[Marxism] US/Iraq: Rules of Engagement 'Thrown out the Window'

[Greg McDonald <sabocat59@xxxxxxx>]

Published on Saturday, March 15, 2008 by Inter Press Service
US/Iraq: Rules of Engagement ‘Thrown out the Window’
by Dahr Jamail

SILVER SPRING, Maryland - Garret Reppenhagen received integral  
training about the Geneva Conventions and the Rules of Engagement  
during his deployment in Kosovo. But in Iraq, “Much of this was  
thrown out the window,” he says.

“The men I served with are professionals,” Reppenhagen told the  
audience at a panel of U.S. veterans speaking of their experiences in  
Iraq and Afghanistan, “They went to Iraq to defend the U.S. But we  
found rapidly we were killing Iraqis in horrible ways. But we had to  
in order to remain safe ourselves. The war is the atrocity.”

The event, which has drawn international media attention, was  
organised by Iraq Veterans Against the War. It aims to show that  
their stories of wrongdoing in both countries were not isolated  
incidents limited to a few “bad apples”, as the Pentagon claims, but  
were everyday occurrences.

The panel on the “Rules of Engagement” (ROE) during the first full  
day of the gathering, named “Winter Soldier” to honour a similar  
gathering 30 years ago of veterans of the Vietnam War, was held in  
front of a visibly moved audience of several hundred, including  
veterans from Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam. Winter soldiers,  
according to U.S. founding father Thomas Paine, are the people who  
stand up for the soul of their country, even in its darkest hours

Reppenhagen served in Iraq from February 2004-2005 in the city of  
Baquba, 40 kms northeast of Baghdad. He said his first experience in  
Iraq was being on a patrol that killed two Iraqi farmers as they  
worked in their field at night.

“I was told they were out in the fields farming because their pumps  
only operated with electricity, which meant they had to go out in the  
dark when there was electricity,” he explained, “I asked the  
sergeant, if he knew this, why did he fire on the men. He told me  
because the men were out after curfew. I was never given another ROE  
during my time in Iraq.”

Another veteran of the occupation of Iraq on the panel was Vincent  
Emmanuel. He served in the Marines near the northern Iraqi city of Al- 
Qaim during 2004-2005. Emmanuel explained that “taking potshots at  
cars that drove by” happened all the time and “these were not  
isolated incidents”.

Emmanuel continued: “We took fire while trying to blow up a bridge.  
Many of the attackers were part of the general population. This led  
to our squad shooting at everything and anything in order to push  
through the town. I remember myself emptying magazines into the town,  
never identifying a target.”

As other panelists nodded in agreement, Emmanuel spoke of abusing  
prisoners who he knew were innocent, adding, “We took it upon  
ourselves to harass them, and took them to the desert to throw them  
out of our Humvees, while kicking and punching them when we threw  
them out.”

Two other soldiers testified about planting weapons or shovels on  
civilians they had accidentally shot, to justify the killings by  
implying the dead were fighters or people attempting to plant  
roadside bombs.

Jason Washburn was a corporal in the marines, and served three tours  
in Iraq, his last in Haditha from 2005-2006.

“We were encouraged to bring ‘drop weapons’ or shovels, in case we  
accidentally shot a civilian, we could drop the weapon on the body  
and pretend they were an insurgent,” he said, “By the third tour, if  
they were carrying a shovel or bag, we could shoot them. So we  
carried these tools and weapons in our vehicles, so we could toss  
them on civilians when we shot them. This was commonly encouraged.”

Washburn explained that his ROE changed “a lot”.

“The higher the threat level, the more viciously we were told to  
respond. We had towns that were deemed ‘free fire zones’. One time  
there was a mayor of a town near Haditha that got shot up. We were  
shown this as an example because there was a nice tight shot group on  
the windshield, and told that was a good job, that was what Marines  
were supposed to do. And that was the mayor of the town.”

Jason Wayne Lemue is a Marine who served three tours in Iraq.

“My commander told me, ‘Kill those who need to be killed, and save  
those who need to be saved’, that was our mission on our first tour,”  
he said of his first deployment during the invasion nearly five years  
ago.

Lemue continued, “After that the ROE changed, and carrying a shovel,  
or standing on a rooftop talking on a cell phone, or being out after  
curfew [meant the people] were to be killed. I can’t tell you how  
many people died because of this. By my third tour, we were told to  
just shoot people, and the officers would take care of us.”

John Michael Turner served two tours in the Marines as a machine  
gunner in Iraq. Visibly upset, he told the audience, “I was taught as  
a Marine to eat the apple to the core.” Turner then pulled his  
military metals off his shirt and threw them on the ground.

“Apr. 18, 2006 was the date of my first confirmed kill,” he said  
sombrely. “He was innocent, I called him the fat man. He was walking  
back to his house and I killed him in front of his father and friend.  
My first shot made him scream and look into my eyes, so I looked at  
my friend and said, ‘Well, I can’t let that happen’, and shot him  
again. After my first kill I was congratulated.”

Turner explained one reason why establishment media reporting about  
the occupation in the U.S. has been largely sanitised. “Anytime we  
had embedded reporters, our actions changed drastically,” he  
explained. “We did everything by the books, and were very low key.”

To conclude, an emotional Turner said, “I want to say I’m sorry for  
the hate and destruction that I and others have inflicted on innocent  
people. It is not okay, and this is happening, and until people hear  
what is going on this is going to continue. I am no longer the  
monster that I once was.”

Copyright © 2008 IPS-Inter Press Service
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