@SilentSeekr - In posting this it is not my desire to impress. Nor do I think it is theirs. These stories are from real servicemen and the things they describe about their experience are at the very least interesting. I think that it is very important that people get real accounts of what actually was and is happening in Iraq and Afghanistan from the soldiers on the ground. Without such reports the nation can’t make rational decisions about when and whether to go to war. We need to know the real costs of that war on the population of the nation we are at war with and on our soldiers who are carrying out their duties abroad. We need to know what orders we are giving our troops and decide as a nation if these are the kinds of actions we want American soldiers to engage in.

The story I linked to includes accounts of some pretty disgusting things IMO that really ought to be discussed and not hidden. It includes the account of American soldiers planting guns on civilians killed to make them look like enemy combatants. It includes the account of one American soldier strangling a small child. It includes the account of American soldiers desecrating the bodies of the dead Iraqis. It includes accounts of American soldiers bullying, beating, and stoning prisoners that they were ordered to release, it includes account of soldiers being sent out to war under equipped and under prepared and of superiors ignoring pretty obvious things they could do to make our soldiers safer including not letting insurgents flow through the borders. It includes many like accounts of abuses our soldiers did under poor or misunderstood guidance.

Now it’s certainly up for debate whether or not these actions were justified and we can certainly also argue about whose fault they are. Certainly I can see conservatives blaming Democratic opposition to the war as being the culprit for the underfunded war effort. Though that’s a hard nutt to swallow since at first Republicans were in control of both the White House and Congress. Still, it’s an argument that can be made.  It could also be argued that these actions were necessary or even that they are misconstrued or even that the reasons for them were not understood fully by the service members carrying out these orders.  That’s an argument we can have. Evidence however would need to be supplied.

Still, even if we are to debate these things, I feel these stories still need to be told and heard. If we are justified in going to War then we should not shy away from the honest accounts of what happens during war. Both the success stories AND the horror stories need to be told. So I share this link so people can have a better understanding of what actually happened as told by the honorable veterans who testified on Memorial Day. I think it’s worth watching.