Dahr Jamail's Address to VFP Convention - 8/5/2005

[reprehensor]

Dahr Jamail gave one of the Keynote addresses to the Veterans for Peace Nation Convention on August 5th.

It was largely a re-presentation of his address to the World Tribunal on Iraq, back in June. His speech added convincingly to the beliefs of many that the immorality of the invasion of Iraq and consequent occupation is unjustifiable.

Here is an excerpt, but be forewarned, the full text which you can read here, (scroll down to Dahr's name on June 25), is graphic, and uncensored.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

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In May of 2004 I was interviewing a man who had just been released from Abu Ghraib. Like so many I interviewed from various US military detention facilities who’d been tortured horrifically, he still managed to maintain his sense of humor.

He began laughing when telling of how US soldiers made him beat other prisoners. He laughed because he told me he had been beaten himself prior to this, and was so tired that all he could do to beat other detained Iraqis was to lift his arm and let it drop on the other men.

Later in the same interview when telling of another story he laughed again and said, “The Americans brought electricity to my ass before they brought it to my house.”

But this testimony is not about the indomitable spirit of the Iraqi people. About the dignity and strength of Iraqis, we need no testimony. This testimony is about ongoing violations of international law being committed by the occupiers of Iraq on a daily basis in regards to rampant torture, the neglect and impeding of the health care sector and the ongoing failure to allow Iraqis to reconstruct their infrastructure.

[LibertyorDeath]

1. Thanks reprehensor

I try to read as much of Dahr Jamail's writing as I can

He is one of the best out there doing dangerous work to shine the light of truth on these war criminals.

Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches

http://dahrjamailiraq.com/