Winter hearings held concerning Iraq War

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/node/8132

Lede: In Washington D.C. over the weekend U.S. soldiers testified at the Winter Soldier hearings about abuses, torture and the brutality of the U.S. occupation of Iraq & Afghanistan as well as the neglect of our soldiers by our own government. Doug Cunningham has more.

By Doug Cunningham

Modeled after the original Winter Soldier hearings about the Vietnam war in 1971, these hearings gave voice to the real experiences of U.S. troops in these wars. Soldiers told of Iraqi families being cut down by machine fire at traffic checkpoints, of torture and abuse of Iraqi detainees, widespread racism and sexism directed at both the occupied peoples and our own troops. Mike Prisner served with the 10th Mountain Division in Iraq and was at Abu Ghraib.

: “The enemy is a system that wages war when it’s profitable. The enemy is the CEO ‘s who lay us off from our jobs when it’s profitable. It’s the insurance companies who deny us health care when it’s profitable. It’s the banks who take away our homes when it’s profitable. Our enemy is not 5,000 miles away, they are right here at home. And if we organize and fight with our sisters and brothers, we can stop this war, we can stop this government and we can create a better world.”