SOLDIERS WITH SCRUPLES

It resembles a gargantuan squid hurtling towards you with enormous speed, its fearful tentacles bracing up for the kill and its frightening eyes fixed on the prey. You empty your M16A2 rifle—which fires a 5.56-mm bullet at a muzzle velocity of 2,800 feet per second—fitted with the M203 40-mm grenade launcher to flatten the devouring monster. But the tentacles are furiously fast to dodge every volley, and you are startled to discover that it is actually a mirage that has claimed several collateral targets—men, women and children—when you fired your service weapon recklessly. You are safe, but maimed and badly scarred mentally, desperately looking for a prosthetic for your amputated spirit and to hobble honourably for the rest of your life—the damage is too gory to forget.

Democracy Now!—a syndicated programme of news, analysis, and opinion aired by more than 700 radio and television, satellite and cable TV networks in North America—aired some 'men of honour' in May who were conscientious enough to admit their complicity in the unscrupulous orders of their superiors, felt shame and disgust in treating Iraqis inhumanly, termed the American occupation inhuman and illegal, and advocated strong action against some of their high-ranking commanding officers—including former commander of American forces in Iraq and present head of US Central Command David H Petraeus. And they can still walk honourably without a crutch for they are “Winter Soldiers on the Hill”. These war veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan testified before the Congressional Progressive Caucus at Capitol Hill and gave a first-hand account of the horrors of war.

Amy Goodman, the terrific hostess of Democracy Now!, explained before the testimonies were aired: “Like the Winter Soldier hearings in March 2008, when more than 200 service members gathered for four days in Silver Spring, Maryland, to give their eyewitness accounts of the injustices occurring in Iraq Afghanistan, “Winter Soldier on the Hill” was designed to drive home the human cost of the war and occupation—this time, to the very people in charge of doing something about it.”

Amy further explained, “The name Winter Soldier has been derived from the name of a similar event held in 1971, when hundreds of Vietnam veterans gathered in Detroit. The term was derived from the opening line of Thomas Paine's pamphlet The Crisis, published in 1776, which read, 'These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman'.”

Consumed by shame and regret and their souls shattered by the shards of war, these 'soldiers with scruples' were visibly scarred as they narrated their harrowing and horrifying experiences on and off the battlefield. Former Marine Corp Scout/Sniper Sergio Kochergin (above, in the middle with a beard) was the first to shoot, giving behind-the-scene account of the initial days of the US invasion of Iraq. “It was very hard to see the pain in people's eyes... from their losses they begun to cry... they said it was our fault, the planes killed them.”

Once, Kochergin and his fellow soldiers were instructed to guard an ammuntion supply point in Al-Najaf city—capital of Al-Najaf governorate in central Iraq and located about 160 km south of Baghdad—and take action against anyone trying to steal the weapons. The former sniper mentioned how the High Command had instructed them to “roughen up everybody, that they could not trust anybody and put as much fear as possible... instill fear into people on every chance we got.”

Kochergin also explained the “drop weapon” strategy, which he witnessed on duty in Al Anbar province. US Army personnel were supplied AK-47s whenever they killed unarmed people so that they could be planted on their bodies to make it look like real encounters. These weapons were supplied by the higher chain of command, he added. Kochergin went on to add how within two months of deployment, the rules of engagement changed drastically: any Iraqi carrying a bag and a shovel was to be considered a suspect. “We killed innocent people.... We got approval to kill anyone with a bag and a shovel.” He and his unit were ultimately “tired of killing people and wanted to go home”.

Kochergin also exposed how the US had rendered them vulnerable to attacks by providing outdated equipment, and questioned the allocation of massive amounts of money to logistics when the situation was abysmal as ever. Shockingly, Kochergin was using an M-16 of '70s make, and the Hummers even lacked the basic safety mechanism.

Finally, Kochergin mentioned how the Army Command even dubbed mentally-scarred soldiers on their return as “cowards”. And psychologists, instead of counselling, suggested alcohol as the best way to overcome the tremendous stress and guilt. “The Marine should have never gone to Iraq,” he asserted.

Former US Army Captain Luis Montalvan (above, to Kochergin's right), 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment, who had worked extensively for General Petraeus, further exposed America's laxity towards the urgent requirement of more resources and troops in Iraq. “I wrote countless memorandums for more resources and personnel... but was never answered. I was given unlawful orders to stop humanitarian assistance to refugees caught between the Syrian and Iraqi borders. I disobeyed them,” he said. He added how “General Petraeus never heeded to requests of his subordinate officers for more troops and resources”… and painted a
rosy picture as the country slipped into a civil war. Montalvan advocated
court martial of such generals.

Montalvan also mentioned American callousness towards the spiralling insurgency. As of March 2006, no system to track immigration or emigration between Iraq and Syria was installed. From 2005-07, the absence of such a mechanism contributed to the instability of Iraq as foreign fighters and criminals frequently crossed the border at will. For the past year-and-a-half, Montalvan and other Iraq vets have co-authored several pieces in the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle “raising the issue of dereliction of duty by generals who have been promoted... and continue to perpetuate lies”.

The High Command was also perpetuating the dangerous trend of Army bravado and machoism in tackling even ordinary citizens, who had earlier been repressed by dictator Saddam Hussein and were now enraged by the foreign occupation. Rifleman and Automatic Machine Gunner Vincent GR Emanuele, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Alpha Company, 3rd Platoon, who was deployed in Al-Qa'im town, located nearly 400 kms north-west of Baghdad near the Syrian border and situated along the Euphrates River in Anbar province.

Between 2002 and 2006, he was jolted as the disgusting events unfolded. Emanuele narrated how taking potshots at cars that drove by was a regular feature of the Army. At times, the soldiers did not even fire warning shots at cars that pulled by roadsides before targeting them. “Thus was not the best way to become friendly with an already-hostile population,” he said. When under mortar fire, American soldiers, at times, responded with mortars without specific target information, “hitting buildings, houses and businesses”. “We rarely conducted battle damage assessment... no investigation was done and many incidents went unreported.... Because of the hostile intent, our unit had a general disdain and distaste for Iraqis and Iraq.”

A repentant Emanuele described how several innocent prisoners from the unit's detention facility were frequently left in the desert. “Desert because we dropped them off in the middle of nowhere. If they were not innocent, why were they not sent to a permanent detention facility?” While they were being transported, these innocent people were punched, kicked, butt-stroked, abused and harassed by Army personnel, he added. Other forms of inhuman treatment included addressing Iraqis as Hajis or sand niggers.

Months of deployment in a hot and hostile foreign land, under the perpetual fear of being terminated in an ambush or maimed by an improvised explosive device, and a high-pressure job started taking toll on the soldiers' personal lives. Emanuele said, “Several members of my platoon had divorces and separations.... Many of us did not think dying in Iraq was honourable... and did not want to be get deployed a second or third time.” Many Marines, including Emanuele, “turned to drugs and alcohol to cope with the horrors of this bloody occupation”.



As Emanuele's heartwrenching account ended, a soul-stirring song with a video showing coffins containing bodies of soldiers killed in Iraq and stressing the hollowness of war played during the break. The lyrics force you to think twice about military conflicts:

He's five foot-two, and he's six feet-four,
He fights with missiles and with spears.
He's all of thirty-one, and he's only seventeen,
Been a soldier for a thousand years.

He's a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain,
A Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew.
And he knows he shouldn't kill,
And he knows he always will,
Kill you for me my friend and me for you.

And he's fighting for Canada,
He's fighting for France,
He's fighting for the USA,
And he's fighting for the Russians,
And he's fighting for Japan,
And he thinks we'll put an end to war this way.

And he's fighting for Democracy,
He's fighting for the Reds,
He says it's for the peace of all.
He's the one who must decide,
Who's to live and who's to die,
And he never sees the writing on the wall.

But without him,
How would Hitler have condemned him at Dachau?
Without him Caesar would have stood alone,
He's the one who gives his body
As a weapon of the war,
And without him all this killing can't go on.

He's the Universal Soldier and he really is to blame,
His orders come from far away no more,
They come from here and there and you and me,
And brothers can't you see,
This is not the way we put the end to war.

After the break, Former Marine Corp Sergeant Adam Kokesh blasted the government brass for flouting the US Constitution: “The greatest enemies of the Constitution are not be found in the sands of Fallujah (a city in Al Anbar, located roughly 69 kms west of Baghdad on the Euphrates) but right here in Wasghingtion DC.”

Kokesh repented his involvement in an incident during his attachment to Golf Company 2/1 before the siege of Fallujah. An Iraqi returning home after work in his car was approaching a military checkpoint and failed to notice a Humvee camouflaged in desert pattern. A suspicious Marine thinking that the vehicle was too fast immediately emptied his 50-calibre machine gun on it. “We justified it by saying that there were ammunition rounds in the vehicle that started going off due to heat. There were no rounds.” The second volley hit the man's chest so hard that it broke his seat. Later, the 'prized kill' was snapped with Kokesh posing next to the vehicle. “I am very ashamed of the picture posing with the dead Iraqi,” a sombre Kokesh said.

Under strict orders from their superiors, the soldiers were so reckless in dealing with Iraqis that even the faintest suspicion led to an assault. “During the siege of Fallujah, our rules of engagement changed so frequently that we were often uncertain of them.... Anyone with binoculars or cell phone would be legitimate target,” he added.

Fromer Marine Corp Corporal James Gilligan (with partially shaven head in the picture above that of the cemetery), who had served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, was involved in the Operation Iraqi Freedom. His version supported Emanuele's examples of sadistic American approach towards Iraqis. Once surrounded by a non-hostile crowd, Gilligan's Sergeant suddenly lifted a child of seven or eight years old in the air and almost choked him with “his pistol pointed towards his head and neck area”. Gilligan, who was also part of the team that searched for weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), corroborated Kochergin's version of lack of proper safety mechanisms. “During the initial invasion, my Humvee had plastic doors.... And, we never found WMDs,” he added.

As Gilligan finished, another break followed, and another song played describing how the Army recruits young Americans promising a bright future.

The army recruiters in the parking lot...
Listen young man, listen to my plan
Gonna make you money, make you man
Here's what you get an M-16 and a Kevlar vest
You might come home with one less leg
But these things are surely keep a bullet out of your chest
So c'mon c'mon sign on c'mon
This one is nothing like Vietnam
Except for the bullets, except for the bombs.

What followed was a question-answer session with lawmakers asking these 'heroes' about the dehumanising aspect of military training, and their experiences. Democrat Representative from California Barbara Lee asked about the war psychology of dehumanising soldiers so that atrocities committed by them during occupation have minimal emotional impact on them, and how does it affect soldiers emotionally? She also invited suggestion on how to stop suicide attempts by Iraq-returned soldiers.

Former Army Sergeant Kristofer Goldsmith described how during initial training days trainees repeatedly stab a dummy with bayonets and yell, “KILL”. This is the first step to dehumanise soldiers, he said. Drill sergeants say a popular thing which trainees have to repeat: “Soldiers, what makes the green grass grow? Blood, blood, blood.” “I refused to say it,” he added.

Former Army National Guard Geoffrey Millard said, “As Iraq War Veterans Against The War, we have started a counselling group in Washington DC. We are not going to wait for politicians to end the war, we end the war everyday in what we do.”

Democrat Representative from Minnesota Keith Ellison asked whether the situation in Iraq would really deteriorate, as claimed by the US, if American forces withdraw and is America the glue holding the Iraqi society together?.

Before Montalvan could answer, he had a temporary amnesia—perhaps due to brain damage caused by the ordeal—with Kokash correcting him. He continued saying that this [the terrible consequences of withdrawal] was an assumption made by the highest echelon of the Army who have lied and misrepresented the situation on the ground. “There is no doubt that a withdrawal from Iraq is going to increase bloodshed, humanitarian refugees and sufferings," he said, but asked whether should the US fund with billions of dollars of tax payer's money an endeavour with no clearly defined objectives and for an unknown period of time. “Tribal leaders will sort out matters on their own,” he added. Kokash added, “It will be worse the longer we stay there.”

Ellison's last question raised the issue of abuse, particularly that of prisoners, and its impact on the general population. “What does things like Abu Ghraib and other abuses... do to the average Iraqi who may not hold any enmity towards the United States or US soldiers, but after their cousin uncle, aunt or wife has been abused? What does it do to them and to your security?

Gilligan answered the obvious—which the US government and the Army has conveniently overlooked—“When you meet an Iraqi teenage male... who is experienced in conflict... occupation going on in the last five years in his homeland, his neighbourhood, his streets and his schools. You are meeting people who know what exactly the Marine Air Wing is capable of, what our prison systems are like, they know what our responses are going to be to gunfire, mortar fire and sniper attack? And they are doing it and they are doing it good. They are doing it consistently and they are trying to continue this resistance, and this act of resistance is not going to end until we are actually out of that country.”

Eminent columnist *Chris Hedges rightly sums up the courage of such soldiers and the US indifference towards them: "Those who return to speak this truth, such as members of Iraq Veterans Against the War, are our contemporary prophets. But like all prophets they are condemned and ignored for their courage. They struggle, in a culture awash in lies, to tell what few They have the fortitude to digest. They know that what we are taught in school, in worship, by the press, through the entertainment industry and at home, that the melding of the state’s rhetoric with the rhetoric of religion, is empty and false."

Hedges adds: The words these prophets speak are painful. We, as a nation, prefer to listen to those who speak from the patriotic script. We prefer to hear ourselves exalted. If veterans speak of terrible wounds visible and invisible, of lies told to make them kill, of evil committed in our name, we fill our ears with wax.... We do not listen to the angry words that cascade forth from their lips, wishing only that they would calm down, be reasonable, get some help, and go away. We, the deformed, brand our prophets as madmen. We cast them into the desert. And this is why so many veterans are estranged and enraged. This is why so many succumb to suicide or addictions."

What goes on in the mind of a war veteran when he returns to civilian life after witnessing bloodshed and suffering personal losses was best summed up by Jake Gyllenhaal in the 2005 movie Jarhead: “A man fires a rifle for many years, and he goes to war. And afterward he turns the rifle in at the armoury, and he believes he's finished with the rifle. But no matter what else he might do with his hands, love a woman, build a house, change his son's diaper; his hands remember the rifle.”

Gyllenhaal played the role of former Marine Anthony Swofford, who wrote his memoir by the same name as that of the movie—the best-selling book describes his pre-Desert Storm experiences in Saudi Arabia and fighting in Kuwait. Jarhead is a slang used to refer to Marines (sometimes by Marines themselves). After leaving the Marine Corps, Swofford initially found it difficult to adapt to civilian life. “It felt strange to be in a place without having someone telling me to throw my gear in a truck and go somewhere,” he said.

WAR IS WRONG: more than 4,223 US soldiers have been killed and another 30,182 injured since the 2003 invasion. BESIDES, MORE THAN A LAKH IRAQIS HAVE DIED SINCE THE MISADVENTURE.

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* Chris Hedges is a senior fellow at The Nation Institute and a Lecturer in the Council of the Humanities and the Anschutz Distinguished Fellow at Princeton University. He spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. Hedges, who has reported from more than fifty countries, worked for The Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, The Dallas Morning News and The New York Times, where he spent 15 years.

He is the author of the best selling War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, which draws on his experiences in various conflicts to describe the patterns and behavior of nations and individuals in wartime. The book, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, was described by Abraham Verghese, who reviewed the book for The New York Times, as “... a brilliant, thoughtful, timely and unsettling book whose greatest merit is that it will rattle jingoists, pacifists, moralists, nihilists, politicians and professional soldiers equally.”

Hedges was part of The New York Times team that won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for the paper’s coverage of global terrorism and he received the 2002 Amnesty International Global Award for Human Rights Journalism. He was an early and vocal critic of the plan to invade and occupy Iraq.