Baracky!

[some_user86]

War Stories Echo an Earlier Winter
By Steve Vogel
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 15, 2008; Page B01

Grim-faced and sorrowful, former soldiers and Marines sat before an audience of several hundred yesterday in Silver Spring and shared their recollections of their service in Iraq.

The stories spilled out, sometimes haltingly, sometimes in a rush: soldiers firing indiscriminately on Iraqi vehicles, an apartment building filled with Iraqi families devastated by an American gunship. Some descriptions were agonized, some vague; others offered specific dates and locations. All were recorded and streamed live to the Web.

The four-day event, "Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan -- Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations," is sponsored by Iraq Veterans Against the War and is expected to draw more than 200 veterans of the two wars through tomorrow. Timed for the eve of the fifth anniversary of the war's start next week, organizers hope the soldiers' accounts will galvanize public opposition.

For some of the veterans speaking yesterday, the experience was catharsis.

Former Marine Jon Turner began his presentation by ripping his service medals off his shirt and tossing them into the first row. He then narrated a series of graphic photographs showing bloody victims and destruction, bringing gasps from the audience. In a matter-of-fact voice, he described episodes in which he and fellow Marines shot people out of fear or retribution.

"I'm sorry for the hate and destruction I've inflicted upon innocent people," Turner said. "Until people hear about what is happening in this war, it will continue."

Winter Soldier is modeled after a well-known and controversial 1971 gathering of the same name at which veterans of the Vietnam War gathered to describe alleged atrocities. John Kerry, then a young veteran, spoke at the Detroit event, which brought him to prominence. The soldiers' claims sparked lasting enmity, which resurfaced during Kerry's run for president in 2004.

The 2008 Winter Soldier will probably be no different. The event drew dozens of counter-protesters who were kept from the conference site at the National Labor College by a contingent of Montgomery County police. Although entrance to the event was limited to participants and the media, one protester managed to slip in and walked toward the stage, interrupting a speaker.

"Kerry lied while good men died, and you guys are betraying good men," the man yelled. The protester was roughly hustled from the room by several men in red knit shirts and jeans -- members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, who are providing security for the event.

Counter-protesters outside derided the event and were deeply skeptical of the claims being made inside. "We want absolute specifics," said Harry Riley, a retired Army colonel who leads Eagles Up!. "This is too important to our nation. The credibility of our nation and the credibility of our soldiers are involved."

Riley said those making allegations against the U.S. military should have to give sworn testimony instead of speaking at an antiwar conference.

Organizers said they have sought to verify the records of all soldiers speaking, including reviewing their service records and talking to other members of units. Some soldiers had videos and photographs, which were displayed yesterday on a large screen in the auditorium.

"The ubiquitous nature of video, photo and technology really sets this apart" from the original Winter Soldier, said Jose Vasquez, an IVAW member who directed the verification process. Organizers and speakers said Winter Soldier is not meant to vilify soldiers. Instead, they said, it is aimed at changing war policy.

"These are not bad people, not criminals and not monsters," said Cliff Hicks, 23, a former 1st Armored Division soldier from Savannah, Ga., who spoke about his experiences in Iraq. "They are people being put in horrible situations, and they reacted horribly."

A Defense Department spokesman said he had not seen the allegations raised yesterday but added that such incidents are not representative of U.S. conduct.

"When isolated allegations of misconduct have been reported, commanders have conducted comprehensive investigations to determine the facts and held individuals accountable when appropriate," Lt. Col. Mark Ballesteros said.

Yesterday's panels included two sessions on "Rules of Engagement," in which soldiers and Marines described in emotional and often graphic terms incidents in which they said unarmed and innocent civilians were killed.

Most of the stories involved Iraq, though some took place in Afghanistan.

Two former soldiers who served with the 1st Armored Division described an attack by an AC-130 "Spectre" gunship on an apartment building in southern Baghdad that they said took place Nov. 13, 2003.

"It was the most destructive thing I've seen, before or since," said Hicks, one of the soldiers.

Adam Kokesh, a student at George Washington University who served with the Marine Corps in Iraq, said Marines were often forced to make snap decisions about whether to fire on civilians.

"During the siege of Fallujah, we changed our rules of engagement more often than we changed our underwear," he said.

On the screen, a photograph showed him posing next to a burned-out car in which an Iraqi man was killed after approaching a Marine checkpoint.

"At the first Winter Soldier in 1971, one of the testifiers showed a picture like this and said, 'Don't ever let your government to do this to you,' " Kokesh said. "And still the government is doing this."

At a session on shortcomings in veterans' health care, audience members sobbed as Joyce and Kevin Lucey described the suicide of their son, Marine Cpl. Jeffrey Lucey, a death they blamed on his inability to get treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Mental health specialists were on hand to help speakers and audience members, and a workshop was offered on PTSD.

Those who spoke yesterday described the experience as intimidating.

"It was terrifying for me," said Steven Casey, a former 1st Armored Division specialist from Missouri who also described the AC-130 attack. "I knew somebody needed to hear it. All I wanted to do is say what I saw. I'm not accusing anyone of a crime."

The conference can be viewed athttp://www.ivaw.org.

Staff writer Hamil R. Harris contributed to this report.

LINK: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...T2008031403909

[some_user86]

US military recruits more ex-cons

Statistics released by a congressional committee show 861 people were granted waivers to enlist, up from 457 in 2007.

The crimes included assault, sex crimes, manslaughter and burglary.

The Army says waivers are only granted after careful review and are in response to the challenges of recruiting in a changing society.

The number of people granted waivers are just a small fraction of the more than 180,000 people who entered active duty in the armed forces during the fiscal year that ended in September 2007.

But the perceived lowering of standards is causing concern in some quarters.

"The significant increase in the recruitment of persons with criminal records is a result of the strain put on the military by the Iraq war," said Democratic Representative Henry Waxman.

Mr Waxman chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that released the figures drawn up by the US Department of Defense.

These show that:

* The Army granted 511 felony waivers in 2007, up from 249 the year before

* Some 350 people with convictions joined the Marine Corps, up from 208 in 2006

* The Navy actually recruited fewer people with convictions, down from 48 to 42

* The Air Force did not recruit anyone with a felony conviction

Among the convictions, many were for stealing, including burglary and car thefts, and drug offences.

Waivers were also granted to three people convicted of manslaughter, nine guilty of sex crimes, and nine convicted of making terror threats, including bomb threats.

In addition, the Army and Marine Corps granted 27,671 "conduct waivers" covering what are regarded as serious misdemeanours , up from 25,098 in 2006.

Pentagon officials say that the need to recruit troops for continuing operations abroad, low unemployment at home, and declining interest in serving pose a challenge.

"We're digging deeper into the barrel than we were before," an official told the Washington Post.

The Army also argues that its ranks reflect the society they are drawn from.
Only three in 10 Americans of military age meet the army's medical, moral, ap ude, or administrative requirements, army officials point out.

"We're growing the army fast, and there are some waivers - we know that," said Army Lt Gen James Thurman, deputy chief of staff for operations.

"It hasn't alarmed us yet."

LINK: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7360157.stm

[some_user86]

I would love to be proved wrong, but I fear that I probably won't be.

Is it unpatriotic to try to find the truth?

Yeah, I was probably a little harsh for calling out PEP, but to hide behind the shield of military service and lob attacks at anyone who disagrees with him is deceitful. None of us can know the stuff that the soldiers go through. But your fellow soldiers do. And when they speak up on the atrocities that others have committed from behind your honorable military shield, it taints that shield a little bit each time. It diminishes from that self-righteousness that you seem to have. So far, PEP had never argued using facts, just his smug, holier-than-thou at ude. I would hope he moves away from that.

[Ignignokt]

I would love to be proved wrong, but I fear that I probably won't be.

Is it unpatriotic to try to find the truth?

Yeah, I was probably a little harsh for calling out PEP, but to hide behind the shield of military service and lob attacks at anyone who disagrees with him is deceitful. None of us can know the stuff that the soldiers go through. But your fellow soldiers do. And when they speak up on the atrocities that others have committed from behind your honorable military shield, it taints that shield a little bit each time. It diminishes from that self-righteousness that you seem to have. So far, PEP had never argued using facts, just his smug, holier-than-thou at ude. I would hope he moves away from that.

Proved what? You don't know the facts, you are convicting the troops before there has been definitive evidence.

[Ignignokt]

[QUOTE=some_user86;2459665]I would love to be proved wrongQUOTE]

if you're so set on your belief about the murders, then let your actions speak and quit your job. Because you're being an enabler.

Put your money where your mouth is.

[some_user86]

Proved what? You don't know the facts, you are convicting the troops before there has been definitive evidence.

Proved what? Proved nothing. I didn't say I proved anything. Are you putting words in my mouth? I just provided the facts that have led me to my opinion. There has been enough details to say that we have more criminals in our military than at any other time, and they're putting true loyal soldiers in harms way. Witness the death of Pat Tillman by "friendly fire".

if you're so set on your belief about the murders, then let your actions speak and quit your job. Because you're being an enabler.

Put your money where your mouth is.

My job is to create medicines that'll save all soldiers, wether patriots or criminals, in addition to the possible innocent civilians/collateral damage that'll get treated by the US military. These medicines will trickle down to general US civilian use in the future. If I was a weapons manufacturer, I'd be enabling war. As it is, medicines don't give a crap who you are or what you do. I'm more than willing to create medicines that'll save if only just one innocent, good-hearted man.