Army Times Runs Article On 'Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan'

[Hissyspit]

(Also Navy and Marine Times)

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/03/ap_wintersoldier_031508

Reprise of Winter Soldier conference held

The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Mar 15, 2008 15:42:53 EDT

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are meeting this weekend at an anti-war conference modeled after a well-known 1971 gathering at which Vietnam veterans spoke out against that conflict.

The four-day event called “Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan — Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations,” is expected to draw more than 200 veterans of the two conflicts through Sunday. It was timed for the eve of the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq war next week.

On Friday, former soldiers and Marines addressed an audience of several hundred in Silver Spring. They spoke of having to make snap decisions about whether to fire on civilians, of soldiers firing indiscriminately on Iraqi vehicles, and of an apartment building filled with Iraqi families attacked by an American gunship.

Former Marine Jon Turner began his presentation by ripping his service medals off his shirt and tossing them into the first row. He then narrated a series of graphic photographs that brought gasps from the audience. In a matter-of-fact voice, he described episodes in which he and fellow Marines shot people out of fear or retribution.

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