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=> War Crimes: Up Close and Personal

War Crimes: Up Close and Personal
Posted by pancho (Guest) - Wednesday, March 5 2008, 16:48:02 (CET)
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Vermont Vets Share Stories of Iraq


By Bianca Slota / WCAX News

More than 150 people packed the seats of a ballroom a the University of Vermont's Davis Center on Thursday night to hear the stories of four people who served as part of the global war on terror. The group is part of a growing movement of veterans calling for an end to the Iraq war.

Their testimony at UVM is a precursor to the Winter Soldier - Iraq and Afghanistan hearings to be held in Washington, D.C., next month.

Winter Soldier hearings first happened in 1971, when Vietnam War veterans spoke about the atrocities they saw and were a part of. These newest vets are following in their footsteps.

"Disposal of munitions happened in close proximity to agricultural fields, small villages, as well as the primary living base for U.S. soldiers," former U.S. Army Sergeant Drew Cameron told the crowd.

Cameron says he was once ordered to leave unexploded munitions by the side of the road after they fell out of his cargo truck while he was traveling as part of a convoy. Cameron also spoke about having to leave an injured Iraqi family, without treatment, after their car was hit by another convoy.

Former U.S. Marine Corporal Matthew Howard, who helped organize Thursday's event, says people enlist in the military wanting to do good, but that the system in Iraq forces them perform unthinkable acts.

"It's how we set the rules of engagement, how we conduct ourselves at checkpoints, how we conduct ourselves in house raids, how we forever are on the offensive thinking that every Iraqi's a threat or terrorist or insurgent. You know we never hear the term civilian over there," says Howard.

These four veterans who spoke at UVM say they have struggled to comprehend some of the things they did while serving overseas and now they want other people to hear their stories.

"Some people are going to say that we're not upholding our patriotic duty to America, that we're just demoralizing the troops, but if anything we want to make sure that our troops are taken care of they way they should," says Adrienne Kinne, a former U.S. Army Sergeant who served as an Arabic linguist for an NSA outpost.

Each of the veterans say they feel they were lied to about why they were sent to war.

"In the end I think the worst emotion to come out of that is just the feeling of betrayal, of ultimate betrayal," says Howard.

The four veterans will join more than 100 others in Washington, D.C., next month for the Winter Soldier - Iraq and Afghanistan hearings.

Like their predecessors who came before and helped bring an end to the Vietnam War, these Winter Soldiers hope their tales will bring about the immediate end of the Iraq war.



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