The Things Iraq Veterans Carry
I saw a powerful and moving documentary last night about the problems faced by soldiers coming back from Iraq.
Called "The Ground Truth—The Human Cost of War," the film traced the soldier's arc, from being recruited to being transformed into killing machines to returning to the United States.
It's not a pretty picture. These men and women are trained to kill, but in Iraq, they find themselves killing people who either may not be enemies, or definitely are not enemies.
One soldier tells of shooting a woman approaching his Humvee. He didn't know if she was a threat, and so his training took over. He fired, and then other Americans pumped a fusillade of bullets into her.
As the woman fell to the ground, her hands fell outward to reveal that she was carrying a white flag.
Another soldier tells of seeing a little girl, standing a few feet in front of him, getting her head blown off.
These are memories from which one can not escape.
When they return to the United States, these soldiers face an immensely difficult transition. Nonetheless, they are getting little help from the army, which doesn't want to acknowledge how horrific the Iraq experience is, and the Veteran's Administration, which has been hit by severe funding cutbacks. Meanwhile, most Americans are oblivious to their problems.
It is all disturbingly analogous to Vietnam. Watching the film, I couldn't help but think, "How can this be happening
again?"
This film should be mandatory viewing for President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Donald Rumsfeld, and all the other non-combatants who thought that preemptive war was a great idea.
Check out the film website above. We must do better this time.
