IVAW: Veteran of "Collateral Murder" Video Speaks Out

[Hissyspit]

Via Email:



Dear ---,

"If these videos shock and revolt you, they show the reality of what war is like. If you don't like what you see in them, it means we should be working harder towards alternatives to war."

These are the words of 

Josh Stieber who served with Bravo Company 2-16, whose members were involved in the incident captured in Wikileaks' "Collateral Murder" video. The video depicting a July 2007 shooting incident outside of Baghdad in which over a dozen people, including two Reuters journalists were killed, has made national headlines.

"A lot of my friends are in that video."
Josh is a conscientious objector and member of IVAW who says that the acts of brutality caught on film are not isolated instances, but were commonplace during his tour of duty. 

Although he was not present at the scene of the video, he knows those who were involved and is familiar with the environment.

"After watching the video, I would definitely say that that is, nine times out of ten, the way things ended up. Killing was following military protocol. It was going along with the rules as they are."



Contrary to how military officials are describing the incident as 'isolated' and being carried out by 'a few bad apples,' Josh has been speaking out to paint the larger picture of how soldiers are trained, how rules of engagement in combat change from moment to moment, and other intstitutional realities of our military occupations.

Since Josh has been speaking out, other members of his Company involved in the incident have begun speaking publlicly as well.

Listen to an audio clip of Josh talking about the incident here.

Read Josh's own full analysis of the video here.

Iraq Veterans Against The War

RTAmerica Video of Josh Stieber: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1-hid8JcO0

From Glenn Greenwald

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/radio/2010/04/09/stieber

FRIDAY, APR 9, 2010 11:10 EDT
Salon Radio: Spc. Josh Stieber on WikiLeaks video

(updated below w/transcript)

Josh Stieber is a former solider in the U.S. Army deployed to Iraq in 2007 and 2008, achieving the rank of Specialist. While deployed in Baghdad, he was in the very same Company -- Bravo Company 2-16 -- as the infantry ground soldiers involved in the Apache helicopter attack depicted on the video released by WikiLeaks earlier this week.

I spoke with him today for Salon Radio about the video, and Stieber compellingly explains how the incident depicted there -- from the initial killing of the Reuters journalist to the shooting of unarmed rescuers to the language used by the pilots -- was anything but rare; it was extremely common. I don't want to summarize what he said because he is quite articulate and has some very insightful and important observations about the nature of our war effort there, what U.S. soldiers are trained to do, and why those who claimed that this incident was unusual or a departure from normal operating procedures are either deeply ignorant about war and/or eager to avoid reality. He also discusses the lessons to be learned from this video.

The discussion was roughly 17 minutes long and can be heard by clicking PLAY on the recorder below. I can't recommend highly enough listening to what he has to say.

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[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. Albert Einstein

"He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, senseless brutality, deplorable love-of-country stance, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action! It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder." Albert Einstein