[Mb-civic] "What have we done?"

[Jef Bek]

http://dahrjamailiraq.com/weblog/archives/dispatches/000271.php

Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches

Iraq Dispatches

Tomgram: Dahr Jamail on the Zarqawi Phenomenon August 05, 2005

"What Have We Done?"

As the blood of US soldiers continues to drain into the hot sands of Iraq
over the last several days with at least 27 US soldiers killed and the
approval rating for his handling of the debacle in Iraq dropping to an
all-time low of 38%, Mr. Bush commented from the comforts of his ranch in
Crawford, Texas today, ³We will stay the course, we will complete the job in
Iraq.²

Just a two hour drive away in Dallas, at the Veterans for Peace National
Convention in Dallas, I¹m sitting with a roomful of veterans from the
current quagmire.

When asked what he would say to Mr. Bush if he had the chance to speak to
him, Abdul Henderson, a corporal in the Marines who served in Iraq from
March until May, 2003, took a deep breath and said, ³It would be two hits-me
hitting him and him hitting the floor. I see this guy in the most
prestigious office in the world, and this guy says Œbring it on.¹ A guy who
ain¹t never been shot at, never seen anyone suffering, saying Œbring it on?¹
He gets to act like a cowboy in a western movieŠit¹s sickening to me.²

The other vets with him nod in agreement as he speaks somberlyŠhis anger
seething.

One of them, Alex Ryabov, a corporal in an artillery unit which was in Iraq
the first three months of the invasion, asked for some time to formulate his
response to the same question.

³I don¹t think Bush will ever realize how many millions of lives he and his
lackeys have ruined on their quest for money, greed and power,² he says, ³To
take the patriotism of the American people for grantedŠthe fact that people
(his administration) are willing to lie and make excuses for you while you
continue to kill and maim the youth of America and ruin countless
familiesŠand still manage to do so with a smile on your face.²

Taking a deep breath to steady himself he continues as if addressing Bush
first-hand; ³You needs to resign, take the billions of dollars you¹ve made
off the blood and sweat of US service membersŠ.all the suffering you¹ve
caused us, and put those billions of dollars into the VA to take care of the
men and women you sent to be slaughtered. Yet all those billions aren¹t
enough to even try to compensate all the people who have been affected by
this.²

These new additions to Veterans for Peace are actively living the statement
of purpose of the organization, having pledged to work with others towards
increasing public awareness of the costs of war, to work to restrain their
government from intervening, overtly and covertly, in the internal affairs
of other nations and to see justice for veterans and victims of war, among
other goals.

I type furiously for three hours, trying to keep up with the stories each of
the men sharedŠ.about the atrocities of what they saw, and committed, while
in Iraq. 

Camilo Mejia, an army staff sergeant who was sentenced to a year in military
prison in May, 2004 for refusing to return to Iraq after being home on
leave, talks openly about what he did there:

³What it all comes down to is redemption for what was done there. I was
turning ambulances away from going to hospitals, I killed civilians, I
tortured guysŠand I¹m ashamed of that. Once you are there, it has nothing to
do with politicsŠit has to do with you as an individual being there and
killing people for no reason. There is no purpose, and now I¹m sick at
myself for doing these things. I kept telling myself I was there for my
buddies. It was a weak reasoningŠbecause I still shut my mouth and did my
job.²

Mejia then spoke candidly about why he refused to return:

³It wasn¹t until I came home that I felt it-how wrong it all was and that I
was a coward for pushing my principles aside. I¹m trying to buy my way back
into heavenŠand it¹s not so much what I did, but what I didn¹t do to stop it
when I was there. So now it¹s a way of trying to undo the evil that we did
over there. This is why I¹m speaking out, and not going back. This is a
painful process and we¹re going through it.²

Camilo Mejia was then quick to point towards the success of his organization
and his colleagues. ³When I went back to Iraq in October of 2003, the
Pentagon said there were 22 AWOL¹s. Five months later it was 500, and when I
got out of jail that number was 5,000. These are the Pentagons¹ numbers for
the military. Two things are significant here-the number went from 500-5,000
in 11 months, and these are the numbers from the Pentagon.²

While the military is falling short of its recruitment goals across the
board and the disaster in Iraq spiraling deeper into chaos with each passing
day, these are little consolation for these men who have paid the price
they¹ve had to pay to be at this convention. They continue to pay, but at
the same time stand firm in their resolve to bring an end to the occupation
of Iraq and to help their fellow soldiers.

Ryabov then begins to tell of his unit firing the wrong artillery rounds
which hit 5-10 km from their intended target.

³We have no idea where those rounds fell, or what they hit,² he says quietly
while two of the men hold their heads in their hands, ³Now we¹ve come to
these realizations and we¹re trying to educate people to save them from
going through the same thing.²

After talking of the use of uranium munitions, of which Ryabov stated 300
tons of which were used in the ¹91 Gulf War, and 2,200 tons and counting
having been used thus far in the current war, he adds, ³We were put in a
foreign country and fire artillery and kill peopleŠand it shouldn¹t have
even happened in the first place. It¹s hard to put into words the full
tragedy of it-the death and suffering on both sides. I feel a grave
injustice has been done and I¹m trying to correct it. You do all these
things and come back and think, Œwhat have we done?¹ We just rolled right by
an Iraqi man with a gunshot in his thigh and two guys near him waving white
flagsŠ.he probably bled to death.²

Harvey Tharp sitting with us served in Kirkuk. His position of being in
charge of some reconstruction projects in northern Iraq allowed him to form
many close friendships with IraqisŠsomething that prompts him to ask me to
tell more people of the generous culture of the Iraqi people. His
friendships apparently brought the war much closer to home for him.

³What I concluded last summer when I was waiting to transfer to NSA was that
not only were our reasons for being there lies, but we just weren¹t there to
help the Iraqis. So in November of Œ04 I told my commander I couldn¹t take
part in this. I would have been sent into Fallujah, and he was going to
order me in to do my job. I also chose not to go back because the dropping
of bombs in urban areas like Fallujah are a violation of the laws of warfare
because of the near certainty of collateral damage. For me, seeing the full
humanity of Iraqis made me realize I couldn¹t participate in these
operations.²

Tharp goes on to say that he believes there are still Vietnam vets who think
that that was a necessary war and adds, ³I think it¹s because that keeps the
demons at bay for them to believe it is justifiedŠthis is their coping
mechanism. We, as Americans, have to face the total obvious truth that this
was all because of a lie. We are speaking out because we have to speak out.
We want to help other vets tell other vets their storyŠto keep people from
drinking themselves to death.²

When he is asked what he would say to Mr. Bush if he had a few moments with
him, he too took some time to think about it, then says, ³It is obvious that
middle America is starting to turn against this war and to turn against
youŠfor good reason. The only thing I could see that would arrest this
inevitable fall that you deserve, is another 9/11 or another war with say,
Iran. There are some very credible indications in the media that we are
already in pre-war with Iran. What I¹m trying to do is find a stand
Americans can take against you, but I think people are willing to say Œdon¹t
you dare do this to us again.¹ My message to the American people is this-do
you want to go another round with these people? If not-now is the time to
say so.²

The men are using this time to tell more of why they are resisting the
illegal occupation, and it¹s difficult to ask new questions as they are
adding to what one another share.

³I didn¹t want to kill another soul for no reason. That¹s it,² adds
Henderson, ³We were firing into small townsŠ.you see people just running,
cars going, guys falling off bikesŠit was just sad. You just sit there and
look through your binos and see things blowing up, and you think, man they
have no water, living in the third world, and we¹re just bombing them to
hell. Blowing up buildings, shrapnel tearing people to shreds.²

Tharp jumps in and adds, ³Most of what we¹re talking about is war crimesŠwar
crimes because they are directed by our government for power projection. My
easy answer for not going is PTSDŠbut the deeper moral reason is that I
didn¹t want to be involved in a crime against humanity.²

Ryabov then adds, ³We were put in a foreign country to fire artillery and
kill peopleŠand it shouldn¹t have even happened in the first place. It¹s
hard to put into words the full tragedy of it-the death and suffering on
both sides. I feel a grave injustice has been done and I¹m trying to correct
it. You do all these things and come back and think, what have we done?²

Michael Hoffman served as a Marine Corps corporal who fought in Tikrit and
Baghdad, and has since become a co-founder of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

³Nobody wants to kill another person and think it was because of a lie.
Nobody wants to think their service was in vain,² says Hoffman.

His response to what he would say to Mr. Bush is simple, ³I would look him
straight in the eye and ask him Œwhy?¹ And I would hold him there and make
him answer me. He never has to deal with us one on one. I dare him to talk
to any of us like that, one on one, and give us an answer.²

Hoffman then adds, ³What about the 3 year old Iraqi girl who is now an
orphan with diseases and nightmares for the rest of her life for what we
did? And the people who orchestrated this don¹t have to pay anything. How
many times are my children going to have to go through this? Our only choice
is to fight this to try to stop it from happening again.²

Earlier this same day Mr. Bush said, ³We cannot leave this task half
finished, we must take it all the way to the end.²

However, Charlie Anderson, another Iraq veteran, had strong words for Bush.
After discussing how the background radiation in Baghdad is now five times
the normal rate-the equivalent of having 3 chest x-rays an hour, he said,
³These are not accidents-the DU [Depleted Uraniaum]-it¹s important for
people to understand this-the use of DU and its effects are by design. These
are very carefully engineered and orchestrated incidents.²

While the entire group nods in agreement and two other soldiers stand up to
shake his hand, Anderson says firmly, ³You subverted us, you destroyed our
lives, you owe us. I want your resignation in my hand in the next five
minutes. Get packin¹ Georgie.²


Posted by Dahr_Jamail at August 5, 2005 07:17 AM