Washblog

Like all the witnesses, Darrell Anderson was sworn in on the Constitution of the United States.  He then preceded to tell us of his experiences in Iraq.  He got his first hint that things were going terribly wrong when he was in Germany, before reaching Iraq.  He sat down with 3 soldiers just out of Iraq.  They described how they had captured a mortarman, tied a bag over his head and beat him to death.  They said that command investigated and "that was the last time they were able to beat a prisoner to death."  When Anderson reached Iraq he was told by his fellows "There are no WMD's and the Iraqi's hate us."  Many of these same men, he told us, also couldn't wait to kill more haji's - one of the several derogatory terms for Iraqi's that the U.S. military indoctrinates servicemen to refer to the citizens of Iraq.  Actually, Anderson clarified later in his testimony, a haji was a good Iraqi.  It was still a derogatory name, but the bad guys were called sand niggers or towel heads.  Even the black soldiers called them sand niggers, he said.

Sand Niggers.  Let that sink in.

It was April when he finally saw combat.  His group had been in a firefight and had set up a perimeter after the fight.  No one was to enter that perimeter.  They stopped 3 cars and sent them away.  The driver of the fourth car didn't react fast enough and his car passed the perimeter, stopping when it had reached Anderson.  He saw a terrified family with kids inside so he held his fire.  His commanding officer told him he better shoot next time or he'll be punished.

The next day his friend was hit.  He went crazy and wanted to kill a kid he saw nearby but his safety was still on.  He was new to combat.  The kid didn't die, but he wanted to kill him.  Darrell said that being 18 years old in a war can make you a killer real fast.

At one point, he said, the ROE (Rules of Engagement) changed and he was told if you were fired upon in a public place to just kill everyone there.  "You lose a friend," he said,"you become more willing to shoot through the civilians to get to the killers.  But the citizens on the left and right now want to join with the killers.  The occupation just escalates the violence."

He testified about how he was with 6 artillery men who came under attack and unloaded automatic grenade launchers into the downtown Jaffa.  60-80 rounds later, they'd driven off/killed the attackers armed with AK47's.  The next day it was reported that 100 Iraqi's were dead.

He testified to having had Generals and Majors come and say "We're making history, 10,000 TCP's (Traffic Control Points), thousands of successful house raids."  Anderson pointed out that the only reason they'd raid a house was because someone came and said "Go to that house."  No evidence of wrongdoing, just one persons say so.  They they'd take someone out of their home with no evidence whatsoever and send them to a prison where many are still held to this day with no charges.  Being tortured.

Anderson also testified that what with the training process, in which Iraqi's were dehumanized, he found it easy to bust into mosques, tear the place up, dig up graves to look for weapons.  He said he remembers sitting in a foxhole one day, his friends blood splattered on his uniform, a hole in his side from an explosive, looking at two Iraqi's with bags over their heads and mumbling over and over "I want to fucking kill you fucking sand niggers!"  He said that the experience of war upon a young man that age changes him.  The soldiers should not be held accountable for war crimes, the men that sent them to war should.

Anderson testified that it is a soldiers obligation to refuse an illegal order.  He also noted that if you refuse orders during combat they have the right to kill you on the spot.  

He said that when he got back home he noticed that people don't understand what it's like in Iraq.  He had kids tell him they'd voted Republican so he could get more money.  "Society is retarded." Anderson lamented.

He claims that the war isn't even real enough to the anti-war crowd.  People are dying today in Iraq, he said, and we're just sitting here talking about it.  "The GI Resistance needs your help.  They need you to talk about the guys going to jail.  They are giving up their lives for what they believe is right.  Talk about them everyday."

Later, Lietta managed to arrange an interview with Mr. Anderson and myself.  It had to be rather short, as he wanted to get back to listen to one of his friends testify.  Here is what he had to say:

Pen: Where were you born and raised?

Darrell: I was born in Ontario California and then we moved to Kentucky after my 6th grade and I grew up there.

Pen: Why did you volunteer for the war?

Darrell:  I had a child.  I needed to support her.  I needed an education so I could do that.  But also, I wanted to go to war.  I wanted to be a hero.  I had a death wish and wanted to die a hero.

Pen:  But what about your child you'd be leaving behind?

Darrell:  I was paying child support.  She has a step father now.  If I'd died in Iraq, her mother would have gotten $100,000.  She was the beneficiary.

Pen:  What has it been like since coming home?

Darrell:  I just got home in October.  I shut myself inside my house and didn't want to come out.  I took a bus from Georgia and came here.  After this I'm going to move to Portland Oregon.  The people in Kentucky don't relate.  They're too conservative.   Even the anti-war crowd doesn't understand what's going on in Iraq.

Pen:  That brings me to the main question I wanted to ask.  You said, "It's not even real enough to the anti-war crowd.  People are dying in Iraq today and we're just sitting here talking about it."  Yesterday, several panelists asked "What can WE do?"  I have to be frank, there wasn't really any very satisfying answers.  We were told the U.N. is useless.  The international courts are impotent.  It's up to us.  Yet both times, the answer what to do was dodged.  No one asked any of the veterans this question however.  So I'd like to ask it.  "What can WE do?"

Darrell:  (Nodding emphatically)We're all just talking politics.  That won't stop the war.  The Democrats won't stop the war.  The courts won't stop the war.  Only the soldiers can stop this war.  If the soldiers refuse to fight, then there'll be no more war.  If you say you're anti-war, but you don't know any soldiers who are resisting or support the resistance, then you aren't doing anything.  We gather in hundreds of thousands for protest marches, but when a soldier makes a stand we don't show up to support them.  It is their leadership that inspires others to refuse to accept this illegal war.  They need your support.

Pen:  Given the wealth and power of the American military machine, do you think common Americans can stop this war?

Darrell:  The whole military-industrial-complex is funded off taxpayers money.  It goes straight to Iraq and then Halliburton gets it.  Halliburton puts zero in and gets 100% out.  It's the best business move Bush ever made.  If we stop paying taxes they can't pay for the war.

Pen:  Do you intend to remain in America?

Darrell:  I spoke to a Canadian soldier when I was AWOL who was going to America.  I asked him why would he leave Canada and go there?  He said that America is where you have to go to make a change in the world.  I want to make a change.