The Ground Truth
"At first... you think to yourself... what a horrible country, where little kids can step on mines... and there's no treatment for them. And then you think... I'm glad I'm here to help. And then, as things go on, you start to wonder could it have been one of my guys that did this?... Could it have been a cluster bomb that we dropped?... Could this kid have been caught in friendly fire? And then you start to feel like you're just a mechanic fixing the things that your friends broke." Perry O'Brien, Medic 42nd Airborne, Served in Afghanistan.
I'm sitting here watching "The Ground Truth" as I write this, and I have to admit that this is frightening stuff. I would advise anyone and everyone to watch this documentary about the war in Iraq, particularly anyone who feels that the Iraqi people are better off in the period since the fall of the Saddam Hussein than they were before because, even from just watching the first half hour, I'm not so sure any more.
"When you advertise cigarettes, you see a little Surgeon General on the side, right? But, they used to advertise cigarettes where it used to be cool.... Now you got the military. You won't see no Surgeon General sign on it, that you might die from bombs, shrapnel or whatever, or you might go to war and lose a limb. You don't see that. They advertise military: Being a man. Fight for value. This is great for you. They don't tell you the consequences...." Herold Noel, Private First Class, US Army.
Now, I would be surprised if there isn't at least one person reading this that is thinking something along the lines of you don't know, you haven't been there. Well, to that person I would say that this particular documentary draws heavily on the words of people who have been there, who know what they are talking about, many of whom are obviously still wondering just what on earth they were doing there in the first place.
"The closest thing to combat without pulling a trigger is Marine Corps Recruiting and I'm the type of person, I love a challenge. The system is not designed for the individual recruiter to excel if you have ethical or moral dilemmas in your life. That is, a system designed to fraud, and to manipulate, lie, cheat, beg, borrow and steal. If you're willing to do that, then you will be successful at Marine Corps recruiting." Jimmy J. Massey, Staff Sgt, US Marine Corps.
I know, in America particularly, that there is a great feeling of support towards the brave men and women of the armed forces, well if this documentary is anything to go by then many of those so-called 'brave soldiers' are people from poor backgrounds drawn in by promises, delivered by wily recruiting sergeants, of educational opportunities and the prospect of earning an honest buck, who are instead conditioned to kill on command, and are expected to do so, without conscience, regardless of whether the target is an enemy combatant, a prisoner, a potential suicide bomber, or an innocent civilian.
"I think we feel this responsibiity that, like, we're speaking not only for ourselves, but for the people who are still in the military, who don't necessarily have that freedom of speech, and I think that opinion is turning. I mean, the opinion polls are showing that three quarters of the troops want to return within the year. Those are troops in Iraq. So they can no longer use this rhetoric of support the troops, because what the troops are telling you, both in Iraq and those who have returned, is that they don't want any part of this. They want to come home." Aidan Delgado, Specialist, US Army
But don't take my word for it, see for yourself. It will open your eyes, and should make you realise that it is possible support the troops, whilst simultaneously objecting to the war. I certainly have a tremendous amount of respect for every one of the men and women of the US armed forces that appear in this documentary. Not only for what they have been through whilst in Iraq, but also for having the conviction to speak out the way they have done in this film.
"The return from the killing fields is more than a debriefing... it is a slow ascent from hell." James Hillman, "A Terrible Love Of War".
I'm sitting here watching "The Ground Truth" as I write this, and I have to admit that this is frightening stuff. I would advise anyone and everyone to watch this documentary about the war in Iraq, particularly anyone who feels that the Iraqi people are better off in the period since the fall of the Saddam Hussein than they were before because, even from just watching the first half hour, I'm not so sure any more.
"When you advertise cigarettes, you see a little Surgeon General on the side, right? But, they used to advertise cigarettes where it used to be cool.... Now you got the military. You won't see no Surgeon General sign on it, that you might die from bombs, shrapnel or whatever, or you might go to war and lose a limb. You don't see that. They advertise military: Being a man. Fight for value. This is great for you. They don't tell you the consequences...." Herold Noel, Private First Class, US Army.
Now, I would be surprised if there isn't at least one person reading this that is thinking something along the lines of you don't know, you haven't been there. Well, to that person I would say that this particular documentary draws heavily on the words of people who have been there, who know what they are talking about, many of whom are obviously still wondering just what on earth they were doing there in the first place.
"The closest thing to combat without pulling a trigger is Marine Corps Recruiting and I'm the type of person, I love a challenge. The system is not designed for the individual recruiter to excel if you have ethical or moral dilemmas in your life. That is, a system designed to fraud, and to manipulate, lie, cheat, beg, borrow and steal. If you're willing to do that, then you will be successful at Marine Corps recruiting." Jimmy J. Massey, Staff Sgt, US Marine Corps.
I know, in America particularly, that there is a great feeling of support towards the brave men and women of the armed forces, well if this documentary is anything to go by then many of those so-called 'brave soldiers' are people from poor backgrounds drawn in by promises, delivered by wily recruiting sergeants, of educational opportunities and the prospect of earning an honest buck, who are instead conditioned to kill on command, and are expected to do so, without conscience, regardless of whether the target is an enemy combatant, a prisoner, a potential suicide bomber, or an innocent civilian.
"I think we feel this responsibiity that, like, we're speaking not only for ourselves, but for the people who are still in the military, who don't necessarily have that freedom of speech, and I think that opinion is turning. I mean, the opinion polls are showing that three quarters of the troops want to return within the year. Those are troops in Iraq. So they can no longer use this rhetoric of support the troops, because what the troops are telling you, both in Iraq and those who have returned, is that they don't want any part of this. They want to come home." Aidan Delgado, Specialist, US Army
But don't take my word for it, see for yourself. It will open your eyes, and should make you realise that it is possible support the troops, whilst simultaneously objecting to the war. I certainly have a tremendous amount of respect for every one of the men and women of the US armed forces that appear in this documentary. Not only for what they have been through whilst in Iraq, but also for having the conviction to speak out the way they have done in this film.
"The return from the killing fields is more than a debriefing... it is a slow ascent from hell." James Hillman, "A Terrible Love Of War".