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In March, Peaceful Tomorrows member, Terry Rockefeller attended Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan, a four-day summit convened by Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW).
From its inception, IVAW has called for:
- Immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces in Iraq;
- Reparations for the human and structural damages Iraq has suffered, and stopping the corporate pillaging of Iraq so that their people can control their own lives and future; and
- Full benefits, adequate healthcare (including mental health), and other supports for returning servicemen and women.
Terry, who was a members of the Peaceful Tomorrows’ citizen-to-citizen delegation to Iraq in January of 2003, found that hearing the veterans’ stories was deeply painful and disturbing. “So many of the tragedies we had hoped to prevent by never letting this war begin, have come to pass. But the courage of the vets who are speaking out should be an inspiration to us all.”
One veteran who particularly affected Terry inspired her to write the following reflections:
-- editors
Winter Soldier Reflections
Kristofer Goldsmith could see the smoke pouring from the World Trade Center from his Long Island hometown on September 11, 2001. That day he told his friends he wanted to kill every Arab in the Middle East. About the time that Kristofer was ranting to his buddies, I received a call from my sisters’ friends informing me that, improbably, she had been on the 106th floor of the North Tower. An actress, Laura had taken a two-day job helping to run a seminar on risk assessment held at Windows on the World.
My response to Laura’s murder and the 9/11 attacks was about as different from Kristofer’s as could be. The pain of losing my only sibling and of watching our aging parents’ lives be consumed by grief made me want to prevent other families from experiencing similar deaths. When the Bush administration began selling the American people on the need to invade Iraq, I was outraged. By this time, I had found a group of several hundred like-minded 9/11 family members, who organized September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows to oppose war waged in our loved ones’ name.
Kristofer Goldsmith meanwhile had enlisted, completed basic training at the top of his class, and made two tours to Iraq. But on March 13-16, at the Winter Soldier hearings organized by Iraq Veterans Against the War, my path and Kristofer’s converged. I was there as a civilian ally and volunteer helping to make the hearings possible. He was there as one of dozens of young men and women who, like him, joined the military out of deeply held patriotic feelings. Their testimony was heart-breaking.
Nineteen years old, Krisofer deployed to Sadr City, in Baghdad. There he was ordered to photograph bodies of dead Iraqis, allegedly so they might be identified; he quickly determined that his superiors only wanted the photos as trophies of war. The images remain seared in his memory; he felt “emotionally raped.” Kristofer described harassing Iraqi civilians, shooting at moving cars, and conducting house searches in which they terrorized families and destroyed their property. If a search failed to turn up evidence and an Iraqi was seriously injured, US troops carried confiscated Iraqi Army weapons that they planted to justify their acts. What, we might ask, does that teach a young, patriotic American?
One day Kristofer found himself training his weapon on a six-year-old boy who was taunting his unit. Something in him cracked. Increasingly, he self-medicated, drinking large quantities of Vodka. Still, he held on because the end of his service was near and Kristofer planned to use his veteran’s benefits to attend college. Then President Bush announced the surge. Kristofer’s unit was put on stop loss and scheduled to return for a third tour. The day before he was to leave, Kristofer tried to kill himself. A week later he received his discharge papers, stamped “Misconduct: serious offense.” He has been told that offense, his suicide attempt, has cost him any educational benefits the military might have given him.
The Iraq Winter Soldiers’ testimony raised profoundly disturbing questions about what they were commanded to do. Those who were part of the initial invasion described using devastating firepower as they advanced through dense, urban neighborhoods. As invasion turned into occupation and as violence among Iraqis escalated, the rules of engagement became so ill-defined that most troops felt they could shoot at anyone. When there was confusion the standard order was “No friendlies! Free-fire zone.” Veterans told chilling stories of being indoctrinated in boot camp to view Iraqis as inferior beings, nothing but “hajjis”; of how commanding officers encouraged physical brutality and desecration of the dead.
This is our war. We must all confront the facts of what is being done in our name – the violence and destruction inflicted on the Iraqi people and nation, the feckless mission that we have consigned to the 19-year-olds we are sending to Iraq, and the indifference with which the pain of the returning vets is met.
Kristofer Goldsmith spends his days waiting for mental health appointments at the VA and delivering pizzas. He is honest enough to admit that he might not be able to make it through college in his present state. He is outraged by the military system and the commanding officers who created this mess. Former Sergeant Kristofer Goldsmith ended his testimony roaring out those commanders’ names and proclaiming, “There is a gesture that is recognized the world over for what I think about you!” Then he raised his hand in a peace sign. | 
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