Iraq Soldier Discusses His "Kills" (VIDEO)

In the spring of 2007, a conference was held on the outskirts of Washington, DC. Entitled Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan, it hearkened back to the Winter Soldier testimonies held three decades ago during the Vietnam War. Of the testimonies we filmed, this one, by Iraq War vet Jon Michael Turner, was the most compelling and intense.

Watch the video below:

Find more stories and video from the American News Project here.

Comments

[Berettasskeeter]

I would ask everyone here who is soooo shocked, what's the problem. Do you want soldiers who are too squeamish to kill the enemy? I'm proud of our young people who serve, and did my 26 years in the Marines. You cannot train people to kill the enemy by teaching sensitivity!
Semper fi

[ideasmatter]

Those people killed weren't the enemy, Einstein.

[Berettasskeeter]

Other than this poor schmuck's word for it, what evidence is there that it really happened? Apparently, none, since a number of our boys are being prosecuted for such actions. Fortunately, the evidence in most cases turns out to be non-existent or bogus. Further, killing non-combatants is not something desired, but it is bound to happen. That doesn't necessarily make it a war crime!
Semper fi

[cdnnewsjunky]

You can't tell the difference between a combatant and a non combatant and you expect people on this blog to believe you served. Ya right, any other mistruths or outright lies you wanna share? Your proud of young people committing war crimes? That's something to be proud of all right!

[Berettasskeeter]

I watched the conference. I heard the young man say he had killed non-combatants. However, there are no reports coming out of the field to corroborate this, and he, unlike a number of others, has not been charged with anything! I believe that, just like the other Winter Soldier play, most of this has been a lie and a play for attention.
Semper fi

[cdnnewsjunky]

'You cannot train people to kill the enemy by teaching sensitivity!" - Berettasskeeter

You think non-combatants are the enemy, ya you served allright, just not in any professional army.

[SadButWiser]

Are you of them terrorists that think it is fine to kill innocent people?

[Berettasskeeter]

Was

[Berettasskeeter]

Was that English?

[rubberneck]

This is very systemic of poor leadership. Leaders rewarding their soldiers for stabbings, the most gruesome of deaths. Makes you wonder who the heck are leading these kids. They so impressionable. They don't call it generation kill for nothing.

[ebanks84]

Appalling. Absolutely disgraceful. I can't even think of any more disgusting words to say other than I HATE BUSH, ROVE, CHENEY and all those murderers with all my heart! I hope God NEVER forgives them!

[truthbrigade]

The US People put these criminals in the W/H twice, yes twice. The US people responsible. DO NOT shirk your responsibility.

[Nobrun]

I've said it a million times. You give Stevie Wonder your car to drive then start bitching when he gets into an accident. Not once, but you give it to him a second time. Dummies!

[mike53]

Grow up.

[mike53]

Ebanks..ge­t some help.

[ecksman]

damn this was heavy. thats alot of information packed into a 4 minute clip. i support the troops. every troop i spoke to wants to be home. thats where i want to bring them. thats where i want to have them stay. how do republicans support the troops if they want them in an endless war. this is why our military recruiting levels are at an incredible low. bring them home, end this war, and our recruiting levels will double. fight for just causes and we will have an endless stream of volunteers.

this is awful. those here in the states need to be more active to prevent more deaths of innocent people, both soldiers and iraqi citizens. we need to end this war.

[Berettasskeeter]

Where do you get your information on low recruiting levels? The Army and Marines are reporting record high recruiting levels!
Semper fi

[nonconformist2]

The Army and Marines are full of sh#t. They have had to lower standards to the point that they allow people with very very low IQ's and felons to try to recruit enough fresh bodies to sustain an unsustainable "surge". This is common knowledge. Don't let mis-guided loyalty get in the way of the truth.

[incontempt]

Maybe, but service waivers for criminal past,or those without highschool educations or even physical limitations are no longer neccessary­...the waivers have been waived and the doors opened for all to serve...al­l the warmbodies they can muster, this creates a problem with the good intelligent and law abiding exemplary sort of soldiers the military is proud to have, personel conflicts will cost more lives and less retention.

[VOTER]

You are wrong.

[Earl]

Unfortunately, the average American does not care enough to pay attention.

[Hirnlego]

At least 40,000 have post-traumatic stress disorder:
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/At_least_40_000_have_post_traumatic_05272008.html

[Biddy]

This is one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen or heard. It is easy to point fingers, but it is hard for any of us who have not experienced war to fathom.

The great personal Hell our troops and Iraqi citizens are going through is unimaginable. We MUST end this war...for the sake of mankind.

[ptarantino]

Again, thanks for posting this. It needs to be widespread to show what really has taken place in Iraq.

[watchingthings]

I suppose this is one of the reasons they can't bring themselves to shower the invading army with Roses and other flowers. With liberators like these....w­ho needs enemies.

[quotidiano]

When you order a war, you get a war. C'mon guys, support our troops!

"In February 2002, in Afghanistan, Central Intelligence Agency officers and U.S. Army officers attached to the U.S. Central Command watched as a Predator plane, flying thousands of feet above ground, captured images of a very tall man being treated very respectfully by his colleagues. The officers "agreed that the tall man could be Osama Bin Laden." Minutes later, permission was granted, they fired. The attack devastated the area, but the media later reported that the victims were merely local men scavenging the woods for scrap metal, not Osama Bin Laden."

http://www.law.duke.edu/shell/cite.pl?16+Duke+J.+Comp.+&+Int'l+L.+249#P

[abmb]

This video brings up basic questions and concerns, some of which are quite troubling.

1) Is this guy telling the truth, or is he either embellishing or lying. Folks are getting pretty worked up over what is really a video with little credibility other than the person speaking saying he did/saw this stuff happen.

2) If he is telling the truth, then he has admitted to War Crimes in public, and should be prosecuted; he does not need to be in the Marine Corps still, he can be recalled for the purposes of investigation and punishment if appropriate.

3) If it is true he was ordered to do these things, that is both no excuse and he had no obligation to follow those orders; in fact, he has an obligation to not follow them and to report them...tha­t he did not is more something he is culpable for than a systemic problem.

Think I will pursue this through the appropriate channels..­..

[Cramus]

My opinion is that true justice will not be served until Bush and Chaney are tried as war criminals. They can both burn in hell sitting right next to Sadam. There have been way too many victims with this war and present occupation

[DesertLight]

It's too bad we couldn't have killed 'bad guys." Except there isn't any bad guys there.

[nonconformist2]

Just like in Vietnam, when the "bad guys" turn out to be everyone, it's time to stop fighting. We invaded and occupied a country in violation of international law based upon a false claim of weapons of mass destruction. This, of course, is not the fault of the troops. We owe the troops and the country the simple unvarnished truth.

[WorkingClass]

Judging from these responses I guess it would help if Huff Po would post more of this. After what, five years? I thought folks knew about this. None of this has to happen. All the suffering of war is just to make rich folks richer.

[DesertLight]

Pick a war any war and you would have found the same thing.

[nonconformist2]

Which is why diplomacy should be vigoriously pursued and war should be the last resort. We should never ever engage in "preemptive" war. The very notion is ridiculous. Godd##m the neo cons and their twisted view of the world.

[DesertLight]

OK so this speaks for all soldiers?

[billicone24]

the fact that this speaks for SOME soldiers should be disturbing enough for you.
he clearly isn't the only one. not even close...hi­s squad and CO laughed about it.

abu ghraib
gitmo

it's a horrible pattern of torture and plain ol' murder.

[vinny]

Obviously, you are out of touch with the situation. If you listen to any soldier on the front, their stories are all the same. Busting into family houses, terrorizing them, killing and arresting people without cause. It's a God Damned Atrocity.

[Hallucinocynic]

No. But it is another reminder of how quickly the veneer of civilization fades when young men with guns, amp'd up by adrenaline and fear, can do such -normally - unconscionable things.

It happens in every war. The victims are unknowing participants in a devastating lottery.