News Iraq Vets Against the War Testify: Winter Soldier II

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Testimony from Iraq Veterans Against the War highlighted personal experiences of military abuses in Iraq, focusing on issues such as anger, intimidation, and the controversial "drop weapons" policy. Specific accounts included shooting at cars and concerns over Rules of Engagement, emphasizing the emotional toll on soldiers and the resulting civilian harassment. The discussion acknowledges the inevitability of abuse in combat situations, attributing it to the stress and fear faced by armed personnel. The conversation encourages a focus on military abuse testimony while suggesting that broader strategic discussions should be reserved for other forums. The sentiment is expressed that to prevent such behavior, voters should support candidates who oppose military interventions.
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Last week saw testimony from Iraq Vets Against the War, detailing personal experiences in Iraq, and focusing on abuses by military units. Take from these what you will.

Jon Turner on anger, intimidation and "drop weapons" - 1, 2.

Jason Hurd: shooting at cars - link

Adam Kokesh, on Rules of Engagement and civilian harrassment - link

More videos at Democracy Now!
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/3/17/winter_soldier_us_vets_active_duty
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/3/18/winter_soldier_contd_us_vets_active

There are a number of issues that can be debated in this context, from the effects of large numbers of embedded and non-embedded journalists on the military, to the effects of military aggression on the "hearts and minds" of the locals. Please keep any discussion directly pertinent to testimony relating to military abuse and leave broader question of strategy to the other Iraq thread.
 
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Any time you have combat operations, there is going to be abuse. It is the nature of the thing. You can't put a bunch of scared heavy armed young men in a town and expect that they will always act like boy scouts. Your buddies get killed that makes you emotional and even more scared.

If you don't like this kind of behavior vote for someone who won't start wars.
 
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