By Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg A majority of Americans say the Iraq war was a mistake and more and more people are demanding the US immediately withdraw troops. But deployed soldiers must fight no matter what their personal beliefs -- or risk imprisonment. What's so honorable about participating in something you know is wrong?
"Shortly after Chas joined, he realized the army was not the noble profession he had imagined. He found that the military was about dehumanization of the enemy and the soldiers themselves. Chas explained that this process started in boot camp with 'sick, twisted' drills, like Sniper Wonderland:
'See the little girl with the puppy; Lock and load a hollow pointed round ... Take the shot and maybe if you're lucky; You'll watch their lifeless bodies hit the ground ...'
'You're singing these things and you know they're wrong,' Chas said. 'But if you don't say it, you'll catch so much hell. You're scared to death and you have to say it.'"Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg is a journalist based in Jersey City, New Jersey. She has written for the Washington Blade, In These Times, Common Dreams and The Brooklyn Rail. Elizabeth has worked as a community organizer on many criminal justice issues, like the death penalty, the prison-industrial complex and the case of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal.