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IRAQ-U.S.: Veterans' Voices Rise in Protest
By Dahr Jamail
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 25 (IPS) - With the news that members of a U.S. Army
reserve platoon have been arrested in Iraq for refusing a "suicide
mission," dissent among veterans of the U.S.-led campaign in that country
continues to grow.
The recent incident mirrors other stories of troops being sent on missions
without proper equipment, and again raises the spectre of plummeting troop
morale as the security situation in Iraq deteriorates and elections
scheduled for January approach.
Even as late as six months after the March 2003 U.S.-led attack, as many as
51,000 U.S. soldiers and civilian administrators in Iraq had still not been
properly equipped with body armour and other protective gear, according to
the 'Washington Post'.
Alerted to the situation, family members bought expensive flak jackets and
other security gear and used international couriers to send it to the front
lines.
Speaking of the low rates of readiness of his ground forces due to
inadequate combat and protective equipment, the senior U.S. commander on
the ground in Iraq from mid-2003 to mid-2004 said, "I cannot continue to
support sustained combat operations with rates this low."
Lieutenant-General Ricardo Sanchez added that army units were, "struggling
just to maintain à relatively low readiness rates" for key combat systems,
reported the Post'.
The mother of Amber McClenny, who serves in the platoon that in mid-October
refused orders to transport fuel through an area north of Baghdad where
ambushes are known to occur, told the Associated Press her daughter called
and told her, "We had broken-down trucks, non-armoured vehicles and à we
were carrying contaminated fuel. They are holding us against our will. We
are now prisoners."
While a senior U.S. military official has said the unit had been ordered to
carry out what is known as a maintenance stand-down and its soldiers are
not under arrest, many Iraq veterans in the United States feel the incident
is indicative of poor troop morale, which stems from the growing belief
among soldiers that the war in Iraq is unjustified.
Army National Guard member Sergeant Kelly Dougherty served for 10 months in
Iraq at Tallil Air Base, near Nasiriya. "The people in Iraq didn't have
money or jobs and their cities were destitute," said Dougherty, who worked
escorting convoys and patrols.
"I wondered how these people were functioning after they'd been through so
much. They hadn't even rebuilt from the first Gulf War (in 1991)."
During a phone interview Dougherty said her unit did not even have
translators for the first nine months of the occupation and were thus
unable to communicate with Iraqis while conducting security patrols.
"I think it was definitely wrong to go into Iraq," she added. "I thought
that before we went in and the intelligence is proving this now."
Like other soldiers who are beginning to speak out against the Bush
administration, Dougherty has strong words about how the war was waged.
"People say the president didn't lie - but it's hard for me to believe
that they truly thought the reasons they went in were true," she said.
"I think we were intentionally lied to in order to get the U.S. into Iraq,
and the Bush administration seized this opportunity." The president, she
added, was also being dishonest about the dangers that soldiers would face
when he did not provide them with the necessary armour and supplies.
Another veteran of the war in Iraq is Corporal Alex Ryabov, who
participated in the invasion of Iraq until May 9. "What I realise after
having been there is that it (the war) is such a huge waste of life on both
sides," he said in an interview.
Ryabov also commented on U.S. Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld's
statement in September that the 1,000 U.S. soldiers who have died in Iraq
are just some of the victims of the "war on terrorism."
"The reality is that Bush and Rumsfeld don't have family in the military,
and they have never served. Each U.S. death in Iraq - each of those people
has family and friends, and you can't tell them that this is a small number."
Ryabov, who served as the ammunition chief for his Marine Corps unit,
believes the administration should be held to account for the horrendous
situation in Iraq. "They should be impeached. They should be put on trial."
He also believes the administration is not doing enough to support Iraq war
veterans.
"When troops come home we need to have benefits and VA (U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs) support. There are a lot of people having problems with
this and no support. My friends are coming back angry and screwed up and
not getting any help."
According to the U.S. military, more than 7,500 soldiers have been injured
in Iraq through Sep. 27. Of those, more than one-half did not return to
action after 72 hours. But veterans' advocates say the Pentagon is not
counting nearly 16,000 more soldiers evacuated from Iraq and Afghanistan
for "non-combat causes," according to United Press International (UPI).
Another veteran who has served in the Middle East is Senior Airman Tim
Goodrich. While serving two deployments at Prince Sultan Air Base for
Operation Southern Watch, where he patrolled no-fly zones in southern Iraq
during the build-up to the current war, "that is when it first hit me that
this was the wrong idea," said Goodrich.
"I was watching troop movements for Iraq going through our base between
August and October of 2002 à army troop movements preparing to go to war
with Iraq six months before the war," he told IPS.
Goodrich too is angry. "I feel absolutely betrayed by this administration.
I was brought up believing it was the most honourable thing to do to serve
in the military. Now I've learned that it is not a glorious undertaking à
and that our country isn't living up to the standards I believed it was -
that our foreign policy has been flawed for decades."
Goodrich feels so strongly about the horrendous situation in Iraq that he
has joined a group called Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). The
organisation, which started two and a half years ago with only nine
members, has now grown to over 60, including active duty service personnel
in Iraq.
In order to accommodate the growing numbers of Iraq veterans joining the
group, IVAW is trying to obtain office space and find a part-time employee
to assist in its mission of ending the occupation and seeing service
members return to the United States.
The group will also be sending members on speaking tours until the end of
November, according to its website.
Goodrich believes the situation in Iraq is the reason why the military has
failed to meet its recruiting goals recently. And he applauded the platoon
in Iraq for refusing to follow orders.
"I think it's about time that someone stood up and did something. They are
working with sub-par equipment that is putting peoples' lives at risk," he
said. "There are not enough armoured vehicles and not enough supplies for
the soldiers. One hundred fifty billion dollars (has been spent) to fund
these guys and the money isn't getting to where it needs to be."
When asked what he would do if he were called up to serve in Iraq again,
Goodrich replied, "No comment."
(END/2004)
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