[url]http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5966/t/9615/p/salsa/web/common/public/content?content_item_KEY=2491[/url]
“[b]AN OPEN LETTER OF RECONCILIATION & RESPONSIBILITY TO THE IRAQI PEOPLE
A newly released Wikileaks “Collateral Murder” video has made international headlines showing a July 2007 shooting incident outside of Baghdad in which U.S. forces wounded two children and killed over a dozen people, including the father of those children and two Reuters employees. Two soldiers from Bravo Company 2-16, the company depicted in the video, have written an open letter of apology to the Iraqis who were injured or lost loved ones during the attack that, these former soldiers say, is a regular occurrence in this war. You can view the Wikileaks video here: http://wikileaks.org/ and you can view the Press Release here:[/b]
[url]http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5966/t/9615/p/salsa/web/common/public/content?content_item_KEY=2491[/url]
Letter:
AN OPEN LETTER OF RECONCILIATION & RESPONSIBILITY TO THE IRAQI PEOPLE
From Current and Former Members of the U.S. Military
Peace be with you.
To all of those who were injured or lost loved ones during the July 2007 Baghdad shootings depicted in the “Collateral Murder” Wikileaks video:
We write to you, your family, and your community with awareness that our words and actions can never restore your losses.
We are both soldiers who occupied your neighborhood for 14 months. Ethan McCord pulled your daughter and son from the van, and when doing so, saw the faces of his own children back home. Josh Stieber was in the same company but was not there that day, though he contributed to your pain, and the pain of your community on many other occasions.
There is no bringing back all that was lost. What we seek is to learn from our mistakes and do everything we can to tell others of our experiences and how the people of the United States need to realize what we have done and are doing to you and the people of your country. We humbly ask you what we can do to begin to repair the damage we caused.
We have been speaking to whoever will listen, telling them that what was shown in the Wikileaks video only begins to depict the suffering we have created. From our own experiences, and the experiences of other veterans we have talked to, we know that the acts depicted in this video are everyday occurrences of this war: this is the nature of how U.S.-led wars are carried out in this region.
We acknowledge our part in the deaths and injuries of your loved ones as we tell Americans what we were trained to do and what we carried out in the name of “god and country”. The soldier in the video said that your husband shouldn’t have brought your children to battle, but we are acknowledging our responsibility for bringing the battle to your neighborhood, and to your family. We did unto you what we would not want done to us.
More and more Americans are taking responsibility for what was done in our name. Though we have acted with cold hearts far too many times, we have not forgotten our actions towards you. Our heavy hearts still hold hope that we can restore inside our country the acknowledgment of your humanity, that we were taught to deny.
Our government may ignore you, concerned more with its public image. It has also ignored many veterans who have returned physically injured or mentally troubled by what they saw and did in your country. But the time is long overdue that we say that the value of our nation’s leaders no longer represent us. Our secretary of defense may say the U.S. won’t lose its reputation over this, but we stand and say that our reputation’s importance pales in comparison to our common humanity.
We have asked our fellow veterans and service-members, as well as civilians both in the United States and abroad, to sign in support of this letter, and to offer their names as a testimony to our common humanity, to distance ourselves from the destructive policies of our nation’s leaders, and to extend our hands to you.
With such pain, friendship might be too much to ask. Please accept our apology, our sorrow, our care, and our dedication to change from the inside out. We are doing what we can to speak out against the wars and military policies responsible for what happened to you and your loved ones. Our hearts are open to hearing how we can take any steps to support you through the pain that we have caused.
Solemnly and Sincerely,
Josh Stieber, former specialist, U.S. Army
Ethan McCord, former specialist, U.S. Army”
*To cosign letter:
[url]http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5966/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2724[/url]
16 Comments
jared paul is a dirty communist
Jared Paul is the son of a Vietnam veteran, and an avid supporter of Iraq & Afghanistan veterans, including Specialists Stieber and McCord. Sounds like you have no respect for their service. Neither do Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, or Sean Hannity. All pro war cowards who would never actually fight themselves. You’re in good company.
Sage, webmasters, the link to sign on to the letter is incorrect (just sends to google)
here is the correct link
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5966/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2724
Thanks for posting this in the wake of the video’s release…many of us who fought against this war so hard remember the death of the Reuters reporters and have waited for the truth for a long time…
Its release is a victory (especially for journalists like myself) and I applaud wikilinks for providing a space where truth can be spoken/seen/distributed freely and anonymously.
P.S. I love the new track, really brings me back. Its incredible how many of the same experiences we all (well…I should probably qualify all…) share. Thank You – I’ve preordered and bought my ticket!
I reposted this everywhere I could. Thank you Jared
Dear God, what left wing liberal unicef hippy wrote this crap ?
Write a fucking song, with your guitar, long hair and wet eyes, maybe you´ll get more pussy that way.
Either your as well informed as a 11 year old or you´re just this gay, I don´t know man.
United States Army Veterans who fought in Iraq wrote “this crap.”
As was clearly stated at the beginning of the blog: “Two soldiers from Bravo Company 2-16, the company depicted in the video, have written an open letter of apology to the Iraqis who were injured or lost loved ones during the attack that, these former soldiers say, is a regular occurrence in this war.” Their names are Josh Stieber, former specialist, U.S. Army, and Ethan McCord, former specialist, U.S. Army.
You may not have any respect for veterans of war but around here we listen when they speak. My father is a Vietnam veteran. His oldest brother was an Airborne Ranger who died in combat there, and another brother of his fought and almost lost his sanity there as well. I have friends and family scattered throughout Afghanistan and Iraq right now, and I take it personally when they are manipulated into harm’s way, and led into the participation of murder.
Have you spent much time in Iraq or Afghanistan? Or are you more of a “sidelines kind of guy?” Real big on the bumper stickers and yellow ribbons (and of prime fighting age), but not so big on the whole “enlisting and fighting thing?”
Apparently the cat has gotten “Pro-(as long as he doesn’t have to fight in it)-War” Thor’s tongue. Perhaps he should give reading before he posts a try. And rethinking the homophobic epithets while he’s at it. Lay off the Glenn Beck homie, somebody wound your screws too tight.
p.s. Jared, sorry for mistaking this as sage’s post…big ups to you, I’m a big fan and a big thanks to YOU for posting the letter.
It’s infuriating when you read some of the things these cowards have the balls to say on a message board, but would never say face-to-face with one of these “left wing liberal unicef hippies” or “dirty communist”… and even more so when they don’t use even half-way proper grammar. They’re like, “Hey! I need to say something ignorant, and I will do so in a way that you know I’m ignorant!” Assholes…
Shawn, get off jared’s dick. We all know you’re just trying flatter him to see if he lets you spit a hot 16 on the new prayers for amethysts record. OH SNAP!
dfg,
Not trying to be a dick man but this isn’t a thread about PFA or SFR, and there’s definitely nothing funny or light-hearted about the issues in question. I’d appreciate it very much if we could keep this particular discussion to the details of the letter written by Specialists Stieber and McCord/related topics.
Do you have anything to add in regards to the shootings? Or the effects the leaked video has had?
~J.
Hey Jared, how do I get my hands on this leaked video? I’m not the most computer savvy person. Any help would be greatly appreciated
Don’t categorize all pro-war individuals as gun-toting, glenn beck watching homophobes, Jared. You’re hurting my feelings. Some of my best friends are gay.
However, I will have to acknowledge that Sarah Palin is an extremely sexy woman; I even watched that porno spoof where she had anal sex with a Barack Obama impersonator with an unnaturally large penis, which made me feel very insecure. But I digress.
What i’m saying is that you people should stop getting all your political instruction from Stephen Colbert and The Flobots.
That flobot record was sweet though. You should ask sage francis if he lets you have cellos on your next record.
Hey Krem,
Wikileaks is the site: wikileaks.org/
They provide a secure place for people to present “classified” information to the public; so people can actually have a place at the table in deciding if the facts being kept from us are “classified” for our “safety,” or if they are “classified” because government agencies have blatantly committed murder, mass destruction, war crimes, or other violations of the law/human rights.
We need to have more of a say in how our tax dollars are being spent.
dfg,
Sarcasm, name calling, and shock value slander are the tools of choice for people who are not interested in facts, or the constructive dialog that discussing them may lead to.
Fact: We’re talking about a real life letter written by Josh Stieber, former specialist, U.S. Army, and Ethan McCord, former specialist, U.S. Army, in regards to the killing of civilians and Reuters journalists/staff, and the serious wounding/shooting of two young children in the process, during a U.S. military helicopter strike on a small town outside of Baghdad in July, 2007.
Fact: Specialist McCord was the soldier who carried the bleeding/seriously wounded children from the site of the shooting.
Fact: The raw footage of the events being discussed was made public via http://www.wikileaks.org.
It does not appear that you have read the letter of apology co-written by these two American soldiers/veterans, or anything about the events being discussed. It does not appear that you have watched the footage referred to either, and if you have, nothing in your comments indicates that you are interested in talking about them.
Yet, you wish to take part in the dialog. No facts. No challenging of facts. Just sarcasm, opinion, shock value slander (that isn’t even in any way related to the topic at hand) and vague insinuations.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. We are not, however, entitled to our own facts. These soldiers (who indisputably were stationed in Iraq and, specialist McCord, who was present at the scene of the attack) made an effort to present their feelings in a public letter, to express apology and to share the story with people around the world. And that is a fact. The raw footage posted has been validly identified as the real time video of the incident by multiple soldiers. And that is fact.
You can dispute what they wrote, make accusations against wikileaks or the presentation of the footage; or my reasoning/motives for blogging, but you cannot deny that these soldiers expressed these sentiments, wished for them to be shared, or that they have identified this video as the footage of the events we’re discussing.
At this point, you can either contribute to the conversation, or crack more jokes. But I would appreciate it if you would actually invest something, or just bow out, rather than trying to derail any real dialog between other contributors wishing to discuss the letter, the footage, or resulting stories.
As I’ve mentioned my father is a Vietnam veteran, people in my family have died in Vietnam, and I have long time friends in Iraq & Afghanistan currently. Seems like this topic is pretty easy for you to joke about and make light of. I’m curious, have you ever served in the military? Do have family/friends over there now?
Being Canadian, I’ll admit I’m barely a fringe observer of what Americans have been witnessing, both on your own shores and beyond, but I’ll say this: as far as I can recall, this is the first time veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan made their HONEST feelings available in such a public venue. As an outsider, it’s the first time I’ve seen something real and believable regarding this issue, ever. I appreciate it. A lot. Finally, some real feelings that I can see and feel.
I can’t understand why some try to minimize the reality that people live, and with cruelty at that. It’s terribly sad.
Post traumatic stress is something that cannot be understood by those who’ve not lived with it. It engulfs your life. Every waking moment is robbed from you by fear, pain, and depression. Consider yourself lucky if you don’t know what that’s like. No, I’m not a veteran, but yes I do know what that feels like.
Thank you Jared and SFR for providing access to something that I probably wouldn’t have known of otherwise.