US Active-Duty Soldiers Testify About the Horrors of war

[CarpeDiem]

Winter Soldier CONT’D: US Vets, Active-Duty Soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan Testify About the Horrors of War
Amy Goodman, Democracy Now
March, 18, 2008

Despite of all 'excuses' that when firing cannons and guns you don't see bodies of your victims torn in bits and pieces, how it can be 'human' to hunt for another human being and make joyful posing in front of lifeless victim as your trophey???
Note how common tendency in US Active Forces in Iraq is to relate to Iraqi as 'haji' - Untermenschen, which is actively promoted from the very top eschelons of the chain of command.
Read these accounts of vets, people!

One time they said that—to fire on all taxicabs, because the enemy was using them for transportation. And in Iraq, any car can be a taxicab. You just paint it white and orange, and there you have it. And one of the snipers across the radio replied back, “Excuse me? Did I hear that right? Fire on all taxicabs?” The lieutenant colonel replied back, like, “You heard me, trooper. Fire on all taxicabs.” And once that conversation ended, the town pretty much lit up; all the units that were in there fired on numerous cars—again, you know, people.[...] And then, with raids, we never went on a raid where we got the right house, much less the right person. Not once. [...] And the lack of humanity in war, the place where you put yourself is—when you look at it in back, it’s almost alien. We were driving down Baghdad one day, and we found a dead body on the side of the road. So we all pulled over to secure it and wait for MPs or whatever authorities would come and take care of this dead man here who was clearly murdered. And my friends jumped off and started taking pictures with him, you know, big old smiles on their faces, you know. And they said, “Hey, Viges, you know, you want your picture with this guy?” And I said no, nut “no” not in the context of that’s really messed up, because it’s just wrong on an ethical basis, but I said no because it wasn’t my kill. You shouldn’t take trophies for things you didn’t kill. I mean, that’s what my mindset is—was back then, because I wasn’t even upset that this man was really dead. They shouldn’t have been taking credit for something they didn’t do.

But if the town or the city that we were approaching was a known threat, if the unit that went through the area before we did took a high number of casualties, we were basically—we were allowed to shoot whatever we wanted. It was deemed to be a free-fire zone. So we would roll through the town, and anything that we saw, everything that was saw, we engaged it and opened fire on everything. And there was really—I mean, there was really no rule governing the amount of force we were allowed to use on targets during the invasion.

I remember one woman was walking by, and she was carrying a huge bag, and she looked like she was heading towards us. So we lit her up with the Mark 19, which is an automatic grenade launcher. And when the dust settled, we realized that the bag was only full of groceries. And, I mean, she had been trying to bring us food, and we blew her to pieces for it.

 

[Erna]

I don't have words. What can one say about such pathological behaviour that hasn't been said.

The "collective consciousness" of earth's inhabitants is in a sorry state indeed. According to the Ra material, it looks like it's going to be a small harvest, if there is going to be a harvest at all...

The only consolation in this universe is that one will be the recipient of the same stuff you dished out later in the timeline, be it this life or 100 lives from now.

 

[PopHistorian]

There are more stories from other soldiers who've opened up -- some articles, videos on YouTube, etc.

Iraq is so completely broken, and no one in the US seems to know it. How often do we hear the Iraqi perspective? Not much at all. Once in a while it slips out -- but can't be accurately decoded by a US audience. I was surprised by the comments of a couple of Iraqi college students interviewed in class by CNN just now. The topic in the classroom was the US elections. The first couple of people interviewed were clueless, but then -- I'll paraphrase answers.

One guy said, "I don't believe one candidate or the other will be better for Iraqis -- the same policies will continue." Asked about democracy, one woman with sharply focused eyes said, "Democracy is not for Iraq, there should be unity. When we speak of ourselves, we don't discriminate by religion, ethnicity, or geography. Someone is benefiting from discriminations and causing conflict. The Iraqi government should be unified in agreement about what's best for Iraq, and move towards it." CNN offered no commentary on these answers. Americans have been convinced by their media that the reported fragmentation is real and natural in the absence of strongman Hussein.

Psychos like McCain and Lieberman keep pushing these lies. McCain appears to be nearly senile, and can't tell Iran from Al Qaeda, Sunni from Shiite, uses every well-known, well-worn tactic of disinfo and propaganda to avoid direct questions about his mis-steps, etc. It's almost inconceivable that anyone would support him without being equally incompetent. It's a continuing shock to witness.

 

[notanothermonday]

the stories told by these soldiers are gut wrenching and sad. it is a shame that no major media network will pick up the story of the Winter Soldiers and expose what they experienced.