Journalism not until now.
Interviews with 50 US war veterans back from Iraq reveal the terrible daily brutality they inflicted on innocent civilians.
Part One: Terrifying house raids; random checkpoint shootings; speeding convoys that wipe out anyone in their path.
Part Two: “It was very graphic,” he said. “A head split open. One of them was of two soldiers in the back of the truck. They open the body bags of these prisoners that were shot in the head and [one soldier has] got an MRE spoon. He’s reaching in to scoop out some of his brain, looking at the camera and he’s smiling.”
Part Three: Sergeant Mejía recalled an incident in Ramadi in July 2003 when he watched an unarmed man drive with his young son too close to a checkpoint. The father was decapitated in front of the small, terrified boy by a member of Sergeant Mejía’s unit firing a heavy .50-caliber machine gun. By then, Sergeant Mejía noted, “this sort of killing of civilians had long ceased to arouse much interest or even comment.” The next month, Sergeant Mejía returned stateside for a two-week rest and refused to go back, launching a public protest over the treatment of Iraqis. (He was charged with desertion, sentenced to one year in prison and given a bad-conduct discharge.)
A unique investigation by Chris Hedges and Laila Al-Arian, with responses from several of the veterans.