Iraq War Vet: "We Were Told to Just Shoot People, and the Officers Would Take Care of Us", page 1
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Topic started on 8-4-2010 @ 11:06 AM by Jazzyguy
truthout.org

On Monday, April 5, Wikileaks.org posted video footage from Iraq, taken from a US military Apache helicopter in July 2007 as soldiers aboard it killed 12 people and wounded two children. The dead included two employees of the Reuters news agency: photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen and driver Saeed Chmagh.

The US military confirmed the authenticity of the video.

The footage clearly shows an unprovoked slaughter, and is shocking to watch whilst listening to the casual conversation of the soldiers in the background.

As disturbing as the video is, this type of behavior by US soldiers in Iraq is not uncommon.

Truthout has spoken with several soldiers who shared equally horrific stories of the slaughtering of innocent Iraqis by US occupation forces.

"I remember one woman walking by," said Jason Washburn, a corporal in the US Marines who served three tours in Iraq. He told the audience at the Winter Soldier hearings that took place March 13-16, 2008, in Silver Spring, Maryland, "She was carrying a huge bag, and she looked like she was heading toward us, so we lit her up with the Mark 19, which is an automatic grenade launcher, and when the dust settled, we realized that the bag was full of groceries. She had been trying to bring us food and we blew her to pieces."

The hearings provided a platform for veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan to share the reality of their occupation experiences with the media in the US.

Washburn testified on a panel that discussed the rules of engagement (ROE) in Iraq, and how lax they were, to the point of being virtually nonexistent.

"During the course of my three tours, the rules of engagement changed a lot," Washburn's testimony continued, "The higher the threat the more viciously we were permitted and expected to respond. Something else we were encouraged to do, almost with a wink and nudge, was to carry 'drop weapons', or by my third tour, 'drop shovels'. We would carry these weapons or shovels with us because if we accidentally shot a civilian, we could just toss the weapon on the body, and make them look like an insurgent."


Now you understand why a lot of people hate america, right?
Not to mention all the ignorance and the constant excuses and denial. People die because of this conflict you know. That is why I hate those warhawks, snobs who are too eager to go to war.


reply posted on 8-4-2010 @ 11:51 AM by poedxsoldiervet
reply to post by Jazzyguy


AS a veteran this is why I support an across the board military draft, People wouldn’t be so quick to send their kids off to war if they knew their children would see it...

I have saw the horrors of war, but sides (in Iraq) did terrible things, It won’t end unless we say we have had enough.



reply posted on 8-4-2010 @ 11:57 AM by Zosynspiracy
reply to post by poedxsoldiervet


No.....what needs to happen is the young, dumb, desperate, naive, brainwashed, indoctrinated, poor, middle class kids that continue to support the US military need to STOP! We have an all voluntary military force. If people are too stupid or whatever to see the tyranny, corruption, and vile that is the US military, US foreign policy, and US government in this day and age that's their fault. As someone that bleeds red, white and blue, has an End the Fed sticker on my truck, votes libertarian, is well versed in alternative news/history, politics, etc. and sees the world and my country for what it is..............I would NEVER serve the white, old, rich politicians in Washington. If some country threatens my country or attacks the soil I rest my head on day and night......I'd be the first one to rise up and fight for America........but that is a starck contrast to the bullcrap that is going on in every corner of the world in the name of "democracy" and capitalism. The soldiers fighting in the ME and serving in every corner of the world are supporting tyranny and corruption in the form of a US government kleptocracy and fascistic corporate America.


reply posted on 8-4-2010 @ 12:26 PM by poedxsoldiervet
reply to post by Zosynspiracy


So you say. Some people don’t see it that way... you automatically turned me off to your useless rant when you called them dumb and something about white people...


reply posted on 8-4-2010 @ 12:36 PM by okbmd
The public needs to be made aware of this type of information , so everyone who reads this thread needs to FLAG it to keep it on the front page.

While I know for a fact that there are those youngsters that join the military with their 'John-Wayne' mentality being the primary factor , I also know that there are those who do it for the incentives (college).

I say take away those incentives and you would have less of our young people joining this mad war machine .

There are laws nationwide that allow LEO to arrest the 'johns' who offer money to fake LEO prostitutes for their services , with the underlying justification that solicitation is illegal .

So , show me the difference . The military is offering incentives to these young people for their 'services' . Services which , in my opinion are illegal when you get right down to it .

These fake 'wars' were never legal to begin with . Killing innocent civilians is illegal by anyone's standards .

Our young people are paid prostitutes for the 'war-pigs' .

It is well past the time to bring an end to this madness .

Then you have those who are indeed , as (Zosynspiracy) pointed out , desperate , naive , brainwashed , indoctrinated and poor .

Not that it will ever happen in our state-run schools but , young people need to be educated to the horrors of war before leaving school .

Recruitment officers should not be allowed to come into our schools and recruit these kids with their bullsh*t glamour and glorification of how swell things are in the military .

The desperate and poor kids should be given other options in life other than joining the war-pig machine to go off to some foreign land and start killing strangers all in the name of patriotism and American interests .

Or coming home in a body-bag , from serving their masters' quest for global domination .

It is time for this madness to stop !

[edit on 8-4-2010 by okbmd]

[edit on 8-4-2010 by okbmd]


reply posted on 8-4-2010 @ 01:20 PM by Parallex
reply to post by OverSword


If you like fascist right-wing propaganda that blog is perfect. For all normal people however...

Parallex.



reply posted on 8-4-2010 @ 01:22 PM by OverSword
reply to post by freighttrain



Yeah that'll work, oh wait, no it won't.
People go to prison and come back more violent.


reply posted on 8-4-2010 @ 01:25 PM by janon
reply to post by OverSword

Why does it not discuss the van or the missile attack on the building? It's far from "Case Closed."

[edit on 8-4-2010 by janon]


reply posted on 8-4-2010 @ 01:28 PM by OverSword
reply to post by Parallex


Obviously you didn't even look at it. If you had you would have seen that one gur had an RPG. The final picture taken by that cameraman was of an american humvee. If you think that is rightr wing fascist propaganda then apparently you don't know what right wing fascism is as there is no political agenda or bias offered in the analysis given. Spout more words please spouty macparaspouter.


reply posted on 8-4-2010 @ 01:37 PM by Peruvianmonk
reply to post by Jazzyguy


S&F. Top notch Jazzy.

I don't even blame the Soldiers for these horrific deaths. It is those who enabled them to be there in the first place (Bush & Co, Congress, Weapons Corporations, Oil Companies) who have the real, ultimate responsibilty.

I echo Dylan's lyrics in regard to these 'people' from 'Masters Of War'.

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand over your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead.

[edit on 8-4-2010 by Peruvianmonk]


reply posted on 8-4-2010 @ 01:38 PM by OverSword
reply to post by janon

I assume that when you have a surviving insurgent on the ground the intention is to pick them up for questioning, when the guy in the van stops to help there is no way to know if he is a fellow insurgent or a good samaritan. Probably given what info they had to go on the ROE were to assume that he was a fellow insurgent. I'm not trying to justify, I'm just saying the whole video was presented in a way to try and make the soldiers look like criminals, when the truth is they were operating withing the Rules Of Engagement.

I am against any war as a matter of principle, but am also against spreading lies, like that this was criminal murder or that we were there to seek out WMD's.

If I had been that apache pilot I would have done the same thing, hopefully without the video game like dialogue, and I believe anyone in this forum saying they would have done it differently is either naive, stupid or lying.


reply posted on 8-4-2010 @ 01:42 PM by janon
reply to post by OverSword


Maybe I'm alone on the issue but I wouldn't kill some folks just on a hunch. What I really don't get is if this was within the ROE why was it against the Geneva Convention and international laws of war?
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