[Peace-discuss] What we support when we support our troops

[C. G. Estabrook]

	The Independent (UK)
	'A dead Iraqi is just another
	dead Iraqi... You know, so what?'
	Interviews with US veterans show for the first time
	the pattern of brutality in Iraq
	By Leonard Doyle in Washington
	Published: 12 July 2007

It is an axiom of American political life that the actions of the US 
military are beyond criticism. Democrats and Republicans praise the men 
and women in uniform at every turn. Apart from the odd bad apple at Abu 
Ghraib, the US military in Iraq is deemed to be doing a heroic job under 
trying circumstances.

That perception will take a severe knock today with the publication in 
The Nation magazine of a series of in-depth interviews with 50 combat 
veterans of the Iraq war from across the US. In the interviews, veterans 
have described acts of violence in which US forces have abused or killed 
Iraqi men, women and children with impunity.

The report steers clear of widely reported atrocities, such as the 
massacre in Haditha in 2005, but instead unearths a pattern of human 
rights abuses. "It's not individual atrocity," Specialist Garett 
Reppenhagen, a sniper from the 263rd Armour Battalion, said. "It's the 
fact that the entire war is an atrocity."

A number of the troops have returned home bearing mental and physical 
scars from fighting a war in an environment in which the insurgents are 
supported by the population. Many of those interviewed have come to 
oppose the US military presence in Iraq, joining the groundswell of 
public opinion across the US that views the war as futile.

This view is echoed in Washington, where increasing numbers of Democrats 
and Republicans are openly calling for an early withdrawal from Iraq. 
And the Iraq quagmire has pushed President George Bush's poll ratings to 
an all-time low.

Journalists and human rights groups have published numerous reports 
drawing attention to the killing of Iraqi civilians by US forces. The 
Nation's investigation presents for the first time named military 
witnesses who back those assertions. Some participated themselves.

Through a combination of gung-ho recklessness and criminal behaviour 
born of panic, a narrative emerges of an army that frequently commits 
acts of cold-blooded violence. A number of interviewees revealed that 
the military will attempt to frame innocent bystanders as insurgents, 
often after panicked American troops have fired into groups of unarmed 
Iraqis. The veterans said the troops involved would round up any 
survivors and accuse them of being in the resistance while planting 
Kalashnikov AK47 rifles beside corpses to make it appear that they had 
died in combat.

"It would always be an AK because they have so many of these lying 
around," said Joe Hatcher, 26, a scout with the 4th Calvary Regiment. He 
revealed the army also planted 9mm handguns and shovels to make it look 
like the civilians were shot while digging a hole for a roadside bomb.

"Every good cop carries a throwaway," Hatcher said of weapons planted on 
innocent victims in incidents that occurred while he was stationed 
between Tikrit and Samarra, from February 2004 to March 2005. Any 
survivors were sent to jail for interrogation.

There were also deaths caused by the reckless behaviour of military 
convoys. Sgt Kelly Dougherty of the Colorado National Guard described a 
hit-and-run in which a military convoy ran over a 10-year-old boy and 
his three donkeys, killing them all. "Judging by the skid marks, they 
hardly even slowed down. But, I mean... your order is that you never stop."

The worst abuses seem to have been during raids on private homes when 
soldiers were hunting insurgents. Thousands of such raids have taken 
place, usually at dead of night. The veterans point out that most are 
futile and serve only to terrify the civilians, while generating 
sympathy for the resistance.

Sgt John Bruhns, 29, of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Armoured Division, 
described a typical raid. "You want to catch them off guard," he 
explained. "You want to catch them in their sleep ... You grab the man 
of the house. You rip him out of bed in front of his wife. You put him 
up against the wall... Then you go into a room and you tear the room to 
shreds. You'll ask 'Do you have any weapons? Do you have any anti-US 
propaganda?'

"Normally they'll say no, because that's normally the truth," Sgt Bruhns 
said. "So you'll take his sofa cushions and dump them. You'll open up 
his closet and you'll throw all the clothes on the floor and basically 
leave his house looking like a hurricane just hit it." And at the end, 
if the soldiers don't find anything, they depart with a "Sorry to 
disturb you. Have a nice evening".

Sgt Dougherty described her squad leader shooting an Iraqi civilian in 
the back in 2003. "The mentality of my squad leader was like, 'Oh, we 
have to kill them over here so I don't have to kill them back in 
Colorado'," she said. "He just seemed to view every Iraqi as a potential 
terrorist."

'It would always happen. We always got the wrong house...'

"People would make jokes about it, even before we'd go into a raid, 
like, 'Oh fuck, we're gonna get the wrong house'. Cause it would always 
happen. We always got the wrong house."

Sergeant Jesus Bocanegra, 25, of Weslaco, Texas 4th Infantry Division. 
In Tikrit on year-long tour that began in March 2003

"I had to go tell this woman that her husband was actually dead. We gave 
her money, we gave her, like, 10 crates of water, we gave the kids, I 
remember, maybe it was soccer balls and toys. We just didn't really know 
what else to do."

Lieutenant Jonathan Morgenstein, 35, of Arlington, Virginia, Marine 
Corps civil affairs unit. In Ramadi from August 2004 to March 2005

"We were approaching this one house... and we're approaching, and they 
had a family dog. And it was barking ferociously, cause it's doing its 
job. And my squad leader, just out of nowhere, just shoots it... So I 
see this dog - I'm a huge animal lover... this dog has, like, these eyes 
on it and he's running around spraying blood all over the place. And 
like, you know, what the hell is going on? The family is sitting right 
there, with three little children and a mom and a dad, horrified. And 
I'm at a loss for words."

Specialist Philip Chrystal, 23, of Reno, 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry 
Brigade. In Kirkuk and Hawija on 11-month tour beginning November 2004

"I'll tell you the point where I really turned... [there was] this 
little, you know, pudgy little two-year-old child with the cute little 
pudgy legs and she has a bullet through her leg... An IED [improvised 
explosive device] went off, the gun-happy soldiers just started shooting 
anywhere and the baby got hit. And this baby looked at me... like asking 
me why. You know, 'Why do I have a bullet in my leg?'... I was just 
like, 'This is, this is it. This is ridiculous'."

Specialist Michael Harmon, 24, of Brooklyn, 167th Armour Regiment, 4th 
Infantry Division. In Al-Rashidiya on 13-month tour beginning in April 2003

"I open a bag and I'm trying to get bandages out and the guys in the 
guard tower are yelling at me, 'Get that fuck haji out of here,'... our 
doctor rolls up in an ambulance and from 30 to 40 meters away looks out 
and says, shakes his head and says, 'You know, he looks fine, he's gonna 
be all right,' and walks back... kind of like, 'Get your ass over here 
and drive me back up to the clinic'. So I'm standing there, and the 
whole time both this doctor and the guards are yelling at me, you know, 
to get rid of this guy."

Specialist Patrick Resta, 29, from Philadelphia, 252nd Armour, 1st 
Infantry Division. In Jalula for nine months beginning March 2004

'Every person opened fire on this kid, using the biggest weapons we 
could find...'

"Here's some guy, some 14-year-old kid with an AK47, decides he's going 
to start shooting at this convoy. It was the most obscene thing you've 
ever seen. Every person got out and opened fire on this kid. Using the 
biggest weapons we could find, we ripped him to shreds..."

Sergeant Patrick Campbell, 29, of Camarillo, California, 256th Infantry 
Brigade. In Abu Gharth for 11 months beginning November 2004

"Cover your own butt was the first rule of engagement. Someone could 
look at me the wrong way and I could claim my safety was in threat."

Lieutenant Brady Van Engelen, 26, of Washington DC, 1st Armoured 
Division. Eight-month tour of Baghdad beginning Sept 2003

"I guess while I was there, the general attitude was, 'A dead Iraqi is 
just another dead Iraqi... You know, so what?'... [Only when we got 
home] in... meeting other veterans, it seems like the guilt really takes 
place, takes root, then."

Specialist Jeff Englehart, 26, of Grand Junction, Colorado, 3rd Brigade, 
1st Infantry. In Baquba for a year beginning February 2004

"[The photo] was very graphic... They open the body bags of these 
prisoners that were shot in the head and [one soldier has] got a spoon. 
He's reaching in to scoop out some of his brain, looking at the camera 
and smiling."

Specialist Aidan Delgado, 25, of Sarasota, Florida, 320th Military 
Police Company. Deployed to Talil air base for one year beginning April 2003

"The car was approaching what was in my opinion a very poorly marked 
checkpoint... and probably didn't even see the soldiers... The guys got 
spooked and decided it was a possible threat, so they shot up the car. 
And they [the bodies] literally sat in the car for the next three days 
while we drove by them.

Sergeant Dustin Flatt, 33, of Denver, 18th Infantry Brigade, 1st 
Infantry Division. One-year from February 2004

"The frustration that resulted from our inability to get back at those 
who were attacking us led to tactics that seemed designed simply to 
punish the local population..."

Sergeant Camilo Mejía, 31, from Miami, National Guardsman, 1-124 
Infantry Battalion, 53rd Infantry Brigade. Six-month tour beginning 
April 2003

"I just remember thinking, 'I just brought terror to someone under the 
American flag'."

Sergeant Timothy John Westphal, 31, of Denver, 18th Infantry Brigade, 
1st Infantry Division. In Tikrit on year-long tour beginning February 2004

"A lot of guys really supported that whole concept that if they don't 
speak English and they have darker skin, they're not as human as us, so 
we can do what we want."

Specialist Josh Middleton, 23, of New York City, 2nd Battalion, 82nd 
Airborne Division. Four-month tour in Baghdad and Mosul beginning 
December 2004

"I felt like there was this enormous reduction in my compassion for 
people. The only thing that wound up mattering is myself and the guys 
that I was with, and everybody else be damned."

Sergeant Ben Flanders, 28, National Guardsman from Concord, New 
Hampshire, 172nd Mountain Infantry. In Balad for 11 months beginning 
March 2004

The Other War: Iraq Vets Bear Witness, by Chris Hedges and Laila 
al-Arian, appears in the 30 July issue of The Nation

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