Interviews with US veterans show for the first time the pattern of brutality in Iraq
By Leonard Doyle in Washington
Published: 12 July 2007
It is an axiom of American political life that the actions of the US military are beyond criticism. Democrats and Republicans praise the men and women in uniform at every turn. Apart from the odd bad apple at Abu Ghraib, the US military in Iraq is deemed to be doing a heroic job under trying circumstances.
That perception will take a severe knock today with the publication in The Nation magazine of a series of in-depth interviews with 50 combat veterans of the Iraq war from across the US. In the interviews, veterans have described acts of violence in which US forces have abused or killed Iraqi men, women and children with impunity.
More...
punditman says:This is what happens in all wars. Ordinary people turn into ruthless killing machines. No one should be surprised at how people behave under horrific circumstances. No side is ever spared and no side is without sin. These atrocities are the natural outcome of a war that is itself an atrocity of the highest order: the supreme crime of international aggression. Time to stop sugar-coating the deeds of the "good guys" and see reality for what it is.
