Winter Soldier Project - Iraq

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

A disadvantage of today’s movement is the lack of personal engagement of the American public, which is explained not only by the fact that fewer than half a percent of the population is directly involved in the fighting, but also by the fact that those fighting belong to the less affluent sectors of society: working Americans, people of color, immigrants, the uninsured and uneducated; in short, people with lots of needs but very little socioeconomic power.

Today’s society is not experiencing the horror that our military intervention of Iraq is causing to both Iraqis and to service members and their families. Hiding the gruesome reality of the occupation of Iraq is meant to minimize the emotional impact of the occupation so that the United States, as a nation, does not take ownership of the crimes the government commits in its name, with its money, and with the blood of its sons and daughters.