Iraq Vets Will Testify About the Conduct of the War

In March 2008, on the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, our country’s newest veterans will speak out about what is really happening in Iraq and Afghanistan— that American soldiers are carrying out a failed war policy.

“Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan” is being organized by Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), and will be held March 13- 16 in Silver Spring, Md. Members of Milwaukee’s chapter, and their supporters, are planning to attend to hear about the conduct of the war, veterans’ services and the role of private contractors.

Jonathan de Wald, IVAW-Milwaukee’s president, said that about 100 veterans will testify at the event. Their testimony is being confirmed and vetted for accuracy—and the truth may be hard to hear. “They will talk about the objectionable things that they have done in Iraq,” said de Wald, who served in the Army and Reserves for 10 years, but did not serve in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Organizers say that the soldiers’ testimony will show that the wrongdoings in Iraq are not isolated incidents. “Some of these things, maybe all of them, could be categorized by definition as some sort of war crime,” de Wald said. “It’s not that every incident is going to be this really serious atrocity. It’s not a race to the bottom to try to depict ourselves or our colleagues as monsters that we unleashed on an innocent and unsuspecting public in Iraq. Some events would make that appear to be the case. But the purpose is meant to demonstrate that the high-profile events—like Abu Ghraib, or the Marine killings in Haditha, or the conduct during both sieges of Fallujah, with the use of white phosphorus against civilian targets—that these things are typical. That’s how the war is being fought.”

Jason Moon, who served in Iraq as a member of the Army National Guard, said that he has offered to testify at the event about being ordered by his superiors to run over children as his convoy traveled from Kuwait to Iraq in June 2003. “We were told directly under military orders from our captain that we wouldn’t be stopping if any children got in front of us,” Moon said. “We were supposed to run them over.”

Moon said he was shocked and refused to do so. Others called him a coward, he said. “I said I morally, physically, could not do it,” Moon said.

Moon said orders such as these, as well as generous guidelines about when to shoot civilians, have turned the Iraqis against the U.S. military. “I personally think that we’re committing acts that are creating the insurgency,” Moon said.

The event is inspired by the original Winter Soldier event, held in Detroit in 1971, where Vietnam war veterans talked about the abuses being carried out by American soldiers overseas. The conference—still controversial to this day— helped draw attention to war crimes committed by U.S. soldiers and encouraged many serving in Vietnam to resist the war.

John Zutz, of Veterans for Peace, said he heard of the testimony while on leave from Vietnam. “I heard about it and it affected me,” Zutz said. “Everybody knew this was happening, but to hear it really opened their eyes.”

A fund-raiser will be held to help pay for veterans’ transportation to the event. It will feature music and raffles at Bucketworks, 1340 N. Sixth St., on Feb. 23, from 7 p.m. to midnight. If you cannot attend but would like to make a donation, send it to: IVAW-Milwaukee, c/o Peace Action, 1001 E. Keefe Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53212. For more information, go to ivaw.org/wintersoldier or www.myspace.com/ivawmke.

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