Approaching 5 years in Iraq, and Winter Soldier

Posted by Benjamin on: 03.17.2008 /

We’re going to focus a little on the Iraq War this week, as Wednesday is the 5 year anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Over the weekend, Iraq Veterans against the War gathered in Washington D.C. in a reprise of an event that happened back in 1971 called Winter Soldier. In both event, veterans publicized and protested war crimes and atrocities by the U.S. military. Here’s a news report on the recent event. Here’s a little of the testimony.

You can find lots of other coverage via this google blog search

Or via this youtube search

4 Responses to "Approaching 5 years in Iraq, and Winter Soldier"

Comment by: David H
1 03/17/08 5:54 PM | Comment Link |
From a March 16 AP story:

A 2006 Duke University study found that it was 100 times as likely that an American knew one of the 292,000 Americans killed in World War II than someone today would know a service member slain in Iraq.

Soldiers and analysts alike say the impact of the deaths in Iraq has been largely lost on many Americans who have no personal connection to the war.

“It’s still a war that hasn’t involved a draft or an increase in taxes,” said Jon Alterman, who heads the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “This is a war that most Americans continue to feel they don’t have to make sacrifices for.”
Comment by: Benjamin
2 03/17/08 7:41 PM | Comment Link |
David,

ouch.

That’s true in a larger sense, isn’t it–not just with regards to the Iraq War, but with regards to our relative wealth and power and our military interventions all over the world?
Comment by: David H
3 03/17/08 8:13 PM | Comment Link |
I think it is likely there isn’t a single Iraqi who could say they don’t know someone who has died in this conflict or that they don’t feel a personal connection to the war. That is what makes the American sense of detachment more than ironic.
Comment by: David H
4 03/17/08 8:53 PM | Comment Link |
Powerful video that, if nothing else, speaks to the horrible toll of the war.