How
the Press & the CIA
Killed Gary Webb's Career
Today's
Stories
January 21,
2005
Derek Seidman
An
Interview with Army Medic and Anti-War Activist Patrick Resta
January 20,
2005
Paul Craig
Roberts
Dying
for Sycophants
William Cook
The
Bush Inauguration: A Mock Epic Fertility Rite
Joshua Frank
The Democrats and Iran: Look Who's Backing Bush's Next
Eric Ruder
Why Andres Raya Snapped: Another Casualty of Bush's War
Mike Whitney
Coronation in a Garrison State
Robert Jensen
A Citizens Oath of Office
Peter Rost
Bush Report on Drug Imports: Good Data, Bad Conclusions
David Underhill
Is It Torture Yet?: the Eclectic Fool Aid Torture Test
James Reiss
Adieu, Colin Powell: Pea Soup in Foggy Bottom
CounterPunch
Staff
Voices
from Abu Ghraib: the Injured Party
January 19,
2005
Marta Russell
Social
Security Privatization & Disability: 8 Million at Risk
Mike Ferner
Marines
Stretching Movement: Protesting Urban Warfare in Toledo
Nancy Oden
The
Nuremberg Principles, Iraq and Torture
Tony Paterson
A Catalogue of British Abuses in Iraq
Dave Lindorff
Bush's Divide-and-Conquer Plan to Destroy Social Security
Doug Giebel
BS and CBS: When 60 Minutes Helped Promote WMD Fantasies
Alexander Cockburn
Will
Bush Quit Iraq?
January 18,
2005
Paul Craig
Roberts
How
Americans Were Seduced by War: Empire and Militant Christianity
Jennifer Van
Bergen
Federal
Judge: Abu Ghraib Abuses Result of Decision to Ignore Geneva
Conventions
Douglas Lummis
It's a No Brainer; Send Graner: a Rap for Our Time
Ron Jacobs
Syria Back in the Crosshairs?
Seth DeLong
Enter the Dragon: Will Washington Tolerate a Venezuelan-Chinese
Oil Pact?
Lance Selfa
Stolen Election?: Most Democrats Didn't Even Bother to Inquire
Paul D. Johnson
Mystery Meat: a Right-to-Know About Food Origins
Elisa Salasin
An Open Letter to Jenna Bush, Future Teacher
January 17,
2005
Heather Gray
Misconceptions
About King's Methods for Social Change
Robert Fisk
Hotel Room Journalism: the US Press in Iraq
Dave Lindorff
What the NYT Death Chart Omitted: Civilians Slaughtered by US
Military
Jason Leopold
Sam Bodman's Smokestacks: Bush's Choice for Energy Czar is One
of Texas's Worst Polluters
Gary Leupp
A Message from the Iraqi Resistance
Douglas Valentine
An Act of State? the Execution of Martin Luther King
Harvey Arden
Welcome to Leavenworth: My First Encounter with Leonard Peltier
Greg Moses
King
and the Christian Left: Where Lip Service is Not an Option
January 15
/ 16, 2005
James Petras
The
Kidnapping of a Revolutionary
Robert Fisk
Flying Carpet Airlines: My Return to Baghdad
Ron Jacobs
Unfit for Military Service
Brian Cloughley
Smack Daddies of the Hindu Kush: Afghanistan's Drug Bonanza
Fred Gardner
The Allowable-Quantity Expert
Dr. Susan Block
The Counter-Inaugural Ball: Eros Day, 2005
John Ross
Zapatista Literary Llife
Suzan Mazur
Unspooking Frank Carlucci
M. Shahid Alam
America's New Civilizing Mission
Frederick B. Hudson
Jack Johnson's Real Opponent: "That I Was a Man"
Mike Whitney
Bush's Grand Plan: Incite Civil War in Iraq
Tom Crumpacker
A Constitutional Right to Travel to Cuba
Bob Burton
The Other Armstrong Williams Scandal
John Callender
La Conchita and the Indomitable 82-Year Old
Lila Rajiva
Christian Zionism
Saul Landau
An Imperial Portrait: a Visit to Hearst's Castle
Doug Soderstrom
A Touch of Evil: the Morality of Neoconservatism
Poets' Basement
Davies, Louise, Landau, Albert, Collins and Laymon
January 14,
2005
Robert Fisk
"The
Tent of Occupation"
Lee Sustar
Bush's Social Security Con Job
José
M. Tirado
The Christians I Know
Dave Zirin
The Legacy of Jack Johnson
Sheldon Rampton
Calling John Rendon: a True Tale of "Military Intelligence"
Tracy McLellan
Under the Influence
Yves Engler
The Dictatorship of Debt: the World Bank and Haiti
Tom Barry
Robert
Zoellick: a Bush Family Man
Website of
the Day
Ryan for the Nobel Prize?
January 13,
2005
Mark Chmiel
/ Andrew Wimmer
Hearts
and Minds, Revisited
Joe DeRaymond
The Salvador Option: Terror,
Elections and Democracy
Greg Moses
Every Hero a Killer?...Not
Dave Lindorff
The Great WMD Fraud: Time for an Accounting
Jorge Mariscal
Dr. Galarza v. Alberto Gonzales: Which Way for Latinos?
Christopher Brauchli
Gonzales and the Death Penalty: the Executioner Never Sleeps
Gary Leupp
"Fighting
for the Work of the Lord": Christian Fascism in America
January 12,
2005
Robert Fisk
Fear
Stalks Baghdad
Josh Frank
The
Farce of the DNC Contest
Jack Random
Casualties
of War: the Untold Stories
John Roosa
Aceh's Dual Disasters: the Tsunami and Military Rule
Carol Norris
In the Wake of the Tsunami
Mike Whitney
Pink Slips at CBS
Alan Farago
Can
the Everglades be Saved?
Paul Craig
Roberts
What's
Our Biggest Problem in Iraq...the Insurgency or Bush?
January 11,
2005
Tom Barry
The
US isn't "Stingy"; It's Strategic: Aid as a Weapon
of Foreign Policy
James Hodge
and Linda Cooper
Voice
of the Voiceless: Father Roy Bourgeois and the School of the
the Americas
Linda S. Heard
Farah Radio Break Down: Joseph Farah's Messages of Hate and Homophobia
Derrick O'Keefe
Electoral Gigolo?: Richard Gere and the Occupied Vote
Gila Svirsky
A Tale of Two Elections
Harry Browne
Irish
"Peace Process", RIP
January 10,
2005
Ramzy Baroud
Faith-Based
Disasters: Tsunami Aid and War Costs
Talli Nauman
Killing
Journalists: Mexico's War on a Free Press
Uri Avnery
Sharon's Monologue
Dave Lindorff
Tucker
Carlson's Idiot Wind
Dave Zirin
Randy
Moss's Moondance
Dave Silver
Left Illusions About the Democratic Party
Charles Demers
Plan Salvador for Iraq: Death Squads Come in Waves
William A.
Cook
Causes
and Consequences: Bush, Osama and Israel
January 8 /
9, 2005
Alexander Cockburn
Say,
Waiter, Where's the Blood in My Margarita Glass?
John H. Summers
Chomsky
and Academic History
Greg Moses
Getting Real About the Draft
Walter A. Davis
Bible Says: the Psychology of Christian Fundamentalism
Victor Kattan
The EU and Middle East Peace
John Bolender
The Plight of Iraq's Mandeans
Robert Fisk
The Politics of Lebanon
Fred Gardner
Situation NORML
Joe Bageant
The Politics of the Comfort Zone
Mickey Z.
I Want My DDT: Little Nicky Kristof Bugs Out
Ben Tripp
CounterClockwise Evolution
Ron Jacobs
Elvis and His Truck: Out on Highway 61
Saul Landau
Sex
and the Country
Rep. Cynthia McKinney
Time to End the Blackout
Ellen Cantarow
NPR's Distortions on Palestine
Richard Oxman
Bageantry Continued
Poets' Basement
Gaffney, Landau, Albert, Collins
January 7,
2005
Omar Barghouti
Slave
Sovereignty: Elections Under Occupation
Kent Paterson
The Framing of Felipe Arreaga: Another Mexican Environmentalist
Arrested
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Old
Vijay Merchant and the Tsunami
David Krieger
Cancel the Inauguration Parties
Gideon Levy
New Year, Old Story
Dave Lindorff
Ohio Protest: First Shot Fired by Congressional Progressives
Christopher
Brauchli
Privatizing the IRS
Roger Burbach
/ Paul Cantor
Bush,
the Pentagon and the Tsunami
January 6,
2005
Brian J. Foley
Gonzales:
Supporting Torture is not His Greatest Sin
Greg Moses
Boot
Up America!: Gen. Helmly's Memo Leaks New Bush Deal
Petras / Chomsky
An
Open Letter to Hugo Chavez
Alan Maass
The Decline of the Dollar
Dave Lindorff
Colin Powell's Selective Sense of Horror
Jenna Orkin
The EPA and a Dirty Bomb: 9/11's Disastrous Precedent
P. Sainath
The
Tsunami and India's Coastal Poor
January 5,
2005
Alan Farago
2004:
An Environmental Retrospective
Winslow T.
Wheeler
Oversight
Detected?: Sen. McCain and the Boeing Tanker Scam
Jean-Guy Allard
Gary Webb: a Cuban Perspective
Fred Gardner
Strutting, Smirking, As If The Mad Plan Was Working
David Swanson
Albert Parsons on the Gallows
Richard Oxman
The Joe Bageant Interview
Bruce Jackson
Death
on the Living Room Floor
January 4,
2005
Michael Ortiz
Hill
Mainlining
Apocalypse
Elaine Cassel
They
Say They Can Lock You Up for Life Without a Trial
Yoram Gat
The
Year in Torture
Martin Khor
Tragic
Tales and Urgent Tasks from the Tsunami Disaster
Gary Leupp
Death
and Life in the Andaman Islands
January 3,
2005
Ron Jacobs
The
War Hits Home
Dave Lindorff
Is
There a Single Senator Who Will Stand Up for Black Voters?
Mike Whitney
The Guantanamo Gulag
Joshua Frank
Greens and Republicans: Strange Bedfellows
Maria Tomchick
Playing Politics with Disaster Aid
Rhoda and Mark
Berenson
Our Daughter Lori: Another Year of Grave Injustice
David Swanson
The Media and the Ohio Recount
Kathleen Christison
Patronizing
the Palestinians
January 1 /
2, 2005
Gary Leupp
Earthquakes
and End Times, Past and Present
Rev. William
E. Alberts
On "Moral Values": Code Words for Emerging Authoritarian
Tendencies
M. Shahid Alam
Testing Free Speech in America
Stan Goff
A Period for Pedagogy
Brian Cloughley
Bush and the Tsunami: the Petty and the Petulant
Sylvia Tiwon
/ Ben Terrall
The Aftermath in Aceh
Ben Tripp
Requiem for 2004
Greg Moses
A Visible Future?
Steven Sherman
The 2004 Said Awards: Books Against Empire
Sean Donahue
The Erotics of Nonviolence
James T. Phillips
The Beast's Belly
David Krieger
When Will We Ever Learn
Poets' Basement
Soderstrom, Hamod, Louise and Albert
December 23,
2004
Chad Nagle
Report
from Kiev: Yushchenko's Not Quite Ready for Sainthood
David Smith-Ferri
The
Real UN Disgrace in Iraq
Bill Quigley
Death
Watch for Human Rights in Haiti
Mickey Z.
Crumbs
from Our Table
Christopher Brauchli
Merck's Merry X-mas
Greg Moses
When
No Law Means No Law
Alan Singer
An
Encounter with Sen. Schumer: a Very Dangerous Democrat
David Price
Social
Security Pump and Dump
Website of the Day
Gabbo Gets Laid
December 22,
2004
James Petras
An
Open Letter to Saramago: Nobel Laureate Suffers from a Bizarre
Historical Amnesia
Omar Barghouti
The Case for Boycotting Israel
Patrick Cockburn / Jeremy Redmond
They Were Waiting on Chicken Tenders When the Rounds Hit
Harry Browne
Northern Ireland: No Postcards from the Edge
Richard Oxman
On the Seventh Column
Kathleen Christison
Imagining
Palestine
Website of the Day
FBI Torture Memos
December 21,
2004
Greg Moses
The
New Zeus on the Block: Unplugging Al-Manar TV
Dave Lindorff
Losing
It in America: Bunker of the Skittish
Chad Nagle
The View from Donetsk
Dragon Pierces
Truth*
Concrete
Colossus vs. the River Dragon: Dislocation and Three Gorges Dam
Patrick Cockburn
"Things Always Get Worse"
Seth DeLong
Aiding Oppression in Haiti
Ahmad Faruqui
Pakistan and the 9/11 Commission's Report
Paul Craig
Roberts
America
Locked Up: a System of Injustice
Hot Stories
Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante
Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
in the Iraq War
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
Click
Here for More Stories.
|
January 21, 2005
An Interview with Army Medic, Patrick Resta
"I
Will Continue to Speak Out Until the Last Soldier Leaves Iraq"
By
DEREK SEIDMAN
Patrick Resta, Specialist/E4, served
as an Army medic in Iraq with the 30th Brigade Combat Team, 1st
Infantry Division. He was stationed in Iraq for eight months
in 2004, returning home just about two months ago. He has recently
begun speaking out against the war and occupation, and he is
involved with Iraq Veterans Against
the War.
Thank you for doing this
interview Patrick. Can you begin by telling us when you were
in Iraq? Where were you and what were you doing?
Thanks for giving me the opportunity
to have my voice heard. I think it's vital that veterans of this
conflict speak out about what it's really like out there.
I was at my camp in northeastern
Iraq from March 12, 2004 to November 15, 2004. My camp was located
in the Diyala province, the capital of which is Baqubah. To make
that a little more understandable, we were about 100 miles northeast
of Baghdad and roughly 30 miles from the Iranian border.
I was a medic, so that was
my main focus. I would work shifts in our 3 bed ER sometimes,
where we would see everything from the common cold to gun shot
wounds and shrapnel injuries. I also accompanied patrols into
towns and convoys to get supplies in case anyone was injured
during the accomplishment of the mission.
When did you enter the military,
and why did you join?
I joined the military shortly
after high school. My main motivation was always money for college
and to get some training in the medical field. I was in a position
where my parents had made it clear that they were not in a position
to assist me with college tuition. I think that the vast majority
of people that enter the military do it for the educational benefits.
You said that you think
it's very important that vets speak out about what it's really
like over there in Iraq. I'd like to ask you a few questions
about this. First, speaking from your own experience, what's
daily life like for most soldiers over there? What do you want
people here to know about what's really going on?
Your daily life as a soldier
varies greatly by where you are in Iraq. Soldiers at the bigger
camps have better and more numerous amenities than I ever did.
These range from movie theaters, to swimming pools, to fast food
restaurants, and stores. Living conditions also vary widely from
barracks (almost like one would see here in the States), to trailers,
and even tents. Daily activities also vary wildly depending on
what your job is and what kind of unit you are in.
I myself lived in a trailer with three other medics. If you can
picture one of the metal shipping containers at a port you have
a good idea of the size. It was slightly smaller. It had fluorescent
lights, air conditioning, and several power outlets. I rarely,
if ever, had a day off for the entire time that I was over there.
As I mentioned earlier, my days consisted of working in our clinic,
going on patrols or missions, or going on convoys to other camps.
The thing that is most troubling to me about what is going on
in Iraq is the public's reaction, or lack thereof, to it. It
seems to me that the public is a little too accepting of whatever
the media feeds them and unwilling to research things for themselves.
I think the misconceptions harbored by the public about how things
are going in Iraq are dangerous. By this I refer to the following
ideas: that the Iraqi people want us there, that we are rebuilding
the country, that we are helping the Iraqi people, that the Iraqi
security forces are anywhere near capable of taking over, and
the list goes on and on. I cover each of these topics extensively
in my comments I have readied for public speaking engagements.
(Contact Patrick Resta at eosonifilic@aol.com).
There are also the troubling ideas the American public still
harbors about soldiers in Iraq. A huge one is that most soldiers
support the war and are happy to be there. During my time in
Iraq, "The Stars and Stripes", which is a military
newspaper, released a poll that showed a clear majority of soldiers
in Iraq as unsupportive of the policies. The paper also ran many
letters to the editor that were critical of the administration
and the war in general. The lack of armor on vehicles continues
to be a problem that costs soldiers their lives and limbs. My
unit had a huge problem with this issue. I have plenty of pictures
of our vehicles with plywood "armor" being sent into
combat (see these pictures here: http://www.lefthook.org/)
You said that it was troubling
to you that most Americans still believe that a most soldiers
still support the policies our government is carrying out in
Iraq. Soldiers' opinions on the war vary, naturally. You were
in Iraq for several months, and now you're involved with Iraq
Veterans Against the War. Are a good number of soldiers questioning
the war and occupation and getting fed up with what's going on?
I feel that plenty of soldiers
don't see the point of the efforts they're making in Iraq. As
my time wore on in Iraq more and more people were getting increasingly
frustrated with being there. It becomes even more frustrating
when you're getting attacked pretty frequently, having people
get injured, and even members of other units get killed. For
a while after I first got there I would try to think of a reason
for being in Iraq before I went to bed every night. I couldn't
think of one. I finally saw two pictures in National Geographic
that made it pretty clear why I was there, and I taped them above
my cot as a reminder. The first picture shows about 30 Marines
guarding the Ministry of Oil in Baghdad. The second picture shows
Navy personnel escorting an oil tanker through the Persian Gulf.
Being placed in that situation
is only made worse by the lack of equipment. I realized rather
quickly what my life was worth to this administration and to
the American public. That being said, we all took our mission
seriously and tried to have some positive impact to make our
time in Iraq worth something. However, this was made pretty difficult
with the rules that were put in place, such as only being allowed
to treat Iraqis that were in danger of losing life or limb. It's
depressing to realize that for the next several months or even
year of your life you will be risking your life for nothing.
Any rocket or mortar coming in could take your life, or arms,
or legs and there is little point to it. The vast majority of
the Iraqi people don't want you there, the reasons given for
the war have proven false, and your continued presence only inflames
the situation.
You mentioned the issue
of the armor on your vehicles (or lack of). This has become a
more prominent issue after Donald Rumsfeld's visit to Iraq several
weeks ago, when he was confronted on it by a soldier. I read
about this issue well before the Rumsfeld event-- soldiers and
their families had been complaining about this for a while, to
little avail. What's really going on? How do soldiers feel about
all this, and why do you think the government has been so neglectful?
The lack of armor continues
to be a problem that soldiers are paying for with their lives
and limbs. It all goes back to this administration only listening
to people that tell it what it wants to hear. Like Ahmed Chalabi's
continuing assertions that Americans would be greeted as if they
had just liberated Paris. Part of it was wanting to keep the
already ridiculous cost of this war down. Part of it was wanting
to make sure as much money as possible went directly to corporations.
Part of it was this administration sticking its head in the sand.
To this day they still have not admitted or addressed the total
lack of pre war, post war, and exit strategy planning. Truthfully,
this administration never wanted an exit strategy. A long occupation
of Iraq had been planned from the get go. This administration
has already drawn up plans to occupy Iraq that go beyond the
summer of 2006.
About a week after the story broke, one of the companies that
makes the armor came forward and said that they hadn't even been
asked to increase production. As I said, this administration
and the American public largely don't care, they don't have kids
in Iraq facing RPG's with plywood armor. When the draft returns
it will be interesting to compare how well soldiers are equipped
then to how they were pre-draft. I have included some pictures
detailing the problem. My unit of 4,000 people rolled into Iraq
with between 75% to 90% of our vehicles unarmored. To give you
a rough idea of the number, it would be in the range of 500 to
700.
Once inside Iraq we slowly
started to receive armored doors only for our vehicles. Even
when I left after 8 months in Iraq we still had vehicles that
were unarmored. My brigade lost its first soldier during the
drive north from Kuwait. He was in an unarmored vehicle that
was hit by a roadside bomb. My camp had a soldier lose part of
his arm from riding in an unarmored vehicle that was hit by a
roadside bomb. His arm was saved and after numerous surgeries
he was told it would be a year before he would get most movement
and sensation in his arm back. Situations like these are repeated
daily through out Iraq.
You said "when the
draft returns". You think that this will happen? What are
your thoughts on it?
I don't have a doubt in my
mind that the draft will return. The general that runs the Army
Reserve wrote a memo, which was subsequently leaked to the media,
in which he described the Army Reserve as "a broken force".
The numbers that the National Guard and Reserve have on paper
don't add up. They are in a position now where they can no longer
hide the problem. In the memo the general describes having 46,500
members on the books who are either untrained or unaccounted
for. This makes no mention of the number on stop loss, non deployable
due to illness or injury, and those awaiting discharge. I see
the draft returning in the next two to three years, perhaps sooner.
The recruiting and retention
problems the National Guard and Reserve have had over the years
are only exacerbated by the situation in Iraq. The frequent call
ups, lack of equipment that I described, and the lack of benefits
when you compare what the full time military receives for the
same work only serve to force people out. It reaches a point
where it's clearly not worth it. I was called to active duty
for two years in a three year period. Each time I had to leave
school, leave my job, and leave my wife. And for what? Like I
said earlier, having to put your life on hold repeatedly for
no good reason gets old pretty quick. The National Guard and
Reserve will begin to dwindle in the next few years and it's
impossible to continue these types of occupations without them.
The draft isn't a question of "if", it's a question
of "when". We passed the "if" time frame
a long time ago.
What about the relationship
between US soldiers and Iraqis? From your experience, what type
of relationship exists? How were you and your fellow soldiers
told to deal with people?
Most Iraqi's are not overtly
confrontational with American soldiers. However, if you engage
them in conversation and ask their opinion (as I often did) they
will not hesitate to tell you that you are not wanted in Iraq
by anyone. After the WMD story turned out to be a hoax the war
was then sold as a humanitarian mission. Shortly after arriving
in Iraq we were instructed that we could not treat Iraqi's unless
they were in danger of losing life or limb. Basically, the local
nationals had to be in danger of dying before we could treat
them. This was the official guidance that we received in writing,
repeatedly, from way up the chain of command. The excuses ranged
from not having the money/supplies to wanting the Iraqi's to
get used to using their own healthcare infrastructure. Why were
we there then? It was little things like this that served to
quickly turn our opinion about what this war was really about.
Most of the sentiment voiced
publicly by the local nationals all focused on the same few ideas.
The war was sold to them as a way to get rid of Saddam, which
they favored. But, it quickly became evident that that's not
what this war was really about. They were lied to by this administration
too. They are now being occupied and they know the war is all
about oil.
Not only are they being occupied,
but they still have no security. I was told again and again that
at least under Saddam they didn't have roadside bombs littering
the country and gangs of insurgents roving and ravaging the country
with impunity. Again, I could talk about this for hours. I will
leave my contact information (eosonifilic@aol.com) and people
can contact me with individual questions and/or requests to speak
about my opinions and experiences in Iraq.
One thing that doesn't get
enough honest attention is the number of soldiers wounded in
Iraq, and what this really means. So far, well over 10,000 soldiers
have been "wounded". You worked as a medic, so you
have a good idea of what this means.
One thing I want to make absolutely
clear is my skepticism that this number is anywhere near accurate.
An injury can be anything from eardrums ruptured in an explosion,
gunshot wounds, shrapnel injuries, blast injuries, and on and
on. Obviously, this number makes no accounting for those that
are mentally traumatized by what they have seen, and the numbers
that have substance abuse problems or even end up taking their
own lives. Just as in Vietnam it will take years before the true
effects of this conflict are known. They will continue to manifest
themselves in increasing numbers of individuals as more people
return home. Or more importantly, return home for the second
or third time from Iraq. The VA was under manned and under funded
well before September 11th, and is simply not equipped to deal
with what is coming in the next few years.
This interview is going
to be read both by soldiers and civilians who support what you
are doing-- speaking out against the war and occupation-- and
by people who strongly oppose your actions. One of the arguments
that your would-be opponents have is that antiwar soldiers joined
the military with the knowledge that they might have to go to
war even if they strongly disagreed with it-- you signed on for
the job, and so you should stop complaining. This argument has
come up a lot, and as the antiwar veteran and GI movement grows,
it will surely go on. What's your response?
This war was sold to the American
public the exact same way that Vietnam was. It's the same domino
theory, except instead of stopping the spread of communism we're
spreading democracy. Yeah, right. Vietnam somehow posed a threat
to the US, much as Iraq somehow did. A quick history lesson if
I may-- Iraq was involved in a brutal trench war with Iran from
1980-1988. Then the Persian Gulf War in 1991 was followed by
twelve years of crippling sanctions and pretty regular bombing.
A threat? Hardly. Vietnam had Agent Orange, Iraq has depleted
uranium. Vietnam veterans returned and were not cared for properly
by the VA; it's already happening to Iraq veterans. The only
thing missing is the draft, and it won't be for much longer.
It's always those with the least to lose that speak out the loudest
and beat their chests the hardest. You clearly saw that during
the run up to this war, the initial invasion, and it continues
to this day. We stayed the course in Vietnam until 58,000 US
soldiers were dead, countless others were scarred for life, and
three million Southeast Asians were dead. I don't hear too many
people still preaching about our virtuous rationale for invading
that country. Sadly, the draft is what ended Vietnam and I think
it is the only thing that will end this war. While the American
public seems to sleep fine at night while other's children are
killed in Iraq, I doubt they will sleep as soundly when they
are their own.
When I joined the military I took an oath that I took seriously.
I just wish that my elected officials took it as seriously as
I did. But, why should they? Few if any of them have ever taken
it before themselves. In my oath I swore to defend the Constitution
and the people of America, clearly that is not what I did in
Iraq. In fact, if the Constitution needs defending anywhere it
is in Washington, DC.
No one in the military signs up to die for nothing, I know I
surely didn't. Soldiers aren't assembled at the Pentagon, they
are real people with real families. Most come from poor and working
class families and I believe that has something to do with the
public's sick view that the life of a soldier is worth inherently
less than the life of an average American citizen.
If you're going to commit hundreds of thousands of troops for
something this ridiculous, at least equip them so they have a
fighting chance of surviving and keeping all of their limbs.
Supporting our troops? Hardly. Let me break it down for you real
easy: most of the kids dying in Iraq, and they are kids, are
between 18 and 22. These kids will never go to college, never
get married, never have kids, never have grandchildren, never
retire, and never get to enjoy life. They leave behind children
that will never know their fathers and widows that will never
know peace.
Too many people have suffered way too much already. I will continue
to speak out until the last soldier leaves Iraq and the last
veteran gets the care they are owed. Not another Vietnam.
What made you decide to
become active in opposing the war and occupation?
I think this will be my shortest
answer. I don't want to see anymore of my fellow soldiers get
killed, get maimed, or be mentally traumatized for nothing. I
don't want to see anymore Iraqi civilians get killed or injured
for nothing. This administration is just creating a new generation
of insurgents. Mostly, I want to point out what our soldiers
are being asked to do over there and how they are being asked
to do it. I want to make it clear to the public that they aren't
getting the full scope of what's going on in Iraq. Most of the
reporters in Iraq are scared to leave the large camps they're
in. They only report what they see from the camps or what the
military reports to them. None of the attacks in my area where
ever reported.
Can you briefly tell us
about the organization your involved with, Iraq Veterans Against
the War? Is the group growing? What type of activities do you
do, and do you have any new future plans?
Iraq Veterans Against the War
is a group of people who have been in Iraq since the current
war began. The group is growing and in the process of setting
up local chapters through out the country. The main focus of
the group is to end the occupation of Iraq and make sure that
the veterans of the conflict receive the care that they were
promised and have earned. My main focus will be doing as many
public speaking events as I can to get our message out to the
public. I invite people to check out the web site, www.ivaw.net
There's an organization
of military family members who oppose the war and occupation,
Military Families Speak Out (www.mfso.org). How has this group
helped or affected you, and why do you think it's important?
My wife was involved with MFSO
while I was in Iraq. They are actually the way that I first heard
of IVAW. I think they are extremely important because they put
a human face on what is happening in Iraq. They also point out
that military members and families are not being taken care of
the way they should be. Supporting our troops means a lot more
than buying a $2 yellow magnet for your car and waving the flag.
It means demanding answers and holding people accountable.
I want to finish up by asking
you the same questions I asked Jim Talib, another antiwar vet
I recently interviewed. What kind of role do you think antiwar
soldiers and veterans can play in the broader antiwar movement?
What can antiwar civilians and soldiers/vets do to build a healthy
relationship, and how can the civilian antiwar movement make
itself more welcoming to soldiers who want to speak out against
the war and occupation?
I think that obviously as veterans
of this war we are the most qualified to speak out about the
conditions in Iraq. We were in Iraq and we lived it. We were
at places other than the hand picked sites that reporters and
Congressmen are shown. We talked to lots of soldiers and not
just those that pre rehearsed interviews so they'd tell the media
what the military and this administration wants the public to
hear. We let the public know that lots of soldiers don't agree
with this war. They don't agree with the reasons that this war
was sold on, the lack of equipment, the lack of planning, and
the continuing lies about conditions in Iraq put forth by this
administration.
The second part of the question
is harder to answer. Personally, I'm not a pacifist and I've
never felt I belong in the various peace groups. I'm just a veteran
who understands all too well the sacrifices that are made. I
can't sit and let it continue. Too many soldiers have suffered
and will continue to suffer for years to come. Most of us just
want to end this suffering.
I can't tell you how many times
I'm asked ridiculous questions about Iraq. If a veteran wants
to speak about the war they will, when they are ready and able
to do so. The public can't possibly ever imagine what some people
go through in Iraq. Start by just introducing yourself and thanking
them for coming out just like you would anyone else. A lot of
veterans will never speak out against the war because they can
be punished for doing so under military law. Other veterans don't
want to admit that friends or family have been injured or even
given their lives in an unnecessary war. They simply don't want
to see it and will never admit it. I think that it is these veterans
that have it the hardest.
Patrick Resta can be reached at eosonifilic@aol.com.
The website for Iraq Veterans Against the War is www.ivaw.net.
Derek Seidman is co-editor of Left
Hook. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island, and can be contacted
at derekseidman@yahoo.com.
His interview with antiwar
vet Jim Talib can be read here: http://lefthook.org/Interviews/SeidmanTalib112904.html
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