They kept Iraqi brains in the fridge for trophies

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/2/1/132416/1227

That's what former Navy hospital corpsman Chanan Suarez-Diaz testified to at the Citizens' Hearing On The Legality Of U.S. Actions In Iraq: The Case of Lt. Ehren Watada, January 21st, 2007 at Evergreen State College in Tacoma Washington. Suarez-Diaz was stationed with 2nd Battalion 5th Marines, the most decorated battalion in the marine corps. He was attached to weapons company. He was referring to a platoon of his company, whiskey two platoon.

This platoon used to have brain matter from people they had killed from .50 Cals. They used to grab brain matter and bring it on the base and put it into the refrigerator. They literally went crazy. I know this isn't an isolated incident, this happens everyday in Iraq.

<snip>

There was this platoon, Whiskey Two, which was very notorious in the company. They lost two of their marines from IEDs. This platoon went crazy. They lost two of their buddies and they wanted revenge. And there's one thing you need to understand in the military now: there is a lot of ingrained racism now towards arabs and they indoctrinate that while you're going in. While you're going through bootcamp, through whatever training that you're doing. You are to refer to Arabs, whatever nationality, you're to refer to them as "haji". And this platoon, they used to call themselves the MM"s, Mauers(sp?) Murderers after their Lt. he was 25 he authorized them to basically unleash hell whenever because when you're in war you can justify anything especially if you have your friends there and everyone complies.

I remember doing a nightsweep and when I got back on the base at Hurricane Point we got back really late and the guys on this platoon were bragging how they shot up innocent people and they bragged about it, how they just shot up, that night, innocent people and it was kinda like a joke. They were saying 'Look at that guy, I shot him in the stomach and he was running.'
This platoon used to have brain matter from people they had killed from .50 Cals. They used to grab brain matter and bring it on the base and put it into the refrigerator. They literally went crazy. I know this isn't an isolated incident, this happens everyday in Iraq. The news doesn't catch it. No one's going to confess to these things unless they get caught.

The Rules of Engagement got so bad in Iraq that if you did get engaged you just opened up on the city. The day I got wounded we went, in reaction to whiskey two platoon, they were in the marketplace, the souk, and they had one or two pop offs from an AK and they just completely opened up on the whole market. And I remember driving through in the humvees checking out the area and I remember seeing bodies on the sidewalks, broken glass and blood everywhere. At that, at...(he is trying to control his voice)...it's, it's difficult when you see things like that.

Forget about PTSD--some of these soldiers will return as psychopaths--completely disconnected
from reality and their humanity.

These soldiers know. They know what this government is doing to them. So, they lose it.
They hear this pResident tell the American people that we are bringing peace and freedom to
the Iraqi people. Then, these soldiers are trained, by our government to HATE them and to
kill them because they are insects.

Our soldiers know they are being used. They know they're not in Iraq for peace and freedom.
They know--better than any of us--that it's all a lie.

What this soldier describes---sounds like serial-killer behavior.

Furthermore, there are no support groups for these soldiers. We've heard countless stories of
long waits to get help from VA Hospitals. It's almost as if this current administration is
trying to destroy our country.

What have we done?

Maybe most of them. But some of them are just having a great time "doing what they love." (I know of two).

The heros are the ones who tell us what the jerks are doing. (And these people would have been jerks regardless of where they were and joining the military does not make them into automatic heroes.)

Everyone harps on the way they can get wounded or killed and almost never mentions that they DO some killing and wounding. It should bother a person's conscience and he/she take it seriously even under the serious belief that it is necessary and there is no other choice. There are some that it doesn't bother much, though. Or who even enjoy it. Like my cousin, who is "doing what he loves." When he says that, I have to assume he would not like peace, as he would not get to do the job he loves.

I myself am through with blindly supporting the military and painting them all us unwitting victims of the Bush administration. Most of them voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004, even after it had become apparent that Bush lied us into this mess. I honor the soldiers that speak out against this madness, but there aren't enough of them to win my confidence back. I think one day the full weight of American atrocities against the Iraqi people will be known, and I have a hunch that the truth will prove gruesome and reprehensible beyond imagining. Sorry, but a military filled entirely with volunteers, most of whom voted for this madness, committing these kinds of insane acts of cruelty and aggression does not have my support and never will again. I am sick beyond all words for what has happened to America.

We in the anti-war movement have cut the military A LOT of slack in this war, focusing our concentration on Bush and the corporations that support him. I think that should still be where our focus lies, but as far as I'm concerned, the military is no longer above criticism. Where they deserve it, I will gladly dish it out.

but, Evergreen State College isn't actually in Tacoma. It's in Olympia, about 30 miles south of Tacoma.

and really, I'm simply at a loss for words... fucked up beyond belief...

:kick:

time I began to understand how war can make a person crazy.

only it turned out he didn't even go to Iraq. His whole "killed by my own hand" confession was bogus--altho it even fooled a vets for peace group (who's logo was used on the video w/o their consent). He was unbalanced mentally--his own sister released a statement saying "my brother wasn't in the service and is ill."

Lot of DUers jumped all over it... the confession confirmed all our worst nightmares about how our troops are behaving in Iraq. Of course there have been plenty of horrific cases come to light that show real atrocities against Iraqi civilians--some cases killed because our troops just wanted to get somebody.

But this account is so extreme... I'd caution all of us to be careful believing this before more confirmations come in.

:cry:

There really is just one person responsible for all this insanity and cruelty.

Citizens' Hearings

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK ON FEB 3rd --

CITIZENS' HEARING ON THE LEGALITY OF U.S. ACTIONS IN IRAQ

THE CASE OF LT. EHREN WATADA

Brooklyn Law School

Saturday, February 3, 2007, 4 -7 pm

elainebrower@worldcantwait.orgThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Peter Cobb 415.686.109

Media Contacts: Elaine Brower

www.thankyoult.org/content/view/71/51/


For immediate release: January 22, 2007
http://www.wartribunal.org

TACOMA, WA

The following press release was issued at the conclusion of the Citizens' Hearing in Tacoma, Washington, January 20-21, 2007, and pending publication of the findings by the citizen panel.

Veterans, Military Families, Community Leaders Deliberate

on Two Days of Testimony Charging that the Iraq War is Illegal:

Citizens' Panel to Announce Findings Before Watada Court Martial

In an unprecedented two-day Citizens' Hearing held over the weekend, more than 600 citizens joined a distinguished tribunal panel in listening to testimony about the legality of the US invasion of Iraq. The Hearing was convened to present evidence that Lt. Ehren Watada would have presented in his February 5 court martial on the question that the military ruled barred from entry last week – the question of the Iraq War's legality. Lt. Watada has repeatedly asserted that because the Iraq War is illegal, it is his duty to refuse orders to deploy. He is the Army's first commissioned officer to take such a stand.

Panel Chair David Krieger asserted: "If Lt. Watada cannot get a full hearing about the war's legality in a military trial, then his case should at least be presented in the court of public opinion. This Citizens' Hearing was about giving Lt. Watada's position equal time."

Many of those who testified, most of whom would have been called to testify at the court martial if the judge had allowed that evidence, agreed that Lt. Ehren Watada had not only the right to refuse to deploy to Iraq in an illegal war, but had a duty to do so. Whether violations of the Nuremberg Principles or the US Constitution, some testifiers asserted that Lt. Watada should be recognized for his courage rather than undergoing a Court Martial.

Panelist Rich Moniak from Juneau, Alaska, whose son served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said during the deliberation: "The testimony presented to me highlighted how this war has failed the Iraqi people and placed our soldiers at risk of being accessories to war crimes."

Law professors Benjamin G. Davis and Richard Falk agreed that there are clear legal grounds on which the war is illegal. Falk, citing the sections of the US Army Field Manual, emphasized that international law is applicable to the behavior of US soldiers in a times of war and that soldiers have the duty to refuse unlawful commands. Davis sharply criticized the decision of the military judge to not hear Watada's full defense, stating that Americans have a right to have their defense heard.

The most compelling testimony came from former members of the US military, including five veterans of Iraq. According to Ann Wright, a former Army Colonel and US diplomat who served three and a half decades for the US government, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Powell created the preconditions that led to torture. She added: "We must ensure that members of the US military are not put in the position of being ordered to carry out crimes against humanity.


the rest of the press release is at the above link


This testimony came out at the trial that should be being held for Lt. Watada. Please support Lt. Watada if you can this weekend and on Monday.

www.thankyoult.org