ddoubleez

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Winter Soldier: US Vets, Active-Duty Soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan Testify About the Horrors of War

US veterans gathered in Maryland this past weekend to testify at Winter Soldier, an eyewitness indictment of atrocities committed by US troops during the ongoing occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Soldiers spoke of free-fire zones, the shootings and beatings of innocent civilians, racism at the highest levels of the military, sexual harassment and assault within the military, and the torturing of prisoners. While the corporate media ignored the story, we broadcast their voices.

A link to a 1 hour broadcast featuring these soldiers:


http://play.rbn.com/?url=demnow/dem...tsp&start=09:17

FattyJJ

That link brings up a file to save to my computer, VIRUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! j/k

Bigeme

This is what I was trying to draw attention too with my puppy video and some people just didn't seem to get the point that a single image means a lot more to most people than any amount of words. And something like a puppy (inherently representative of innocence) being killed for fun and either supported outright or tacitly by a large number of people serves that purpose well.

http://forums.webrats.com/showthrea...076#post2766076

fmb

Some of the things listed happened to our military members while serving. These things are illegal; what has happened to those discriminating, harassing, and sexually assaulting our own? I'm not trying to leave out the things which may have happened to the citizens of other countries, just highlighting the fact that if we don't enforce the rules on ourselves, why expect the rights of others to not be infringed upon?

If this happened, the asses should be charged; if found guilty, jailed.

Bigeme

I agree. The point is that it is very difficult to regulate and enforce these things. If you don't think that a warzone increases someone's likelihood of behaving negatively in these fashions, you are crazy. Do you propose we just increase military police exponentially? It does us no good to spread democracy or whatever idealistic front any war has if the inhabitants hate us afterwards.

ddoubleez

joerockhead

The Problem with this is that it is only ONE sided. There is a Small percentage of people that commit the crimes, there is a small percentage of people that are racist, and there are only a small percentage of people that are truly this bad.

The military is very much a reflection of our society. There are FAR more good, decent, honest people in the Military, then depicted at Winter Soldier.

If everyone thinks that ALL of the military are like this, or that ALL of the War Zone is like this, then they are either ignorant or liars.

Yes, some of this shit happens.
It happens here in the States too!! With Military and with Civilians.

Many of the Military that act that bad ARE punished. Just because the Media does not talk about it, does not mean it is not being worked on.

And, if you are on the Fence of the War, and you suddenly change your mind and want to protest the war due to this....Then you have NOT done all of your homework.

War Sucks. This War Sucks. But we cannot just leave now. We MUST ensure this country has a real chance of survival After we depart.

___________________________________________


Visit the worlds best website -
www.badass67.com - Black Sunshine

ddoubleez

I think it would be best to get ours out... We will figure out how to get access to the oil later, and cheaper..... Our military do not need to be put thought this... Saddam is out, now lets get out..... The amount of the country we control, does little of anything.........

Go green so our military dont have to wear green...

http://play.rbn.com/?url=demnow/dem...a.rm&proto=rtsp

Juan.©amaney

How many of you guys have actually served or worked for the military?

This type of behavior in war is not uncommon. It's how the world was founded. Slavery, rapes, killing off native people. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. But, like JRH has pointed it out, the same people serving there is a reflection of who our people are here.

The US is racist, rapes happen every day, and people get killed every few minutes. Just last night there was a pretty wicked gun fight within ear shot of me...the glory of living in Iraq...err, I mean, East LA

Now to have this being done in another country? O mon dieu! Tourist do this same shit in other countries.

I get a chuckle out of people who claim we should withdraw all of our troops and protect ourselves right here, yet have a problem with the US turning into a police state or a nanny state or whatever term gets tossed around.

What do you want? For more buildings to get blown up? More blood on our own soil?

Terrorism is a cancer. Cancer gets cut off and if you need to kill off a few good cells to make sure the whole thing goes away, so be it.

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93crawler

I've stayed away from this part of the forum for quite some time now, but thought I'd add my thoughts. The actions of a few can't be used to judge something as vast as the US military. There are countless atrocities in war, Abu Ghurayb comes to mind as an example. And although these acts are inexcusable, the military in general is made of up decent people who go where they are told to go, and do what they are told to do. This latest example isn't going to sway your opinion about this war, nor is this this thread. Opinions and individuals stances on this war don't change, as much as their stance on religion doesn't change either.

That being said, this statement--"The military is very much a reflection of our society," isn't necessarily that accurate. The military is largely made up of young kids who came from a poor background, and are trying to make a better life for themselves by taking advantage of what the military has to offer, namely in the way of college tuition. It is also overwhelmingly Republican, and also very much a southern based entity---in that more kids in the military come from the South, than anywhere else.

The whole withdraw/stay debate is also one in which your overall opinion isn't going to change much. But, I really don't see what staying there much longer is going to accomplish? This statement,"We MUST ensure this country has a real chance of survival After we depart," has some merit, but it is the Iraqi's themselves who ultimately will determine whether their newly-formed democracy will succeed or fail. We are largely fulfilling a police role now, and our military isn't the Iraqi police. Honestly, what more are we supposed to ask of our military? They have done their job, the majority of them should be able to return home.

I don't think anyone who has voiced their opposition to the war has suggested turning the US into a police state? Bush hasn't exactly been the greatest proponent of individual freedom, but I don't consider the US a police state. Juan, are you suggesting that turning the US into a police state would somehow curb terrorist actions? Because it actually has quite the opposite outcome in most instances. And Juan, I thought you were better than this--"What do you want? For more buildings to get blown up? More blood on our own soil?" are you trying to do the whole Iraq, Al Qaeda link, that has been disproven over and over and over again. If anything, Iraq has made our security situation worse in the world, and in particular the Middle East. Iran is now more powerful than ever, and Al Qaeda is stronger than ever.

Terrorism is definitely something that needs to be fought, but we are using the wrong instrument to fight it. The CIA, counter-intelligence agencies, and special ops are what we should be using to fight terrorism, and not the US Army, and Marines.

Notice how I didn't use any derogatory terms or insults, like liberal, or redneck or anything that hampers discussion on this issue. I am well capable of busting those sorts of terms out, as I'm sure Juan remembers, but let's try to keep the discussion on track for a change.