Soldiers' Rap Album about Iraq, "Live from Iraq"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050601/ap_en_mu/music_live_from_iraq;_ylt=AmF8CebYtdyp.t0ezFjLykBX24cA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

On the 15-track album, soldiers voice frustration at what they call shabby equipment and the lack of support they feel from the American public. The album vigorously defends soldiers charged with crimes for actions committed during the conflict.

(snip)
The album opens with "The Deployment," a heartbreaking tale of the moments before they left and their emotions as they approached Iraq. Several soldiers' wives cried when they heard the song, Saunders said.

Saunders, whose job in Iraq was to provide personal security for the commander, said the soldiers' superiors knew about their project but underestimated the seriousness of the recordings.

"They just thought it was going to be a regular rap album," he said. "But it wasn't. I think if they would have known the type of CD I was putting out they wouldn't have let it come out."

Link to their album site:
http://www.4th25.com/
There's a video trailer on this, which is powerful but very graphic. (I couldn't watch the whole thing.)

the Vietnam Vets.

There is no excuse for commiting crimes under the cover of war. Commiting crimes in war cannot be supported. For that, I'm not sorry.

not when they have the Pentagon giving them 3 month slap on the wrists for murder.

Interesting.

I'm not demeaning the response. But watch the video. Consider where they came from, what they went through, and the totality of what their music says.

To me, it's no surprise that they defend other soldiers after all that, particularly considering that their superiors in the Pentagon and the White House took no responsibility whatsoever.

I think it's a good thing that they took their horror and frustration and expressed it in music. And they went to great lengths to do that. (Read the article.)

and from the article, i really couldnt tell what they were preachin in song. i do know, we drove past a home with flags and crosses, and a picture of a soldier the other day. my boys 10 and 7 were commenting on it and war and the lies of this war. i told them, never never would i say anything against iraq to a person who lost a son. never would i do anything to cause them more pain. that people who have family there just have to support it. they convince themselves so they dont have to see the deaths as wasted. and the same goes for those that are sent there

as far as those soldiers that abused. i squarely place that on the shoulders of bushco. they went into this war pumping our soldiers up to see iraqi's as animals. and this is the repercussion. the soldier is stripped down of belief and thought in order to create a soldier that will blindly follow. they need this to follow orders and to survive. the leaders had an obligation to all these soldiers to know their power and keep eyes open and make sure something like this didnt happen. instead they got leaders that encouraged and rewarded this behavior.

Sounds to me like this is their way of speaking out about their raw experiences. Not necessarily a political or philosophical statement, just a raw one.

I agree that the burden of responsibility is on BushCo. The military is designed to fight wars, and part of that involves training to follow orders, to be loyal, etc. They've been good at doing what they were told to do; but what they were told to do wasn't good.

And many of them started out with limited opportunities for advancement, education, careers -- the military is so often a ticket out of poverty. That's part of the shame of the "all-volunteer military." They didn't volunteer for the set of options they got, and the government has a responsibility to them that this administration has abused.

I can't believe the emphasis on this thread has been these men's defense of others like themselves. WATCH THEIR TRAILER. See what they've seen. Imagine where they came from. Understand what they're saying. This wasn't their doing.