Winter Soldier Project - Iraq

Winter Soldier by Iraq Veterans Against the War, 2008, Excerpts

Through the occupation in Iraq, the Bush administration and Congress are running our military into the ground. Afraid to implement a draft like the one during the Vietnam War, politicians have sent the same soldiers to the front again and again. More than 565,000 Americans have been deployed more than once to Iraq or Afghanistan. In December 2006 the organization Swords to Plowshares reported approximately 50 percent of troops in Iraq were enduring their second tour of duty. Another 25 percent were on their third or even fourth tour.

The Pentagon is so stretched that more than forty-three thousand troops listed as medically unfit for combat have been sent anyway. Many of these troops are being deployed despite surviving a traumatic brain injury, physical brain damage, which is often caused by roadside bombs. Other are being sent to the front despite being diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or other severe mental health conditions are being “layered” with PTSD as the horrors of one deployment get caked onto another.

The length of this war has caused the Pentagon to continue a policy called “stop-loss,” whereupon soldiers are redeployed to Iraq or Afghanistan even after their contract with the military is over. Since September 11, 2001, more than fifty-eight thousand troops have been “stop-lossed,” which critics label a back-door draft.

Making matters worse is the fact that many of the soldiers sent to occupy Iraq never imagined they would be sent abroad. Over 250,000 National Guardsmen have been forced to fight overseas in the War on Terror. These men and women who signed up provide emergency help during a flood, earthquake, or civil disturbance are now no longer eligible to do that job, leaving the domestic security of our country at risk.