Amazing Speech by Iraq War Veteran

[proud2BlibKansan]

Run time: 04:39 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akm3nYN8aG8   Posted on YouTube: December 20, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: December 22, 2009 By DU Member: proud2BlibKansan Views on DU: 5121

 
Poor and working people in this country are sent to kill poor and working people in another country so the rich can get richer. Our real enemy is not the ones living in a distant land whose names or policies we don't understand; The real enemy is a system that wages war when it's profitable, the CEOs who lay us off our jobs when it's profitable, the Insurance Companies who deny us Health care when it's profitable, the Banks who take away our homes when it's profitable. Our enemies are not several hundred thousands away. They are right here in front of us
- Mike Prysner


The chain reaction of
evil... wars producing
more wars... must be
broken, or we shall be
plunged into the dark
abyss of annihilation
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

If tyranny and oppression
come to this land, it will be
in the guise of fighting a
foreign enemy... The loss of
Liberty at home is to be
charged to the provisions
against danger, real or
imagined, from abroad..."
- James Madison

[EmeraldCityGrl]

1. Wow!

I'm reminded of a young John Kerry although, he was never as passionate. What a wonderful young man. He makes me proud of our military.

[Mithreal]

2. Our enemies are home grown.

[Mithreal]

3. Enthusiastic K&R

[Hulk]

4. John Kerry of 2009....

The first post must have felt the same vibes I felt as I listened to this man. Truth can cut deep. This country is a nation of war...for profit or for any reason. We like to try out our new weapons. We like to steal natural resources of the weaker nations. We like to flex our muscle around the world to keep the weak frightened.

Hell...it's ALL we manufacture anymore....weapons. We are the world #1 arms producer. Are we that f*cking stupid we don't even recognize who we are in the world anymore? We produce, sell and display our arms 24/7...ever since World War II. It's all we have. It's good this veteran expresses reality...but nobody is listening. We'd rather pay attention to Brittany Murphy's death. Like that makes any difference to the world we terrorize??

[Juan_de_la_Dem]

10. Unfotunately you are right

[kenichol]

5. OMG OMG I want everyone to see this

I'm posting it on my local newspaper forum. Will send it everywhere I can.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. It is awesome, isn't it?

[midnight]

7. God forgive us for this horror..... I can't imagine how these innocent people

who survive this hell will.

[swilton]

8. Awesome Speech!

:applause:

[Subdivisions]

9. I was in the process of posting this when I had to leave earlier. A sobering

testament from someone who has realized why he was sent to war.

EVERYONE should see this video.

[mikita]

11. wow .... k&r * 1000000000

[grahamhgreen]

12. Thank you!

[peacetalksforall]

13. THIS IS the first time in two weeks of terrifying news of decisions made by Obama that I have

felt good, that I have felt love.

This soldier spoke for me. I am blessed to have his voice speak for me.

The willingness to go to war by our leaders is tne number one issue of assessment and condemnaton for me.

And now there are war rumblings in South America, Central America.

Thank you, thank you for posting.

Thank this man. He is the intelligent one.

[Michigan-Arizona]

14. Mike Pryser impressed me in this almost hour long video

http://www.iraqfallout.com/Watch.html

I thought this video was very interesting, it included Mike Prysner & 2 other military men discussing their time in Iraq.

[jonnyblitz]

22. thanks for that link! nt

[bertman]

15. Exactly what I felt when I came home from Vietnam in '69, but I could never express it

as eloquently as Mike Prysner has.

This is a righteous indictment of all that is evil about militarism anywhere, BUT ESPECIALLY here in our country. It is not patriotism that drives these wars. Why can we not see that?

Thank you for posting, proud2BlibKansan.

Rec.

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. I think this is from Winter Soldier in March of 08

I was there and I kept having to leave, it was so intense.

[bertman]

17. I understand. Just hearing his words made me very emotional. The images were heartbreaking.

[unhappycamper]

19. I was working Security on the main floor for the Winter Soldier hearnings.

It was a sobering experience.

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. With Lobo?

He says he was working security so he missed a lot of the testimony. I told him I don't know how anyone sat through all of it.

[unhappycamper]

30. Don't recall a Lobo but I did meet a lot of VVAW & VFP vets working Security.

For some unknown reason I ended up working the main testimony room. I was usually circulating around the main room room and the hallways on either side.

Some of the guys worked outside (in the cold) Security near the front gate and around the campus.

In addition to meeting many of the IVAW vets I have been reading about, I also met Suzanne Swift and her mother. I also have pics of me with Dick Gregory and Amy Goodman. It was a most interesting 3 days.

Here's the IVAW link to all the testimony: http://ivaw.org/wintersoldier

[proud2BlibKansan]

33. Lobo is VVAW from Chicago

I remember walking around the corner one day and seeing Amy Goodman. What a nice surprise.

[12string]

18. War

I wish every American could see this.

[Andronex]

20. The enemy is not the people of these nations...

The enemy is our ruling class who makes war for profit unconcerned with the human tragedy they engender. Our loyalty should be with those who suffer, not with the politicians who justify wars.

[Detroit Progressive]

21. Brilliant

People need to wake the F up.

[jonnyblitz]

23. I watched the whole hearing when it happened!

thanks for posting.

[Turborama]

24. This video is edited to make President Obama & SOS Clinton look like racists

And that they are only trying to fix 8 years of Busch's disastrous foreign policy legacies for personal financial gain.

I agree with what this veteran is saying about the war in Iraq, but the creator of this video is using it as propaganda for their own http://www.youtube.com/user/ThePhaedrus83#g/u">Paultard agenda.

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. Interesting technique

They are fixing it by making more war.

Oh. Kay. :crazy:

[Turborama]

28. So, do you agree with the creator of this video or not?

Do you think they are doing it because they are racists and want to make some money? That's what I was pointing out.

[jonnyblitz]

32. wow. how in fuck did you get THAT from the video?

in vietnam soldiers called the vietnamese gooks and in iraq they called the iraqis hajji. this is what they do to dehumanize them so they don't feel so bad about killing them. that's what the kid meant by racism. when i was in the military they called people from the middleeast ragheads. it starts from the very top and works its way down the ranks. your interpretation is just waaay the fuck off. :crazy:

[proud2BlibKansan]

34. Don't know where you pulled that idea from

Maybe you should watch the video again.

[jonnyblitz]

31. I didn't get that impression at all. nt

[Moostache]

27. He will be attacked by all manner of zealots now...

That was one of the most powerful arguments for peace I have heard in ages. I applaud the courage that took for the speaker...especially in light of the sure to come trashing of his career and military record as a malcontent and dare I say it for them, coward. True bravery is not only found on the battlefield or in the fox hole or on patrols. True bravery is found in laying yourself bare before the world because your conscience will allow no less. True bravery is taking the most unpopular views and championing them in the face of hate and vitriol and slander.

It caused me to go back and re-read some of the words of Bobby Kennedy and shed a few tears for the loss that we endured when he was killed and the continuing ramifications of that loss for all of us some 41 years later. I lack the prose to do justice to the ideals that RFK championed; but instead will defer to his own words (and once more try to find the strength in myself to dig deeper and make a larger commitment to the cause in the new year ahead):

-------------------------------------------------------

We must admit the vanity of our false distinctions among men and learn to find our own advancement in the search for the advancement of others. We must admit in ourselves that our own children's future cannot be built on the misfortunes of others. We must recognize that this short life can neither be ennobled or enriched by hatred or revenge. Our lives on this planet are too short and the work to be done too great to let this spirit flourish any longer in our land. Of course we cannot vanquish it with a program, nor with a resolution.

But we can perhaps remember, if only for a time, that those who live with us are our brothers, that they share with us the same short moment of life; that they seek, as do we, nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and in happiness, winning what satisfaction and fulfillment they can. Surely, this bond of common faith, this bond of common goal, can begin to teach us something. Surely, we can learn, at least, to look at those around us as fellow men, and surely we can begin to work a little harder to bind up the wounds among us and to become in our own hearts brothers and countrymen once again.

-------------------------------------------------------
http://www.rfkmemorial.org/lifevision/onthemindlessmenaceofviolence/

[ClayZ]

29. Thank you for posting this link!

K and R



Peace on Earth!

[proud2BlibKansan]

35. You are most welcome

[earcandle]

36. Never have truer words been spoken (lately).. Make this man our next prez!

He knows what is up.  

[defendandprotect]

37. Fantastic and courageous young man ....

Our nation has long been a terrorist nation --

Cruel and brutal power used to subdue other peoples - to steal their resources --

their land --

Every day most of us here wonder how to stop them --

Didn't we think that electing Democrats would end this nightmare?

What happened?

The '06 election was about sending Democats to Congress to STOP the war --

Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced, acknowledged and confirmed that the day after the '06 election!

Three years later we are still watching the wars being re-funded, while many here continue to

say that they TRUST and have HOPE still. Is it trust and hope or is it self-delusion?

We have a president who has also failed to end these wars - in fact, sending new troops to

Afghanistan. Does anyone really think that we're coming home from the oil rich Middle East?

I have to recognize how difficult it is for a soldier to speak out in this way ---

this is the most violent military we have ever raised -- violent, brutal, cruel.

Trained to make that so. And not only racist, but sexist.

Certainly patriarchy and capitalism/corporatism are suicidal --

Not just in regard to war, but in every pursuit --

They are eternally destructive -- but if we elected 100 Democratic Senators to Congress,

unfortunately, I think they would still support these wars.

[proud patriot]

38. very powerful

:patriot:

[winyanstaz]

39. this should be on the main stream news every single day until these wars end!

[Overseas]

40. K&R. Inspiring. //nt

[ProLife_ProPeace]

41. Enlightening

Enlightening. Thank you for posting.