[News] Soldiers apologize for 'collateral murder' in Iraq
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Sat Apr 17 10:17:21 EDT 2010
<http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5966/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2724>http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5966/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2724
AN OPEN LETTER OF RECONCILIATION & RESPONSIBILITY TO THE IRAQI PEOPLE
A newly released Wikileaks "Collateral Murder" video has made
international headlines showing a July 2007 shooting incident outside
of Baghdad in which U.S. forces wounded two children and killed over
a dozen people, including the father of those children and two
Reuters employees. Two soldiers from Bravo Company 2-16, the company
depicted in the video, have written an open letter of apology to the
Iraqis who were injured or lost loved ones during the attack that,
these former soldiers say, is a regular occurrence in this war. You
can view the Wikileaks video here:
<http://wikileaks.org/>http://wikileaks.org/ and you can view the
Press Release
<http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5966/t/9615/p/salsa/web/common/public/content?content_item_KEY=2491>here
AN OPEN LETTER OF RECONCILIATION & RESPONSIBILITY TO THE IRAQI PEOPLE
From Current and Former Members of the U.S. Military
Peace be with you.
To all of those who were injured or lost loved ones during the July
2007 Baghdad shootings depicted in the "Collateral Murder" Wikileaks video:
We write to you, your family, and your community with awareness that
our words and actions can never restore your losses.
We are both soldiers who occupied your neighborhood for 14 months.
Ethan McCord pulled your daughter and son from the van, and when
doing so, saw the faces of his own children back home. Josh Stieber
was in the same company but was not there that day, though he
contributed to the your pain, and the pain of your community on many
other occasions.
There is no bringing back all that was lost. What we seek is to learn
from our mistakes and do everything we can to tell others of our
experiences and how the people of the United States need to realize
we have done and are doing to you and the people of your country. We
humbly ask you what we can do to begin to repair the damage we caused.
We have been speaking to whoever will listen, telling them that what
was shown in the Wikileaks video only begins to depict the suffering
we have created. From our own experiences, and the experiences of
other veterans we have talked to, we know that the acts depicted in
this video are everyday occurrences of this war: this is the nature
of how U.S.-led wars are carried out in this region.
We acknowledge our part in the deaths and injuries of your loved ones
as we tell Americans what we were trained to do and what we carried
out in the name of "god and country". The soldier in the video said
that your husband shouldn't have brought your children to battle, but
we are acknowledging our responsibility for bringing the battle to
your neighborhood, and to your family. We did unto you what we would
not want done to us.
More and more Americans are taking responsibility for what was done
in our name. Though we have acted with cold hearts far too many
times, we have not forgotten our actions towards you. Our heavy
hearts still hold hope that we can restore inside our country the
acknowledgment of your humanity, that we were taught to deny.
Our government may ignore you, concerned more with its public image.
It has also ignored many veterans who have returned physically
injured or mentally troubled by what they saw and did in your
country. But the time is long overdue that we say that the value of
our nation's leaders no longer represent us. Our secretary of defense
may say the U.S. won't lose its reputation over this, but we stand
and say that our reputation's importance pales in comparison to our
common humanity.
We have asked our fellow veterans and service-members, as well as
civilians both in the United States and abroad, to sign in support of
this letter, and to offer their names as a testimony to our common
humanity, to distance ourselves from the destructive policies of our
nation's leaders, and to extend our hands to you.
With such pain, friendship might be too much to ask. Please accept
our apology, our sorrow, our care, and our dedication to change from
the inside out. We are doing what we can to speak out against the
wars and military policies responsible for what happened to you and
your loved ones. Our hearts are open to hearing how we can take any
steps to support you through the pain that we have caused.
Solemnly and Sincerely,
Josh Stieber, former specialist, U.S. Army
Ethan McCord, former specialist, U.S. Army
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863-9977
www.Freedomarchives.org
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