Special Coverage: War on Iraq: A Soldier Speaks

Life Will Never Return to Normal for an Injured Vet Like Tomas Young

Liliana Segura, AlterNet. May 1, 2008.
Phil Donahue's documentary Body of War offers a chilling view of how the lies that led us to war changed the life of one Iraq veteran.

An Antiwar Soldier Gets Promoted to Sergeant: Was it Willful Ignorance?

Aaron Glantz, IPS News. April 19, 2008.
Ronn Cantu has been one of the loudest voices of dissent inside the U.S. Army.

Soldiers of the 'War on Terror' Speak Out

Cynthia Orange, Michael Orange, AlterNet. April 18, 2008.
If all of America were to hear these voices, the occupation of Iraq would already be over.

"It was clear to me that we were doing things contrary to the law": Matthew Diaz Speaks

Jayati Vora, AlterNet. April 8, 2008.
Navy Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Diaz was jailed for revealing the names of the prisoners at Guantánamo. Last week he was honored for it.

Blackout of Winter Soldier Hearings Exposes Weakness of Indy Media

Sam Husseini, AlterNet. March 28, 2008.
While independent media outlets covered the hearings quite well themselves, they failed to push the story into the mainstream press.

Pentagon Holds Thousands of Americans 'Prisoners of War'

Penny Coleman, AlterNet. March 26, 2008.
There are at least 60,000 of them, but they're not on the DoD's list of soldiers missing in action.

Five Surgeries, Two Purple Hearts and Still Fighting for VA Benefits

Rose-Anne Clermont, The Wip. March 23, 2008.
For the thousands of GI's who have returned home from Iraq injured, another battle awaits them.

How to Become a Concentration Camp Guard Without Even Trying

Joshua Holland, AlterNet. March 18, 2008.
A reluctant Guantanamo Bay jailer, who found himself working in that "legal black hole" at age 19, tells his shocking story.

Veterans Decry Institutional Sexism in Military

Liliana Segura, AlterNet. March 17, 2008.
Gender panel at Winter Soldier conference suggests pattern of condescending to outright sexist behavior in the armed forces.

Iraq: 'Rules of Engagement Thrown out the Window'

Dahr Jamail, IPS News. March 16, 2008.
Winter Soldiers tell of gut-wrenching experiences of occupation.

Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans Speak Out [Photo Essay]

Nina Berman, AlterNet. March 15, 2008.
Hundreds of veterans are testifying against war crimes this weekend in Washington, DC. Nina Berman shares their stories.

Winter Soldier: America Must Hear These Iraq Vets' Stories

Penny Coleman, AlterNet. March 15, 2008.
If America listens to what they say, the war would be over tomorrow.

1971 Winter Soldier Hearings: "What are we Doing to Vietnam?"

AlterNet. March 13, 2008.
"Having killed for religious beliefs and then political beliefs, I believe we are now on the threshold of killing for economic beliefs."

1971 Winter Soldier Hearings: Weapons Panel

AlterNet. March 12, 2008.
"There'd be the generals who are guilty of the war crimes. Not just the generals in the Pentagon but generals like General Dynamics."

1971 Winter Soldier Hearings: 1st Marine Division Panel

AlterNet. March 11, 2008.
" So this man who was killed wasn't even a suspect. He was civilian."

AlterNet Editorial: Iraq Vets Will Detail U.S. Atrocities in Winter Soldier Hearings

Editorial Staff, AlterNet. March 11, 2008.
History in the making: AlterNet brings you special coverage of the 2008 Winter Soldiers' Investigation.

1971 Winter Soldier Hearings: Opening Statement by William Crandell, 1st Marine Division

AlterNet. March 10, 2008.
"We went to preserve the peace and our testimony will show that we have set all of Indochina aflame."

This Generation's 'Winter Soldiers' to Expose Horrific Reality of U.S. Occupation

Liam Madden, AlterNet. December 7, 2007.
In the early months of 1971, a group of Vietnam vets spoke of the atrocities of that generation's senseless war and helped end that conflict. This March, the vets of another unjust war will follow in their footsteps.

Former Top British Commanders Tear Into Gordon Brown

Middle East Online. November 23, 2007.
Say it's "immoral to commit forces that are underprepared and ill-equipped for their task."

The Evangelical Christian Takeover of the Military

David Antoon, Truthdig. November 16, 2007.
Retired Air Force Col. David Antoon investigates proselytizing within the military, where religious ideology threatens to supersede the values of the Constitution.

The Real Iraq We Saw First Hand

12 Former U.S. Army Captains, The Washington Post. October 16, 2007.
Vets who were there cut through the propaganda.

Why the Pentagon Doesn’t Want Me to Testify About Abu Ghraib

Sam Provance, AlterNet. August 31, 2007.
No U.S. Army officer or defense official is likely to be held accountable for the torture, "ghost" prisoners, and other abuses at Abu Ghraib.

Unravelling Wartime Myths

Sean Gonsalves, AlterNet. August 20, 2007.
Author Edward W. Wood Jr. gives a WWII veteran's take on the dangers of glorifying war.

Seven Iraq Vets: "The War as We Saw It”

Seven U.S. Iraq War Veterans, The New York Times. August 20, 2007.
A group of U.S. veterans fresh from Iraq describe the political debate in Washington on the war as "surreal."

U.S. Failing to Help Iraqi Translator and Family Targeted for Execution

Maura Stephens, AlterNet. July 10, 2007.
He thought he could rebuild his country by helping the Americans. Now an Iraqi translator and his family have been targeted for execution, and instead of helping, U.S. officials have trapped him in an endless Catch-22.

Iraq Comes Home: Soldiers Share the Devastating Tales of War

Emily DePrang, Texas Observer. July 4, 2007.
Three veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan share the nightmare experiences that war has brought into their lives.

Reflections of a Vietnam War Widow: It Doesn't End When They Come Home

Penny Coleman, AlterNet. June 25, 2007.
The Department of Defense recently announced that it was hiring additional mental health professionals to deal with the stream of traumatized vets returning from the occupation of Iraq. A widow of an earlier war warns that the effort may be too little and too late.

Gay Arabic Translator: "I'm Here, I'm Willing to Serve" [VIDEO]

Adam Howard, AlterNet. June 20, 2007.
Over 11,000 service members have been discharged from the military in the past 14 years because of their sexual orientation. It's time to lift the ban on openly gay people in the military.

What's So Wrong With Wearing Heels and Makeup?

Susan Park, Sirens Magazine. June 18, 2007.
Women in the military are expected to suppress as many of their feminine qualities as possible -- as if that will make them more competent. Why do so many people still think that dressing femininely translates into being silly?

Video: Felicity Huffman, Vanessa Williams, Alfre Woodard Teach Us The True Story of Mothers Day

Robert Greenwald, Brave New Foundation. May 7, 2007.
The original Mother's Day was not conceived to sell us stuff we don't need, it was a day started by mothers to bring warfare to an end!

The American Ghosts of Abu Ghraib

Sam Provance, Consortium News. April 6, 2007.
In this first-person account, former Army Sgt. Sam Provance -- one of the heroes of the Abu Ghraib scandal -- describes what he learned when he attended a special screening of the documentary "Ghosts of Abu Ghraib."

'We Were Torturing People For No Reason' -- A Soldier's Tale

Tara McKelvey, The American Prospect. March 31, 2007.
Interrogator Tony Lagouranis says he discovered and indulged in his own evil at Abu Ghraib prison, and now fears that it will be his constant companion for the rest of his life.

Going AWOL vs. Going to Iraq

Mary Wiltenburg, Der Spiegel. March 26, 2007.
As criticism of the Iraq war grows at home, some US soldiers abroad increasingly are rejecting Bush's mission. On military bases across Germany, many are now seeking a way out through desertion or early discharge.

As Iraq Casualties Mount, So Do the Stories We Must Tell

Tara Lohan, AlterNet. March 19, 2007.
Four years ago we invaded Iraq and today the occupation continues. A new project is working to tell the stories of the service members whose lives have been lost -- in the words of the people who loved them.

Volunteer Soldiers Devastated by Iraq Weren't "Asking for It"

Stacy Bannerman, AlterNet. March 10, 2007.
"They volunteered, didn't they?" is a common sneering response to the stories about National Guardsmen whose lives were destroyed by Iraq -- the truth is that going to war is not what they signed up for.

Walter Reed Is a Second Hell for Injured Vets

Brady van Engelen, Huffington Post. February 23, 2007.
The American people must make clear their disgust with the way the Pentagon treats injured service members.

AWOL Soldiers Get Cold Shoulder from Canada

Mary Ambrose, New America Media. January 5, 2007.
Canada's official reception to war-resisting American soldiers resisting the Iraq war has been frosty.

For Female Soldiers, Sexual Assault Remains a Danger

Celina R. De Leon, AlterNet. January 5, 2007.
According to the Pentagon, there were 2,374 reported cases of sexual assault against women in uniform over the past year. But as the saga of military police officer Suzanne Swift shows, numbers alone don't tell the whole story.

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