Iraq Winter Soldier Hearings: Victory for Independent Media
In 1971 at age 19, I had a life-changing experience when I met dozens of Vietnam veterans who'd descended on my hometown of Detroit to testify at the "Winter Soldier" hearings organized by Vietnam Veterans Against the War. In anguished presentations, the Vets painstakingly described the horrors against Vietnamese they'd seen or taken part in. And the attitudes of racism and bloodlust that motored the war. Many vets blamed the lies in mainstream media for convincing them to go to Vietnam in the first place.
Virtually every soul in that Detroit hotel banquet hall wept openly at the heartfelt, bone-chilling revelations pouring out of the Vietnam vets struggling with bloody memories and post-traumatic stress. But no one outside that hall could see or hear the proceedings. No TV or radio networks covered the event.
This weekend at the National Labor College near Washington D.C., a new generation of vets convened by Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) presented powerful hearings -- "Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan" -- that were more extensive and perhaps even more emotional.
Thirty seven years later, I again found myself sobbing at testimony from solemn young Americans returned from needless war, grappling with shattered lives over brutalities against civilians and prisoners they'd witnessed or participated in.
But I was nowhere near D.C.
This time, I watched the dramatic testimony -- often buttressed by photographic and video evidence -- live online at www.IVAW.org. This time, I caught hours of coverage on Free Speech TV, the national satellite network that broadcast the panels of testimony and featured interviews with vets and their families in between panels. This time, I received regular video news feeds in my email inbox from The Real News Network. (The hearings were also televised on 20 public access channels from Fayetteville to Palo Alto, and in public gatherings from Florida to Alaska.)
On my car radio, I listened to the proceedings live on the Pacifica network, which broadcast the hearings to affiliates nationwide -- along with call-ins and email from listeners, including Iraq vets and soldiers not as critical of the war.
The four days of vets' testimony revealed the struggle these young Americans are waging to regain their humanity and morality after having been transformed into callous war-fighters who largely dehumanized Iraqis as a people -- not just "the enemy" or combatants. An objective observer hearing the testimony would have good reason to wonder if U.S. troops -- given the often gratuitous and racist brutality, and the mistreatment of women, children and the elderly -- can ever be a solution in Iraq.
On panel after panel, the veterans offered heartfelt "apologies to the Iraqi people" for what our country has done to their country. I saw a vet rip up the commendation he'd received from Gen. David Petraeus, denouncing the general as a cheerleader who put his own ambitions above his duty to the troops and to the truth. Many vets called for rapid withdrawal from Iraq and criticized Democratic leaders for prolonging and funding the endless occupation.
Ex-Marine Jon Turner, who served two tours in Iraq, ripped his medals from his shirt and threw them on the ground, concluding: "I'm sorry for the hate and destruction I and others have inflicted upon innocent people... Until people hear what is going on, this is going to continue. I am no longer the monster that I once was."
Such powerful first-hand accounts -- if heard by the American public -- would threaten continued funding of the Iraq occupation. But national mainstream outlets in our country, unlike big foreign outlets, largely ignored this weekend's proceedings.
Not surprisingly, these Iraq veterans had little but scorn for U.S. corporate media whose journalistic failures helped sell the war five years ago, and whose sanitized coverage helps sell the troop "surge" today.
But thanks to the Internet and the growing capacity of independent TV, radio and web outlets, a significant minority of Americans had access to these proceedings. And the archived hearings are now available to anyone anytime with computer access.
In Detroit in 1971, I remember what happened when one of the rare mainstream camera crews showed up at Winter Soldier... and then abruptly packed up to leave in the middle of particularly gripping testimony. A roomful of Vietnam vets booed and jeered. It was the moment I became a media critic.
Winter Soldier II shows that it's not enough to criticize corporate media. Even more important is to take advantage of new technologies to keep building independent media.
Jeff Cohen is the founding director of Ithaca College's new center for independent media. He founded the media watch group FAIR in 1986.
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
On a related note another soldier stands down for human rights. And covered up by the govn't.These outspoken young men and women are the real heroes and may be the only voices americans will listen to across the political divide. lets hope their stories get heard.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-mitchell/us-soldier-killed-herse_b_91898.html
Please, the story says nothing about Alyssa killing herself because of human rights. Try to keep your sanity and focus.
Semper fi
Not being tortured is a human right .
Well, I guess an opposing view is unwanted. I've just finished listening to the first segment, ending with Mr. Heard. So far, I've heard nothing of interest, much less an indictment of America or our GI's. Get a grip on yourselves, people.
Semper fi
I think you misunderstand. The point is not to indict America or our GIs. The point is that the people who are ultimately responsible for this tragic war, who lied to us to get us in it just as Johnson and McNamara lied and cooked up the Gulf of Tonkin incident, who have reaped huge profits from it while so many others have reaped death, destruction, or at the least, unbelievable debt, the point is that THESE people SHOULD be indicted for their crimes against humanity. It is not the fault of the soldiers who have put their lives,their sanity, their futures on the line. It is not solely the fault of the American people who have been misled and lulled into paying attention to the distractions of Brittany Spears et.al., although as citizens, it is our responsibility to question and pay attention, to not blindly follow anyone anywhere. The lion's share of the responsibility for all this is on those who have misled and lied to us. As I am wont to tell students of mine who are leading others down a bad road: To be a leader is a wonderful thing, but with being a leader comes a great and important responsibility, you as the leader are ultimately responsible for the consequences of where you choose to lead people and how you do it.
We need to take care of all those who have been hurt by this horrible mistake, particularly the vets and the Iraqi people. We need to hold the president and vice-president and the rest of their cabal accountable for their actions. Impeach them NOW! And we need to end this war NOW!
Sorry, I didn't get any of that from the 3 hours of testimony I heard. I couldn't listen to more, as I had to go to work. All I heard was some tired, nervous kids talking about how they didn't like doing the jobs they were given. The testimony on VA care was far more compelling, but I still heard nothing that I have not been hearing for 38 years, since I joined the Marine Corps.
You make a good case. Too bad I think you're way off base!
Semper fi
It is important for these vets to go on record. I haven't heard any of the broadcasts, but I do remember the Winter Soldier information from the Vietnam War. This testimony helps the veterans come to grips with their personal involvement and be able to move forward, and also provides a balance for the citizens. Without this type of event, the citizens would be inundated with the John O'Neal (swiftboater for propaganda) perspective of the war effort and nothing else. We must take care of these kids when they return.
Will Senator John F. Kerry be testifying again? I, for one, am curious to find out if he has learned how to pronounce Genghis Khan.
Propoganda is a two way street. Many folks of all stripes have an ax to grind on the Iraq. My experience on active duty during OIF II was very different from what some of these people imply was their's.
Yes, the media have taken a dive for the same old corrupt reason of corporate ownership with motives only a banker could appreciate.
prepare for a crackdown on independent media as soon as this information filters up to those stone-agers in the white house. i imagine the FCC suddenly taking regulatory power over satellite, cable, and internet broadcasts and crushing everything but pro-pyramid-scheme propaganda. it will be like the MSM times a thousand. and the nation will stare glassy-eyed at their screens, absorbing the messages to "buy and comply" in between britney and sports coverage...
This is what the "net neutrality" is really all about. The FCC thru corporate internet providers will be shutting down free speech. It seems no one grasps the implication of such control.
lisa -- that and the fluoride in the toothpaste of every citizen on the planet. It makes us ... docile. I grew up before the fluor was added so I still appreciate free speech. Thanks, Mr. Cohen, for your incisive testimony.
We're making great progress in Iraq. Our troops will return when their tasks have been successfully completed.
How do you define progress and just what are their tasks, dare I ask and hear the same old talking points.
To build a peaceful democratic government capable of defending itself, and a reliable ally in the war on terror
`
evidently, ''cmarotta99'' defines "great progress" as ignoring
what the Winter Soldiers are telling us
from their experience on the ground in our foreign wars
and listening to what emperor george & his cronies
tell us from behind their desks
'merikans hate to hear anything bad about their empire
.
The task of of insuring mayhem and chaos in the "wrong country" ?
HELLO........IS ANYBODY WATCHING THIS?......MAINSTREAM MEDIA...WHY THE SILENCE?
CANDIDATES....PUNDITS...INSPIRED OBAMA SUPPORTERS....WHERE ARE YOU?
WINTER SOLDIER GETS TO THE CORE OF OUR PROBLEMS.....OUR BANKRUPTED COUNTRY, WAR PROFITEERING, HUMAN COST, VALUES, MEDIA MANIPULATION, IGNORANT CITIZENS.
SHAME ON US!!!!!
I am so glad to see this column. Even Huffington Post was absent coverage of this event when it began. I had the mindbending moment of listening to the Winter Soldier testimony on my way home from work Friday evening, then running an internet news search and seeing nothing about it. Clicking on my HuffPost bookmark and seeing nothing about it. This has very little to do with the independent media and everything to do with the media-corporate conglomerates that control information dissemination. Most people -- tragically, terribly, sadly -- had no idea this was going on at the time, and probably will never know this went on. The tragic piece is that I think most people in this country would not want to know, either -- the weight of shame and moral repugnance is too much to bear. Listening to the testimony made me almost physically ill -- I felt for those soldiers, but I also felt complicit, helpless, and morally bankrupt.
Hey if anyone is interested.. I just watched "John Adams" On HBO. Tom Hanks proves once again that TV can be great to watch. Well done mini series that focuses on the spoken words of the actors instead of special effects. It reminds us how fortunate we are that these amazing human beings were all in one place to forge our democracy. It also shows what fool lives in the White House..
Bully for you! I wanted to , in fact I needed to as reference for a job I am doing. ( Yes at 69 still working!)
BUT since my Social Security income is going to our "allies" it is short sheeting me, & I can't afford tp pay for the extended channel including HBO. So I have to just stifle and watch the jewlery network I guess!
But thank goodness you can log into a computer and have the internet at your disposal. You don't need cable to get news.
Had I not been a a loyal Democracy Now listener, I would have never know these hearings were taking place. I looked for something about them today in my local rag they call a newspaper (New Haven Register) not a single word about it. When we have a president that doesn't know gas prices are almost $4.00 a gallon and has never walked into a supermarket to see what things cost, can we actually expect his cronies who own these conglomerate news agencies to print the truth about this illegal war? Not a chance. Too much money is being made thanks to the puppet in the white house.
In my local newpaper, a local kid. is proud of what he's "accomplished" in Iraq. The problem was, he didn't give any specifics.
Do you suppose that could be because he realizes that he is part of something bigger than himself, but which works better for his inclusion? The vast majority of our young people serving know that what they do, while not always admired, is, in the main, necessary and good. The people I heard speak in the first segment all referred to themselves as well-meaning, good people, who did not see the good in everything they had done. They merely expressed a lack of confidence that everything they had done was right and proper. A pity, but that's war!
Semper fi
America won't pay one damned bit of attention to the personal hell many of these returning vets are going through until a dozen of them go on a Charles Whitman-style killing rampage.
I, too, listened to the Pacifica coverage on my radio. I think it is because Pacifica has such priorities that I listen to NPR far less than I once did. Given what has happened to mainstream media, however, I find myself interpreting those episode with the camera crews in 1971 in a new light. My reasoning is that those crews were there for the "photo opportunity," rather than the content; and, similarly, there was footage on Saturday's ABC NEWS, which was also there for "photo opportunity value." Nevertheless, I felt it was important that ABC NEWS allocated time to say something about the event, even if their "something" did not have very much depth. There are any number of stories that could have displaced it, and I suspect that there were plenty of ABC viewers who would have remained oblivious to the event had ABC not allocated that meager time slice. I suppose that, where the mainstream media are concerned, I find myself living by an adage that I picked up from Carl Sandburg's poem, "Lief the Lucky:" "Blessed are they who expect nothing for they shall not be disappointed."
I too listen to more Pacifica radio due to the disparity between their coverage and NPR during the run up to the Iraq war. NPR was shown to be part of the mainstream media --they didn't cheerlead for the war as much as tip toed around any controversy, afraid to be labelled unpatriotic. Pacifica was and is a breath of fresh air.
I hope everyone who is cheering for Pacifica Radio and Democracy Now is responding when pledge week comes around. They are priceless resources, but a little cash helps ... (disclosure-- I am just a listener of Pacifica and Democracy Now).
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
