I found this article interesting, and I feel much empathy for the soldiers who will come back to the US with the same realization this former Marine has discovered. Bottom line, we are going to have a lot of veterans with mental and physical health issues thanks to the neocons Imperial agenda for Empire. (ie. lots of men and women with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome and residual health issues from Depleted Uranium munitions). I hope we will all be empathic to the situation the troops were placed in. Support the troops by bringing them home, they are going to need a lot of TLC after this mess....
Atrocities in Iraq: 'I killed innocent people for our government'
http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/9316830p-10241546c.htmlBy Paul Rockwell -- Special to The Bee
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, May 16, 2004
"We forget what war is about, what it does to those who wage it and those who suffer from it. Those who hate war the most, I have often found, are veterans who know it."
- Chris Hedges, New York Times reporter and author of "War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning
<<snippet>>>
Q: Your feelings changed during the invasion. What was your state of mind before the invasion?
A: I was like every other troop. My president told me they got weapons of mass destruction, that Saddam threatened the free world, that he had all this might and could reach us anywhere. I just bought into the whole thing.
Q: What changed you?
A: The civilian casualties taking place. That was what made the difference. That was when I changed.
Q: Did the revelations that the government fabricated the evidence for war affect the troops?
A: Yes. I killed innocent people for our government. For what? What did I do? Where is the good coming out of it? I feel like I've had a hand in some sort of evil lie at the hands of our government. I just feel embarrassed, ashamed about it.