humanly possible for me to divine under what kind of rules of engagement OKW had them operating.

I'll refrain from commenting on the Cosa Nostra as well because I've never been a mobster.

[Breeze54]

20. Until you are in a war yourself and under that kind of pressure....

it might be good to reserve your judgment.

It took a great deal of courage for these Veteran's to testify.

Give him some credit for at least realizing what he did and what it meant.

We are all to blame for even putting him in that position.

And who was the asshole who gave those orders? :grr:

All wars are dirty. This war is dirty too and was and is a lie.

Put yourself in their shoes. Put yourself in their place.

And then think back about what you did to put a stop to this war even happening.

You are just as complicit, if you did nothing to try and stop it.

"Judge not, that ye be judged."

[Hissyspit]

22. Turner himself addressed that issue in his testimony, but he was talking very quickly

and I didn't get it typed out. Something to the effect of "I want everyone to know I'm not that monster anymore." Wish I had gotten it down. It was more nuanced than I am giving him credit for.

[Breeze54]

28. I heard it, hissyspit...

:(

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3010863

[defendandprotect]

65. This entire G.D'amned nation is being tortued by Bush and so are these young soldiers --- !!!

Once they are there . . . what can they do ---
If they don't perform they will be taken out ---

One of these young men was actually trying to help the victim of one of our interrogatios ---
dangerous for him.

On the other hand, I'm sure many of these soldiers just lost themselves in this brutality and
violence.

Sy Hersh warned us about this quite some time ago --- that we have raised the most brutal, and the most violent army that we've ever had!

[tuckessee]

25. Do you apply the same standards to all combatants in all wars?

Or just selectively apply it to your pets?

There are many similarities between the German anti-partisan actions in Central Europe, the Balkans & the East and the US counter-insurgency wars in Vietnam & Iraq and I would love to know what you would say about Germans or Eastern volunteers who did the same things in their war that US troops are doing now?

[Breeze54]

29. My "pets" ?

Fuck You.

[defendandprotect]

64. What nonsense . . . we can all judge the injustice of this . . .

Yes, these are young and men who are bravely telling us these truths ---
but we need ways for them to be able to say "NO" to orders like these and My Lai ---
We need ways for them to say "goodbye" to a military like this ---

We have no leverage on this dictatorship in the White House ---
We have a Democratic Congress which refuses to move on Bush --
Attacking Iran is still an open question for Cripes Sake ---

[Hissyspit]

23. See Post #22. n/t

[tuckessee]

26. I saw it. I doubt you did, however.

Because if you did I wonder how you missed this little ditty - "I want everyone to know I'm not that monster anymore",

That quote, I may add, tends to validate my original statement.

[tuckessee]

27. Oops! I posted #26 thinking you were someone else.

My apologies.

My comment might make sense if directed at the other poster.

Thanks for all your work with the Winter Soldiers.

[Breeze54]

32. No. Look, I understand your outrage but that is war. It's evil and dirty.

Perhaps we shouldn't have ventured into a 'pre-emptive' attack, after all, with no clear mission?

I'm just as outraged as you. My son was stop-lossed to Iraq so don't go lecturing me about how
callous they ALL are... he wasn't. But what ever that soldier says he did; anyone in that environment
might make a judgment out of fear and we have no right to second guess what was going on at the
time. I'm sure there is a lot more to his story and I doubt he told it all today. Just a guess.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3010863

[noamnety]

36. I understand what tuckessee is saying

in a different way than you.

And many many of my fellow vets say the same thing. The gist of how we understand it is that no, it's not just a few bad apples - it's a SYSTEM that institutionalizes racism and dehumanization of the Other. That's not a condemnation of the troops as individuals - it's not a condemnation of your son. I have good friends who have done horrible things in war, and yet I hold those people excruciatingly close to my heart - more than you can imagine.

A person can understand that it's not a few individuals, it's the military culture, while understanding who is responsible at the bottom of this. I thought - and if I'm wrong, tuckessee can correct me - I thought tuckessee was saying that Americans need to understand it's not just a few bad apples, in the same way we had to understand that My Lai was not a few bad apples, that there were My Lais happening all throughout the area, that one just happened to hit the media.

That is, in part, the point of the Winter Soldier Investigations - both the original, and this one - to bring people to the point of understanding that it's not "a few bad apples" - that these were the rules of engagement, this was what was/is happening in a widespread way.

[Breeze54]

38. You're wrong. - No, I was saying "it's a SYSTEM... "

He was saying they are fucking assholes and mindless killers!!

Go read the responses again. :(

"I have good friends who have done horrible things in war, and yet I hold
those people excruciatingly close to my heart - more than you can imagine."

No, it's not more than I can imagine. What?

Do you think you're the only one touched by war? You aren't!

Tell all that that to 'clueless tuckessee'. Not me.

[noamnety]

39. I think you're both perhaps closer than you think.

I got that you were saying it was a system. I wasn't sure you understood that tuckessee is also saying it's a system.

I didn't read his comments as saying they are fucking assholes, which is the reason I included the comment that I hold some of those people so very close to my heart as a disclaimer. Not "closer than you can imagine" in the way you interpreted it, not to mean closer than you or many many others are holding your own in your heart. Not at all.

I meant that - more than you can perhaps imagine - I can simultaneously believe tuckessee's comments apply to them, or did at one time - without getting offended or defensive by those comments - AND (at the same time) love them to death.

Perhaps they can come back and clarify if I've misinterpreted their comments. But my first reading of those comments wasn't something I took offense at, even as I understood they were aimed at the past sins of people I care very much about.

[Breeze54]

42. Then re-read.

He was judging and condemning.

Sorry but he was non-empathetic.

#14. "Congratulated" for his "first kill". An innocent man.

To top it off his buddies congratulated him after they knew he killed an innocent man.

Keep telling yourselves it's just a few bad apples, America - maybe it will go away if

you wish hard enough..

In other words... it's ALL of them!!

[noamnety]

51. You are adding words that were neither said nor implied.

"A few bad apples" is waaaay at one end of the spectrum.

"It's all of them" is waaaaaay at the other end of the spectrum, and they didn't say that. They only said the truth isn't at this ONE extreme end.

There's a huge gap between what they said, and what you are claiming they said, in other words.

And they are pissed off that much of America (again, somewhere between a "few" and "all" Americans - it's a systemic problem) believes that it's a few bad apples in the military doing these things, when in fact it's a system, free-fire zones are part of the rules of engagement - so it's more than "a few."

And it's important that America - as a whole - figures out that it's more than a few bad apples. That's the whole point of the hearings - to make the point to America that it's more than a few. So don't get angry when someone watches the hearings and responds "it's more than a few."

[burythehatchet]

49. No, this is not a "war" by any stretch of the imagination

[defendandprotect]

66. "Perhaps" . . . ??????

We ran the red lights on attacking a nation which had nothing to do with 9/11 ---
because they have OIL . . . and we want control of the ME.

And because we'd already bombed them to hell and knew they couldn't offer much resistance ---
none, in fact ---


"Pre-emptive" attacks --- wars of aggression on other nations --- are ILLEGAL.

The mission was "clear" --- it was for OIL --- !!!!

[Hissyspit]

24. Testimony continues tomorrow - 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

[Kool Kitty]

40. Yes, and if you live in NY-NJ-Connecticutt area,

you can listen to this on WBAI, 99.5FM. Some of this had me in tears today. Powerful, moving and shame on C-SPAN and MSM for not carrying any of this.

[Breeze54]

41. but many others were carrying it !

C-Span did carry it, from what others have told me. :shrug:

Podcast URL:
http://warcomeshome.org/podcast
(Cut and paste URL into your podcast subscription software)

http://warcomeshome.org/wintersoldier2008

http://www.kpfa.org/ (Archives here and will be live tomorrow)

How to watch and listen to Winter Soldier

http://ivaw.org/wintersoldier/howtowatch

http://ivaw.org has all the video's available.

Here's one: http://ivaw.org/ws_video.html .

:hi:

[Kool Kitty]

46. I was listening to this in the car today.

I heard Mike Malloy say that C-SPAN wasn't showing it, so he may have been mistaken. He did say that Free Speech TV was carrying it, but I don't get that channel, unfortunately. I meant that MSNBC and CNN weren't carrying it. But thanks for the links for the others. :yourock:

[defendandprotect]

67. C-Span would have been carrying this in the old days . . .

pre the right-wing takeover . . .and Congress is on vacation ---

[SunDrop23]

31. This is a good story, but we really need to focus on what Obama's pastor said. (n/t)

[Breeze54]

33. You forgot the 'sarcasm' tag.

Here.... : sarcasm : :sarcasm:

[orleans]

34. my god. what a tragedy. for everyone who lived through it and died because of it. n/t

[The Wizard]

35. War demoralizes

and with Bush and Cheney at the helm, the ship of state is taking on water.
If we ever recover from this disaster, the soldiers who have followed the lead of the immoral bastards who are making billions should be paid large sums for giving up their humanity for the Bush/Cheney bank accounts. Unless these returning GIs are treated for the psychological damage associated with warfare, we're all facing future problems.
Most of on DU will be paying for this for the remainder of our lives, and so will those who've been forever changed by the Bush/Cheney cartel.
The lying scumbags and war profiteers that made this happen must have their assets seized as soon as The Decider leaves office, hopefully in chains and leg irons. As for Cheney, he should have (let your imaginations run wild.).

[struggle4progress]

37. He's five foot-two and he's six feet-four

He fights with missiles and with spears
He's all of thirty-one and he's only seventeen,
He's been a soldier for a thousand years

He's a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain
A Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew
And he knows he shouldn't kill
And he knows he always will
Kill you for me my friend and me for you

And he's fighting for Canada
He's fighting for France
He's fighting for the USA
And he's fighting for the Russians
And he's fighting for Japan
And he thinks we'll put an end to war this way ...

[Hissyspit]

47. The Universal Soldier

[w8liftinglady]

43. I would like to approach this with my ltte-but don't want to be exploitive

what would be the best approach?I'd like my clueless neighbors to be aware..

[Breeze54]

44. Point them to 'Winter Soldier' and let them watch and listen for themselves.

How to watch and listen to Winter Soldier

http://ivaw.org/wintersoldier/howtowatch

-----------------------------

Live Streaming Video & Archives of 'Winter Soldier
http://ivaw.org

----------


http://www.kpfa.org/

Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan

Saturday, March 15th, 06:00am

Aimee Allison and Aaron Glantz anchor the second day of a historic three day broadcast
of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans speaking out against the US occupations of those countries.

Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan continues

Saturday, March 15th, 12:00pm

Aimee Allison and Aaron Glantz anchor the second day of a historic three day broadcast
of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans speaking out against the US occupations of those countries.

And also Sunday morning.

More...

[Hissyspit]

48. Washington Post coverage today of the Winter Soldier testimony:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3227852&mesg_id=3227852

[w8liftinglady]

45. I am so touched by the Winter soldiers in the audience

they are obviously moved by this testimony

[laylah]

50. I am getting video

but no audio. Anyone?

[Hissyspit]

52. Same here. I think the traffic has greatly increased. That's great, but bad.

[2tr4nqued]

53. I expect neither Clinton nor Obama will say a word

about these hearings. If they don't, what does that mean about the Clinton and Obama?

[IcyPeas]

63. yeah, where's the outrage?

[scarface2004]

54. baby killerz!!

where's lt calley when you need him?!?!?!

[civildisoBDence]

55. The REAL reason we invaded Iraq was to establish a front in the War on Terra

We basically used the Iraqis as victims in a proxy war with the jihadists of all stripes. Because some Saudis killed 3000 Americans, we set in motion a war that has killed tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis and has displaced 2-3 million...plus all the injured, the destruction of infrastructure, the psychological trauma in people of all generations...what a tragedy.

DUHbya's legacy is written in blood.

http://newsprism.wordpress.com">Newsprism

[defendandprotect]

68. Whaat . . . ???

We invaded Iraq because it was the PNAC plan from ten years ago to control the ME and OIL . . .

We have killed 2 MILLION -- repeat 2 MILLION innocent Iraqis --- and I believe the number of
displaced is twice what you are stating --

"Injured" . . . how do you describe a boy of 13 or 14 with both his arms and both his legs gone
as injured????

And look at our own soldiers --- getting "dangerous" water from Halliburton ---

Living in this hell --- day after day ---

[Baby Snooks]

56. The Ice Queen

And the Empress sits, like the Ice Queen, and acts horrified, but continues to be entranced by the Emperor as he fiddles.

Where are the people who will speak out and act? Not in Congress. Nancy Pelosi could have shut down this country to stop this by making it impossible to pass a budget. But instead, she put "the country's best interests" ahead of all other interests. But they are not country's interest. And certainly not the best interests.

The Ice Queen waves her hands and dismisses the Winter Soldiers. Dying for the cause perhaps. How does she defend all of this?

Were she in Boston in the beginning, no doubt she would blocked dumping the tea in Boston Harbor. She might not be able to enjoy her cup of tea at some point.

She should be sent to Nuremberg as well. But there is no Nuremberg.

[orleans]

57. dahlia has been speaking. still watching. n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

60. I LOVE Dahlia

She is an amazing woman!

[orleans]

61. she was wonderful. too bad she was rushed to finish. n/t

[jeff30997]

58. It reminds me of the My Lai Massacre :

I found this cartoon from 1971:



Still relevant today don't you think?

[OwnedByFerrets]

59. Congress is to busy with NFL Spygate baseball players shooting

themselves up to consider having hearing over war crimes.:mad: :mad:

[Diclotican]

62. Hissyspit

Hissyspit

The truth would always come out have I learned home.. And this histories are problem just the top of the famous iceberg.. I guess many american soldiers by now have same histories to tell, if they was allowed and wanted to tell that to the public.
The Problem is that the media, and the american public don't want to want this. They do not want to be told that in their "Just war" it have been doing act against humanity, against every civilized international tractat, or international law. What many american would hear, is that every American soldier are a hero, who are doing a just case, and a just war is to end soon...

It looks more and more like Vietnam, even that I was not born when the war Finlay ended in 1975, and I have just the tell tale, and movies, fact and fiction, and have read some books about the era. But it started even there, where the soldiers was de-humoring the vietnamese people, and then killed them by the thousands.. How many Vietnamese people who was killed by american bombs, and by soldiers we would never know I guess... But 3 million are probably a smal number who it come to a decade of war...

And now in Iraq we are seeing the same story all over againg. And in the end, I doubt the result would be better than in Vietnam where america have to run for their life, because the gates of Saigon was been tearing down, and the north-vietnamese army was in hot pursuit to fight the war to end..

If this stories are right, then many american soldiers are in deep legal problems..And the officers are in more legal problems, both in the term of the US army code of conduct.. But also when it come to what the international Criminal Court in Haag can judge.. And if this happened in the rank and file. Then this is the legal LAW by the support of the Pentagon, The Foreign affairs.. The whole legal system in Washington DC. And foremost, it is supported right to the top. To the White house.. I doubt that mr Bush himself is that bad. But his Vice-President, or as I call him Darth Vader, would pro bely manage to get this as official occupation policy..

I was angry. My English is not by far good en ought to express what I really felled when I read some of the stories.. I feel deeply sorry for the soldiers. I feel maybe even more sorry for the victims, for the families and for Iraq as a whole.. I feel this is have started out to be pointless, silly war with no end in sight.. Mr Bush have managed to make another hopeless war with no end in sight for US. How many american soldiers would end up as little more than wreck in VA hospitals, because of the war the NEO-CONS managed to make.. How many american, and iraqi civilians would be dead before the war is ended, the ONE way or another...

And,most importantly. How would the US reputation in Iraq and in the middle east be, when US are sending their troops out of Iraq finally?.. Would it be a run for the sea, or would it be in a situation where the soldiers are greated at the border, and welcomed home?.. In the Vietnamese case it was a run for the sea.. What the Iraqi war Will end in I do-nt know.. But I fear it would not be in situation where the iraqi managed their own affairs and where you have a stable democracy anymore...

Diclotican

Sorry my bad English, not my native language

[defendandprotect]

69. Congress originally held hearings on VN Winter Soldiers because a Senator put

their testimony in the Congressional Record and then called for Hearings ---

We need Congressional Hearings on this ---

[biermeister]

70. kick

thanks Hissyspit

[a la izquierda]

71. In Oklahoma...

a bill is about to go to the Senate that allows active and former military, above age 21, to carry guns on campus. I'm appalled at that idea, and then I read this article and think: "What sort of mentally unstable people are coming home from the war, after bravely serving their country, and are able to carry weapons on my campus?" It scares the shit out of me.
Americans don't know about this because millions don't give enough of a shit to find out. This is the MO of Americans throughout history, and it is only further complicated by a government who is fully willing to deceive its people. I had a long conversation with my husband the other day about the horrors of our involvement in Latin America (I am a PhD candidate in Latin American history). He was dumbfounded when I told him it was the United States who helped bring about the deaths of upwards of 200,000 in Guatemala alone.

The minute, however, someone tries to point fingers at the United States, to try and hold them accountable for more than a century of horrendous behavior internationally (not to mention our own domestic disasters), they're accused of being anti-American. I would love to see the right wing spin on these soldiers' stories.