1 1 2 CONGRESSIONAL PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS 3 WINTER SOLDIER ON THE HILL 4 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES PUBLIC MEETING 5 6 Taken on the date of: 7 Thursday, May 15, 2008 8 9 Taken at the Rayburn House Office Building 10 Room 2261, Washington, D.C. 11 12 PRESIDING: 13 LYNN WOOLSEY, Congresswoman from California 14 BARBARA LEE, Congresswoman from California 15 MAXINE WATERS, Congresswoman from California 16 ALSO PRESENT: SHIELA JACKSON-LEE, Texas 17 MARCY KAPTUR, Ohio 18 KEITH ELLISON, Minnesota 19 DONALD PAYNE, New Jersey 20 21 Start time: 9:33 o'clock, a.m. 22 Taken by Cathy Crump, the court reporter 2 1 C-O-N-T-E-N-T-S 2 Agenda Item: Page: 3 I. Opening Statement, Co-Chair Woolsey...... 3 4 II. Opening Statement, Co-Chair Lee.......... 9 5 III. Introduction by Kelly Dougherty, IVAW.... 16 6 IV. Testimony of Jason Lemieux............... 23 7 V. Testimony of Scott Ewing................. 32 8 VI. Testimony of Geoffrey Millard............ 40 9 VII. Testimony of Kristofer Goldsmith......... 45 10 VIII. Questions and Answers, Panel I........... 53 11 IX. Testimony of Vincent Emanuele............ 74 12 X. Testimony of James Gilligan.............. 82 13 XI. Testimony of Adam Kokesh................. 92 14 XII. Testimony of Sergio Kochergin............ 102 15 XIII. Testimony of Luis Montalvan.............. 111 16 XIV. Questions and Answers, Panel II.......... 121 17 XV. Closing IVAW Remarks..................... 153 18 XVI. Closing Statement by the Co-Chair........ 155 19 XXII. Closing Statement by the Chair........... 160 20 - 0 - 21 22 3 1 P-R-O-C-E-E-D-I-N-G-S 2 I. OPENING STATEMENT BY CO-CHAIR WOOLSEY 3 MS. WOOLSEY: In honor of everybody that's 4 here on time, we're going to get started. 5 I thank you all for being here. I'm Lynn 6 Woolsey. I represent the Sixth District of 7 California. That's the two counties just north of 8 the Golden Gate Bridge, north of San Francisco. 9 Well, I own half of the Golden Gate Bridge, just so 10 you have some kind of an idea of the magnificent 11 district this congresswoman represents, not because 12 it's beautiful, which it is, but because the people 13 are beautiful that I represent, and they look all 14 like you out there in this audience. 15 So thank you for being here. 16 I want to thank you my friends and my 17 co-chair Congresswoman Barbara Lee. We chair the 18 Progressive Caucus together, and Maxine Waters will 19 be here, in and out. She is the founder and the 20 chair of the Out of Iraq Caucus, and the three of us 21 do a lot together. We call ourselves The Triad, the 22 Woolsey-Waters-Lee Triad, and people know a lot 4 1 about us around here, because our issues are your 2 issues and you make it easy for us to carry your 3 issues. 4 I also want to thank those who have sponsored 5 today's event. Thank you very much for your work, 6 for your intelligence, and your indulgence. 7 Our colleagues will be joining us off and on 8 throughout this three and a half hours. I think you 9 know that the very issue we're talking about today 10 is on the House Floor all morning and all afternoon, 11 and it is going to take people away from this 12 hearing because the decision today of whether or not 13 we spend another $170 billion to continue this 14 occupation in Iraq is a very serious issue and will 15 be discussed all day long. 16 So be patient. Your words will be taken down 17 -- well, not taken down. That's a negative around 18 here -- will be transcribed and will be circulated. 19 So you are not talking to a vacuum. 20 Now I want to thank the Iraq Veterans Against 21 the War. You've traveled all over this country, 22 across the country to be here with us today and to 5 1 put yourselves at the front table and to do exactly 2 what we need you to do, and that's so important. 3 What is also important is to thank all of you brave 4 men and women for not only your service to our 5 country, but your willingness to speak out about 6 that service. 7 Iraq has become one of the most important 8 foreign policy failures in recent history, and your 9 words behind this discussion today will continue 10 with our discussion on that and continue with the 11 proof of what a waste we've set ourselves up with in 12 this country. You know, around here in recent 13 months, we've heard from General David Petraeus. 14 We've heard from Ambassador David Crocker. We've 15 heard from the White House over and over again. And 16 they're all armed with Power Point presentations. 17 They're armed with colorful posters and all of the 18 language trying to convince us that after five 19 years, we are finally making progress in Iraq. 20 Well, we know that's not so, and what makes 21 this morning so unique to us is that we now have an 22 opportunity to hear from not the military's top 6 1 brass, but directly from you, the very soldiers who 2 put your lives on the line to carry out this 3 President's failed policies. 4 Today's event actually is a continuation of 5 Winter Soldier hearings that were organized by the 6 Iraq Veterans Against the War earlier this year at 7 the National Labor Council in Silver Spring, 8 Maryland. Over three days, dozens of veterans 9 shared their personal stories and testified about 10 their own experiences on the ground in combat in 11 Iraq and Afghanistan. 12 These weren't pundits. They weren't analysts 13 talking, talking about the wars in Iraq and 14 Afghanistan in the abstract. These were the 15 stories, the stories we're going to hear today and 16 the testimonies of the men and women who had 17 experienced the horrors of war up close and 18 personal. 19 The Winter Soldier finds its roots more than 20 200 years ago in the writings of Thomas Payne. 21 Thomas Payne said: "These are the times that try 22 men's souls. The Summer Soldier and Sunshine 7 1 Patriot will in this crisis shrink from the service 2 of his country, but he that stands it now deserves 3 the love and thanks of man and woman." He knew what 4 he was talking about then and it fits perfectly now. 5 The first Winter Soldier hearing was in 1971 6 when a group a Vietnam Veterans testified before the 7 Congress on that conflict and helped to galvanize 8 the nation against the Vietnam War. Today's forum 9 builds on the strong history of the Winter Soldier. 10 It is our goal to provide these testimonies as a 11 means of bringing Iraq from the abstract so that the 12 American public can see it from a soldier's 13 perspective. 14 But before I turn things over to 15 Congresswoman Lee, I'd like to lay out the format 16 for today's events. First, Kelly Dougherty, the 17 executive director of the Iraq Veterans Against the 18 War, will give a brief opening statement, and then 19 she will introduce our first round of panelists. 20 You need to know that these men brought their own 21 counsel, and they all have to know that they're free 22 to call on your counsel if you think that you need 8 1 to respond to something that counsel can help with. 2 After the entire panel has spoken, we will 3 then give members the opportunity to question the 4 panelists. Now, members will be able to either give 5 a five-minute opening statement or give a short 6 statement and ask questions, but they will be given 7 a five-minute time period. The speakers will be 8 given nine minutes, and we have here -- Jason hold 9 up the cards. We will be warning you when you have 10 finished five minutes and then you have two minutes 11 and one minute. 12 Do you have things written on there? Okay. 13 So you'll know, because we have to be out of this 14 room at 12:30. So we need to pull this together and 15 move it along. Now, you have to know nine minutes 16 is a long time. At a hearing in the Congress, five 17 minutes is it, and a lot of times, we speak in 18 one-minute increments all over the place. We've 19 learned to say a lot in a short time. Obviously, I 20 haven't learned that for today. 21 Following the first panel, then we'll have 22 the questions and answers, and then Kelly will again 9 1 introduce the second panel, and we'll have five more 2 speakers, and then we will have questions and 3 answers. Then when it's all over, Jeff Millard of 4 Iraq Veterans Against the War will provide us with 5 closing remarks. 6 So now I'd like to introduce Sergeant Kelly 7 Dougherty. Oh, no, no. I'm not going to do that. 8 I'm going to have Barbara Lee go next and then I'll 9 introduce you, Sergeant Kelly. 10 II. OPENING STATEMENT BY CO-CHAIR LEE 11 MS. LEE: Thank you very much and good 12 morning. 13 Let me begin by paying tribute to my friend 14 and colleague, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey of 15 California. There are few individuals in Congress 16 who really can match her passion for ending the war 17 and occupation in Iraq. She was the first member of 18 Congress to introduce a resolution calling for the 19 withdrawal of our young men and women several years 20 ago. So I'm proud to serve with you, Congresswoman 21 Woolsey, as co-chair of the Progressive Caucus, and 22 thank you very much for your vision and your 10 1 steadfastness. 2 How many times now have you been on the floor 3 of Congress at night? 4 MS. WOOLSEY: 264. 5 MS. LEE: Every night, she's there, every 6 night after session, late at night, bringing forth 7 to the American public what we have done in our 8 country, unfortunately. So thank you, Lynn. 9 [Applause.] 10 MS. LEE: I want to welcome you. I want to 11 say how good it is to see you. I had the 12 opportunity, actually, to talk with you during the 13 four-day Winter Soldier weekend in Silver Spring 14 that was over the radio, and I remember one of the 15 persons I talked with wanted to know why there 16 weren't more members of Congress or any members of 17 Congress there, and I mentioned then that we all 18 were in our districts that weekend, Congresswoman 19 Woolsey, Congresswoman Waters, all of us, including 20 myself, doing much of what we do every weekend in 21 terms of organizing constituent work, all of the 22 activities. 11 1 In fact, I knew that we wanted to be there 2 with you, and someone asked me over the telephone 3 during the interview, Well, what about having a 4 hearing in Washington, D.C.? And I said right; I 5 know that Congresswomen Woolsey and Waters and many 6 members of Congress would welcome you and greet you. 7 This day is long over due. 8 So this is really, I think -- I have to thank 9 our staff. I have to thank all of you for following 10 up to make sure that this happened and that you're 11 here today, bringing your stories, the real stories 12 with regard to what has taken place. 13 Of course, it's really ironic that today we 14 will debate and vote on three amendments to the Iraq 15 Supplemental Appropriations Bill. Of course, I plan 16 and I know Congresswoman Woolsey and Waters plan to 17 vote against the amendment providing an additional 18 -- can you believe this? -- $183 billion more money 19 to fund this occupation and war through June of 20 2009. 21 We have long advocated that funding be 22 appropriated only for the limited purpose of fully 12 1 funding the safe and responsible re-deployment of 2 American troops and contractors from Iraq, no more 3 funds for combat operation. We offered an amendment 4 last night that would do just that. Regrettably, my 5 amendment was not accepted. So once again, once 6 again, I intend to vote against funding this war and 7 occupation. 8 Now, a second amendment to the supplemental 9 contains two restrictions and conditions that we 10 have championed. First is the prohibition against 11 the establishment of permanent military bases in 12 Iraq. We need to, once again, make sure the 13 President understands that is what the American 14 people want. It's been passed and signed into law 15 at least eight times, and actually the President has 16 issued a signing statement basically saying he's not 17 complying with the law. So once again, we're going 18 to do it again. 19 The second condition that we have championed 20 will prohibit the President from negotiating, 21 entering into, or implementing any agreement with 22 the Government of Iraq that includes security 13 1 assurances for mutual defense unless the agreement 2 is in the form of a treaty requiring ratification by 3 the Senate or as specifically authorized by law. 4 Today's proceedings are historic because it 5 has been 37 years since the first gathering of 6 Winter Soldiers convened in Detroit in 1971 to speak 7 out against the Vietnam War. Those who came forward 8 to tell their story did so not to harm the country 9 that they had risked their lives to serve. Now, I 10 am the daughter of a Lieutenant Colonel 25 years in 11 the Army, and my dad served valiantly in World War 12 II and in Korea. So I honor and respect and support 13 and salute our troops, all of you who are here 14 today. 15 During that period, also, they spoke to make 16 our country better, and that's what this is about, 17 by ending a war that is hurting America at home and 18 abroad. These proceedings are also timely. In the 19 five years and counting since President Bush 20 launched the war in Iraq, the grand committee rooms 21 of Congress has been host to politicians, pundits, 22 cabinet secretaries, and consultants. We have heard 14 1 from arm chair generals and Ivy tower military 2 geniuses. Congress has listened with bated breath 3 to prime ministers and flag officers, field 4 generals, and think tank superstars. 5 The nation has heard the President proclaim 6 "Mission Accomplished" and the Vice President 7 predict that we would be welcomed as liberators. 8 Congress has heard a defense secretary rationalize 9 his incompetence with the excuse that "Remember 10 stuff happens when you go to war with the Army you 11 have rather than the Army you want". 12 Congress has heard from Generals and 13 journalists, celebrities, and contractors. We have 14 heard from just about everyone but the people who 15 really matter the most, and that's you, the men and 16 women who volunteered to go into harm's way, those 17 who perform tasks with extraordinary courage, those 18 who patrol the streets and protect the convoys and 19 the tanks and follow their orders, those who leave 20 their loved ones behind and deploy to Iraq again and 21 again and again. 22 After Shock and Awe, Clear and Hold, Last 15 1 Throes, and Bring Them On, we have heard enough. 2 We've heard enough from those who got us into this 3 mess and from those cheerleading and the false 4 bravado which has kept us in it, five years of war, 5 five years, more than 4,000 dead, 30,000 wounded, 6 tens of thousands of Iraqis who have lost their 7 lives and millions more who have lost their homes. 8 We've spent more than $500 billion destroying a 9 country that never attacked or endangered us, and 10 now here we are in the middle of what I call this 11 Bush Iraq Recession with Americans barely, barely, 12 barely surviving. 13 So today, we're here to bear witness to this 14 truth, to benefit from your wisdom which you have 15 gained from your experience and to thank you, of 16 course, for your service. And we're here also to 17 learn from your lives and those of your lost 18 comrades, your brothers and sisters in arms who have 19 been forever changed by what we have done to them by 20 sending them across the sea into this desert. It's 21 high time this nation stopped and listed to those 22 who risked so much and asked for so little. 16 1 So today is your day. This is your time. On 2 behalf of a grateful people, welcome and thank you. 3 MS. WOOLSEY: Thank you, partner. 4 [Applause.] 5 MS. WOOLSEY: As members arrive, I will 6 introduce them to you, but they will then have their 7 statements after the panel has completed. Sheila 8 Jackson-Lee has joined us. She is from Texas. 9 Thank you, Shiela, for being here and thank 10 you for all you do and for your wonderful heart. 11 III. INTRODUCTION BY KELLY DOUGHERTY, IVAW 12 MS. WOOLSEY: Now we get to introduce 13 Sergeant Kelly Dougherty. 14 Kelly grew up in the small town of Canon 15 City, Colorado. She joined the Colorado National 16 Guard in 1996 as a medic. In 1999 and 2000, she was 17 deployed to Hungary and Croatia as a military police 18 person in support of the mission in Bosnia. After 19 returning from that mission, she transferred to a 20 medical unit. In January 2003, she was transferred 21 back to a military police unit in anticipation of 22 their deployment to Iraq. 17 1 She arrived in Kuwait in February 2003, moved 2 into Iraq when the invasion was launched in March 3 2003. Her unit was stationed near the southern city 4 of Nazrah and did mostly patrols and convoy escorts. 5 Kelly returned to the United States in February 6 2004, and in July of that year helped found Iraq 7 Veterans Against the War, IVAW. She finished her 8 biology degree and has since been volunteering with 9 IVAW to build a local chapter and remain connected 10 to members in her home area. 11 She has also helped to form Events for Vets, 12 a peer support group in her home city. Kelly has 13 served for several months now as the chair of the 14 IVAW Board of Directors and currently is employed as 15 executive director. 16 After making some introductory remarks, she's 17 going to introduce our first panel. 18 Sergeant Dougherty. 19 SERGEANT DOUGHERTY: Thank you and good 20 morning. 21 I am an Iraq veteran and the executive 22 director of Iraq Veterans Against the War, and I 18 1 would like to thank the Progressive Caucus, 2 especially its co-chair, Congresswoman Woolsey and 3 her staff and Co-chair Congresswoman Lee and 4 Congresswoman Waters for hosting Winter Soldier on 5 the Hill Presented by Iraq Veterans Against the War. 6 Two months ago, over 200 IVAW members 7 gathered in Silver Spring, Maryland to submit, 8 listen to, and offer their eyewitness accounts of 9 the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan and their 10 first-hand experience in the U.S. Military. Winter 11 Soldier Iraq and Afghanistan represents the 12 tradition of veterans who, as Thomas Payne said, 13 "stand up for the heart of their nation during its 14 darkest hours". We continue our duty to our country 15 and our fellow human beings by offering our 16 testimony to Congress today. 17 The stories you are about to hear will not be 18 easy to listen to, but believe me, they are much 19 harder to relive. We have witnessed firsthand the 20 ultimate violence, chaos, fear, and suffering of war 21 and occupation and are intimately familiar with the 22 indelible mark that it has left on our lives. 19 1 These nine Iraq veterans here today are going 2 to relive memories that they would probably rather 3 forget, but they won't because they know that the 4 people need to hear their stories in order to 5 understand the way that war impacts people, their 6 families, and their communities. These stories are 7 raw, heart breaking, and disturbing, but most of 8 all, these are the stories of U.S. veterans' real 9 lived experience while in our military, supposedly 10 serving for the benefit of this nation and our 11 people. 12 Later today, Congress will vote on whether to 13 approve over $160 billion to continue the occupation 14 of Iraq. Every day that the occupation continues, 15 more men, women, and children will be killed, mamed, 16 or forced to flee their country as refugees. More 17 veterans will return home with lifelong scars, 18 emotional and physical, with little support to help 19 them readjust. Many will fall victim to suicide, to 20 depression, poverty. Later today, Congress will be 21 speaking about the cost of the Iraq occupation in 22 terms of dollars and sense, but for us, we're going 20 1 to show the real human costs of this war and 2 occupation that are hard to measure with dollar 3 signs. 4 Congress continues to look to their fellow 5 politicians, to pundits, to Generals to see what is 6 happening in Iraq, but rarely are the veterans and 7 active duty men and women themselves, many of whom 8 have served repeated tours, been asked for their 9 insight into what is happening. If the Congress' 10 aim is to know the true cost of the war in Iraq, 11 then you must listen to the testimony of the 12 soldiers, the Marines, these service members who 13 served during this occupation and the Iraq people 14 who have survived it. 15 Today is just one step in the process of 16 listening, really listening to these accounts. Each 17 veteran who will be offering their testimony today 18 has undergone a review process in order to verify 19 and support their experiences. We are prepared 20 today to testify under oath, but cannot because 21 we're not in front of an official committee of the 22 House, but we welcome and look forward to that 21 1 opportunity. 2 When I was in Iraq, I saw the devastation 3 that our invasion and occupation have met out upon 4 the Iraq people. I saw and at times participated in 5 the dehumanization and degradation of the Iraq 6 people by robbing others of their inherent dignity, 7 by denying them respect, and by treating them as the 8 less than human others, we ultimately robbed 9 ourselves of our dignity, humanity, and compassion. 10 When I returned home from Iraq, I was angry 11 and disillusioned and I had a desire to use my 12 experience for something positive, and I was 13 fortunate enough to join with six other veterans and 14 former Iraq Veterans Against the War in July of 15 2004. IVAW is an organization of veterans and 16 active duty military members who served in the U.S. 17 military since September 11, 2001. We have members 18 across the country and overseas, in Germany and 19 Iraq. Less than four years ago, there were seven of 20 us, and today, there are over 1200. Our membership 21 has more than doubled in the past year and is 22 continuing to grow. 22 1 IVAW members stand united around our three 2 goals. The first is the immediate withdrawal of all 3 occupying forces from, a goal that Congress can help 4 us to achieve by refusing to authorize $162 billion 5 supplemental for the war. 6 Our second goal is benefits and care for all 7 returning veterans, which can also be taken in steps 8 towards helping with passing the new GI Bill. 9 And the third goal is reparations to the 10 Iraqi people. So far, there have been no meaningful 11 steps taken by the U.S. Government to provide 12 adequate compensation and assistance for the 13 catastrophe we've caused to the Iraq people, and we 14 are asking that that be made a priority. 15 IVAW is organizing the opposition to the Iraq 16 War from within the communities that have been most 17 affected, namely those of the recent veterans and 18 active duty service members. While many of us has 19 taken off our uniforms and put down our rifles, 20 we're still honoring our duty to stand up for what 21 is right and we won't stop until we can welcome all 22 of our brothers and sisters home. 23 1 I thank all of you for attending Winter 2 Soldier on the Hill and I thank you each of our 3 testifiers for their bravery and commitment. 4 Now this will be our first panel of Winter 5 Soldier on the Hill and all of our panelists will 6 introduce themselves. 7 Thank you. 8 MS. WOOLSEY: Thank you, Sergeant Dougherty. 9 I have been prompted to remind everybody that 10 no matter what, we aren't supposed to be clapping in 11 a hearing. So let's keep this as much as can to the 12 hearing process, which means no outspokenness and no 13 clapping. The outspokenness gets to come from our 14 panelists. 15 Are we starting with Scott or Kristofer? Oh. 16 Jason. I'm sorry. Jason Lemieux. 17 IV. TESTIMONY OF JASON LEMIEUX 18 MR. LEMIEUX: Members of the Progressive 19 Caucus, thank you for coming to hear our testimony 20 today. I also want to extend a thanks for Kelly 21 Dougherty for introducing us. It is an honor for me 22 to be part of an organization with selfish leaders 24 1 like Kelly Dougherty. 2 My name is Jason Lemieux. I served four 3 years and ten months in the United States Marine 4 Corps Infantry with Weapons Platoon, Lima Company, 5 Third Battalion, Seventh Marines. During that time, 6 in absence of a congressional declaration of war, I 7 served three deployments to Iraq, including the 8 initial invasion. On July 9, 2006, I was honorably 9 discharged from the Marine Corps with the rank of 10 sergeant. I have been a member of Iraq Veterans 11 Against the War since August 2006, and I currently 12 serve as the secretary of IVAW's National Board of 13 Directors. 14 The written testimony I submitted today 15 illuminates how unit loyalty and comradery, 16 psychological trauma, lack of strategic guidance, 17 command complicity, and our national insistence on 18 minimizing short-term casualty rates all lead to 19 widespread destruction of civilian life and property 20 in Iraq and make rules of engagement for all 21 practical purposes unenforceable, all of which I'll 22 note has historical precedent and could have been 25 1 anticipated before the invasion began. 2 It's very painful for me to slash so much of 3 my written testimony to nine minutes here for this, 4 but please understand that what you hear from me is 5 the tip of the iceberg, both of my written testimony 6 and of my experiences in Iraq. 7 Throughout my three tours, I was present on 8 numerous occasions when Lima Company and the 9 platoons therein were ordered by commissioned 10 officers to shoot any Iraqi who seems suspicious or 11 made us feel uncomfortable with the assurance that 12 the chain of command would, quote-unquote, take care 13 of us. Taking care of us meant that the chain of 14 command was loyal to their Marines before the rules 15 of engagement or the laws of war and would protect 16 Marines from legal prosecution even if it meant 17 providing false information to investigators. 18 In the summer of 2005, I was preparing to 19 finish my four-year contract just as the Third 20 Battalion Seventh Marines was gearing up for a third 21 deployment to Iraq, this time to Ramadi. I 22 voluntarily extended my enlistment contract by 10 26 1 months to redeploy with 3-7 for a third tour. I was 2 solidly against the occupation of Iraq, believing it 3 unwinnable, illegal, and immoral; however, I 4 extended my contract to help bring home all of the 5 junior Marines who had never served in combat. 6 Part of the agreement I made with my 7 commanding officer for extending my contract was 8 that I would lead an experimental intelligence 9 section for Lima Company instead of serving in an 10 infantry platoon as I had done on the previous 11 deployments. Many of the Marines serving on their 12 second or third tours showed signs of psychological 13 trauma, and as deployments dragged on and friendly 14 casualties mounted, morale plummeted and excessive 15 force became routine. 16 As the intelligence section leader on the 17 third tour, I was responsible for sending our 18 battalion intelligence reports that often detailed 19 the excessive force I mentioned earlier. One of 20 these reports involved an attack on Entry Control 21 Point II, or ECB II as it was known to us in Ramadi. 22 ECB II is located on a bridge over the Habbaniya 27 1 Canal and it's the only route into Ramadi from the 2 northwest. West of ECB II is the city of Tammin, 3 which is really an extension of Ramadi, although not 4 part of the city proper. 5 During my deployment, ECB II was manned by 6 Lima Company Marines 24 hours a day. If was 7 occasionally attacked by snipers firing from Tammin, 8 but these attacks were usually ineffective. I 9 submitted an incident report for one such attack in 10 January or February of 2006. I am sorry I don't 11 remember the exact date, but in any event, I 12 interviewed multiple squad leaders from two 13 different platoons separately and cross-checked 14 their information to collect the information that I 15 would use to submit my report. 16 I was also required to send a count of all 17 ammunition expended with my report. So after 18 conducting my interview and cross-checking their 19 information, I determined that ECB II had received 20 four rounds of poorly-aimed enemy fire and returned 21 fire with thousands of rounds of M-16 ammunition, 22 thousands of rounds of M-240 gulf medium machine gun 28 1 ammunition, hundreds of rounds of 50-caliber heavy 2 machine gun ammunition, hundreds of rounds of Mark 3 19 automatic grenade launcher ammunition, several 4 M-203 rifle grenades, a novel explosive rocket, 5 which has a thermobarrick warhead quietly developed 6 by the Marine Corps in the run-up to the initial 7 invasion that is designed to kill or neutralize all 8 personnel inside of a two-story building and has 9 been known to level entire tour-story buildings down 10 to the foundation, and a 120-millimeter main gun 11 round from an Abrams tank, all of which were fired 12 into an area of Tammin known to be owned and 13 occupied by local civilians. 14 One Humvee platoon squad leader even admitted 15 to me that his platoon couldn't even detect any 16 enemy fire and they were just shooting because 17 ECB-II was shooting. When I was discussing the 18 incident with the Lieutenant who commanded the 19 platoon at ECB-II, he proudly encouraged me to check 20 out the house that he had called the tank round on 21 the next that I was passing by. 22 So as I wrote my report, the Lima Company 29 1 executive officer came in and asked me to see the 2 report, and of course I obeyed this order, and when 3 he was finished reading, he looked up and said to 4 me, Lemieux, I think your views on this war are 5 affecting your reports. I was taken aback by this 6 claim. So I asked what he meant, and he said here 7 that the platoon only took four rounds of enemy 8 fire; there's no way they expended all of that ammo 9 and they only took four rounds. 10 Now, I was shocked that the executive officer 11 would accuse me of lying and, furthermore, that he 12 did not understand Marines routinely use such 13 excessive force in Iraq, especially the platoon in 14 question. So I informed him that such behavior was, 15 in fact, routine and I had interviewed multiple 16 squad leaders separately and cross-checked their 17 information to confirm the numbers in my report. So 18 after I finished explaining all of this to him, he 19 stared at the report for a moment before saying, We 20 can't send this report to battalion saying they 21 expended all of that ammo for only four rounds. He 22 then proceeded to sit down at my intelligence 30 1 computer and falsify the very same report that he 2 had just accused me of falsifying to change the 3 number of enemy rounds that the infantry platoon had 4 reported receiving. I don't remember the exact 5 number that he changed it to, but it was in the 6 double digits, if not higher. 7 It's worth noting that the only reason the 8 executive officer or myself was even aware of this 9 particular use of excessive force is because ECB-II 10 is so close to our base that we could hear them 11 shooting and there was no sense in them lying about 12 it; however, if they had been on patrol a few 13 kilometers away, we would know nothing of their 14 activities except whatever they felt like reporting. 15 So to summarize my written testimony, I was 16 involved in fire fights during which the rules of 17 engagement were lifted by the chain of command or 18 were simply ignored, resulting in needless and 19 strategically counterproductive civilian deaths. I 20 was ordered multiple times by commissioned officers 21 and non-commissioned officers to shoot unarmed 22 civilians if their presence made me feel 31 1 uncomfortable. These orders were given with the 2 understanding that my immediate chain of command 3 would protect their subordinates from legal 4 repercussions. 5 In my unit, which I believe is representative 6 of most serving in Iraq, the primary loyalty is not 7 to democracy or to the flag or to America or to the 8 Iraqi people or to the rule of law. It is to each 9 other's safety at the expense of everything else. 10 There were two separate instances in which 11 commissioned officers ordered me to falsify reports 12 of incidents involving civilian casualties. 13 Cover-ups of excessive force were routine and 14 effective, usually reaching no higher than the 15 platoon level throughout my three tours. 16 Contrary to what some military commanders 17 have reported, Anbar civilians assumed 18 responsibility for their local security in the, 19 quote-unquote, awakening because of what Al Qaeda 20 and Iraq had done wrong and what we had failed to do 21 right, not what we're doing right now. 22 And, finally, Third Battalion Seventh 32 1 Marines' focused on counter-insurgency operations 2 caused its readiness to perform conventional 3 military operations to severely decline throughout 4 my service. This decline must be attributed not 5 only to the physical, but also to the inevitable 6 mental and moral factors of service in the Iraq 7 occupation. 8 Thank you for your time. 9 MS. WOOLSEY: Thank you. 10 [The prepared testimony of Jason Lemieux is 11 incorporated herein.] 12 MS. WOOLSEY: Scott Ewing. 13 V. TESTIMONY OF SCOTT EWING 14 MR. EWING: Good morning, ma'am. 15 My name is Scott Ewing. I served in the Army 16 as a scout from 2004 through 2007 and deployed to 17 Iraq with the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment in 18 March of 2005. I spent most of the year there in 19 Tall Afar, a city of 200,000 in the northwest region 20 near Mosul. In March 2006, we returned from our 21 deployment, and President Bush made a speech at the 22 City Club in Cleveland in which he talked about our 33 1 specific deployment and in that speech basically 2 said that we were finally making progress in Iraq 3 based on what we had done. 4 I'm going to talk about three issues: 5 Civilian casualties, detainees, and house searches. 6 During my deployment, I saw far more 7 civilians injured and killed than insurgents. When 8 I say civilians, I mean men, women, and children who 9 are not suspected in any way of being involved in 10 wrongdoing. I also personally saw more innocent 11 civilians injured or killed by American forces than 12 by the enemy. 13 One particularly memorable incident occurred 14 after we raided two houses and found no one there. 15 Everyone thought we were going home, but a vehicle 16 stopped again and we were told to get out and go to 17 a nearby house. I assumed that we were going to 18 search it, but when we went in through the front 19 gate, I noticed that there were already other 20 American soldiers there, a mortar platoon from our 21 troop. There were six Iraqi men against the wall, 22 and as I rounded the car that was in the driveway, 34 1 we saw several middle-aged women sprawled out on the 2 cement, covered in blood. It looked like somebody 3 had opened up on them with a machine gun. 4 What we found out shortly thereafter is that 5 one of our Apache helicopters had shot high 6 explosive rounds into their front yard. So we 7 started treating them with bandages. The first 8 woman that I got to had shrapnel that had penetrated 9 her head. She was still alive, but she died shortly 10 thereafter. The other women were very badly 11 wounded. We got medical supplies from the Bradleys 12 and tried to bandage their wounds. Two of the 13 injured women were laying next to each other over in 14 the back of the Bradley, and a little boy about nine 15 years old came up to me and pointed to his chest, 16 and there was a blood spot on it. So I kind of 17 looked and listened to his breathing to see if his 18 lungs had been punctured, and they hadn't. So I set 19 him in the back of the Bradley next to the two 20 women, and they were all taken to an aid station 21 which was just outside of the city. 22 There are numerous other events, incidences, 35 1 that involve civilian casualties. I don't have time 2 to go into them all, but this incident illustrates 3 the first serious difference between what I saw in 4 Iraq and what is seen back home. There has been 5 virtually no explicit reporting by the mainstream 6 media of civilian casualties caused by U.S. troops 7 in Iraq. Any time a suicide bomber kills civilians, 8 it is highly publicized, but from my personal 9 experience in Tell Afar, the number of Iraqis killed 10 or injured by our forces far outnumber those killed 11 by insurgents or suicide bombers. 12 I'm going to talk about detainees next. 13 Colonel McMaster went through great lengths, 14 it seems, to ensure that detainees were not abused 15 the way they had been in previous units. In some 16 ways, I think his efforts were successful, but this 17 is little consolation to those Iraqis who were 18 detained without good reason. In one case, we 19 detained three men just because they were running. 20 We were told that a helicopter has seen them running 21 through the street. They went into their house, and 22 when we went there, we found nothing. There's no 36 1 evidence that they had done anything wrong, and we 2 detained them anyway. 3 In another case, an older man approached us 4 while we were on dismounted patrol, seeking help, 5 medical help. He had been shot through the foot in 6 some other kind of random fire in the city, which 7 happened all the time. Four of his friends joined 8 him in the front yard, and we asked them -- we 9 questioned them, asked them what they were doing. 10 They said they were in town for a funeral, and so we 11 used a chemical explosives detection kit called 12 X-spray on their hands. One is supposed to take a 13 piece of paper and swab their hands with it and 14 spray that on the paper, but nobody had read the 15 instructions. So a staff sergeant who was with us 16 sprayed the X-spray all over their hands. Of 17 course, everything is dusty. So it changed colors 18 slightly to brown, and on that basis, we brought 19 them in to talk and detained them. 20 When we got there, the JAG attorney told us 21 that we couldn't detain people based on X-spray as 22 evidence, as primary evidence, but said we'll take 37 1 care of it anyway. So in the end, we basically -- I 2 filled out a sworn statement as honestly as I could, 3 but I was also asked to sign some short forms, and 4 as I signed the short forms, I realized, well, maybe 5 there's something on the back, and I decided to look 6 after about the third one, and on the back, the 7 staff sergeant who was with us had written that 8 these men admitted to engaging the Jolak Tribe, 9 which is a tribe who we had an alliance with, in 10 hostilities, and they had not made any such claim. 11 We had no evidence that they were engaging the 12 Jolaks in hostilities, and yet on that basis, we 13 detained the men, and that involved a commissioned 14 officer who was a JAG attorney in doing that. 15 The third thing I want to talk about is 16 searches. 17 Can I have the first slide? You can advance 18 the slides slowly as I talk. Our squadron 19 commander, Lieutenant Colonel Hickey was quoted in 20 the "Washington Post" in September of 2005 as 21 saying: "If we go in there and tear these people's 22 homes apart, we lose these people." This idea made 38 1 a lot of sense to me. It's consistent with 2 counter-insurgency doctrine, which they had said the 3 goal of the counter-insurgency is to win the support 4 of the population that otherwise might support the 5 insurgency. 6 In September of 2005, we conducted a 7 large-scale mission involving thousands of soldiers 8 and cleared the entire city over a two-week period 9 of time. During this time, we were told to search 10 aggressively, and soldiers smashed windows, broke 11 open and threw furniture, scattered the contents of 12 drawers onto the floors, stepped on dishes, and left 13 graffiti in Iraqis' homes. 14 And I have to warn the cameras that some of 15 the graffiti that is going to appear is vulgar in 16 nature. 17 All of this happened under the supervision of 18 our platoon leader and the platoon sergeant. I've 19 since talked with Lieutenant Colonel Hickey about 20 this, and he reiterated that ransacking people's 21 homes was not authorized and was not consistent with 22 their goals. 39 1 You can continue through the slides until you 2 get to the last one. 3 So these are homes that we searched, and this 4 was typical of searches. So people were either 5 outside or they came home to homes like this. This 6 is the house that was burning during this 7 large-scale mission in September. 8 Keep going through the slides, and you can 9 end with the last one and maybe go to the next one 10 so we don't leave that up. 11 There's a clear difference between the image 12 projected through the words and the media in what 13 really happened. Although this is not the kind of 14 behavior that's going to make the headlines, it is 15 incredibly important for several reasons. First of 16 all, Iraqis put a huge premium on honor and respect, 17 and trashing people's homes did not win us friends 18 in Tall Afar. Additionally, from talking with other 19 soldiers and veterans, these kinds of searches have 20 been commonplace throughout the occupation and all 21 over the country. 22 Loyalty is viewed as disproportionately owed 40 1 to one's unit without regard to the behavior of the 2 soldiers and the leaders within it. The initial 3 assignment of loyalty is meant to create a 4 functional team, but when serious problems with 5 adherence to Army regulations or bad tactical 6 decisions are made, this loyalty speciously serves 7 to prevent disgrace and embarrassment. Mistakes are 8 hidden rather than corrected, and patterns of 9 misbehavior are left unrecognized and root causes 10 are rarely addressed as a result. 11 Thank you for having us again. 12 MS. WOOLSEY: Thank you. 13 [The prepared testimony of Scott Ewing is 14 incorporated herein.] 15 MS. WOOLSEY: Geoffrey Millard. 16 VI. TESTIMONY OF GEOFFREY MILLARD 17 MR. MILLARD: My name is Jeff Millard. I 18 served for nine years in the New York Army National 19 Guard, 13 months of that in Operation Iraq Freedom. 20 The last nine months of my nine-year military career 21 was spent on unexcused absence, the Guard's version 22 of AWOL. I was mailed my honorable discharge in May 41 1 of 2007. 2 I'd like to summarize my written testimony. 3 All of the testifiers have submitted full written 4 testimony to the chair so that it can be entered in 5 the record, and I will summarize my testimony. 6 MS. WOOLSEY: I'm going to interrupt you just 7 for a second, because when you said that about your 8 testimony, I want to make sure that all of you know 9 that your entire testimony will be entered into the 10 record. 11 Thank you. 12 MR. MILLARD: I would like to thank the 13 Progressive Caucus, especially though, the chair, 14 Representative Woolsey and her entire staff, 15 especially though, Bill Goold and Chris Shields. 16 Also, I'd like to thank the co-chair, Representative 17 Lee, and Representative Waters for listening to more 18 than just politicians, pundits, and Generals. Thank 19 you for listening to soldiers. 20 At some point in the summer of 2005 -- I have 21 to say I can't remember when. You see, in Iraq, a 22 year becomes a month. A month becomes a day and 42 1 that day seems to repeat over and over and over 2 again through your entire tour. This is true for 3 me. I worked for a General. My detractors have 4 often referred to me as a General's secretary, and 5 while as a former infantryman and former engineer 6 that angered me at the beginning, I have to say I 7 was a General's secretary. 8 One day, there was a briefing that was 9 briefed for the General that there was a traffic 10 control point shooting. In it, a young private saw 11 a vehicle speeding at his traffic control point and 12 made a split second decision and put more than 200 13 rounds into this vehicle as it sped towards him, 14 putting it to a stop and killing all of its 15 inhabitants. He then watched as the mother, father, 16 and two children were dragged from that car. 17 That evening, as it was briefed to the 18 General and I flipped the slides for that briefing, 19 Colonel Rochelle from the 42nd Infantry Division 20 DISCOM Command -- and I have to apologize for a 21 little vulgarity here, but I feel it's integral for 22 my testimony. He turned in his chair to the entire 43 1 division-level staff and said, and I quote: If 2 these fucking Hajjis learned to drive, this shit 3 wouldn't happen. I was set back by that. I 4 expected more out of high-ranking officers coming 5 from a line unit. I expected a lot more, and as I 6 looked around at the other officers and high-ranking 7 NCOs in the room, non-commissioned officers, I found 8 no dissenting facial expressions or body language, 9 just nodding of the head as if to say, Yeah, if 10 these "f-ing" Hajjis learned to drive, this wouldn't 11 happen. 12 I don't think that that's really true, but 13 yet it seemed in Iraq everything became Hajji; 14 everything that wasn't us became Hajji. If it was 15 the Pakistanis that did our laundry, they became 16 Hajjis. If they were the KBR employees that made 17 our food at the chow hall, they became Hajjis. And 18 in the Muslim world to a Muslim, the term "Hajji" is 19 a term of great respect, but when we use it, we use 20 it as a term of dehumanization. It is not a term of 21 respect. It's not meant for someone who has 22 finished that pillar of Islam, one of the five 44 1 pillars of Islam, to go on the Haj. Instead, it's 2 meant as a term of disrespect, of dehumanization, 3 much the same as the term "Gook" during the Vietnam 4 conflict. 5 I would have conversations with other members 6 of my unit and asked them why they did this, why 7 people would say, I'm going to the Hajji shop to get 8 a Hajji DVD from these Hajjis, and I'd ask about 9 that, why use that, especially my roommate who 10 happened to from Puerto Rico. I'd ask him why and 11 he'd say, Who cares; they're just Hajjis. This was 12 a common response from members of my unit that I 13 just couldn't understand. 14 After so long, I stopped bringing it up. I 15 buried my head in the sand and I finished my last 16 few months of my tour. I came home and joined Iraq 17 Veterans Against the War, who I am very proud to be 18 here with today. I thank the Caucus and I thank 19 Iraq Veterans Against the War for allowing us to be 20 here. 21 Thank you. 22 MS. WOOLSEY: Thank you, Geoff. 45 1 [The prepared testimony of Geoffrey Millard 2 is incorporated herein.] 3 MS. WOOLSEY: Kristofer Goldsmith. 4 VII. TESTIMONY OF SERGEANT KRISTOFER GOLDSMITH 5 SERGEANT GOLDSMITH: Good morning. Honorable 6 Ladies and Gentlemen of the Congress, I would like 7 start by thanking you for allowing the IVAW to come 8 together with you to finally fight in part of 9 American history in the 21st Century that we can 10 truly be proud of. 11 All of our stories do not begin on the day 12 that we enlisted. All of our stories begin in 13 childhood. My story begins with this image right 14 here. There is a picture of myself in uniform in 15 basic training and there's a picture of myself in 16 uniform at about the age of 10 years old with a pair 17 dog tags and showing a Boy Scout salute. I can't 18 say that I was duped into the military by recruiters 19 because that would be an outright lie. I wanted to 20 be in the military my entire life. It was the only 21 thing I ever planned on doing, and that dream turned 22 into nightmares. 46 1 I joined the Army to kill people. I joined 2 the Army to kill Iraqis, to kill Muslims, to kill 3 people that were of a skin tone other than mine and 4 inhabiting the Middle East. On September 12, 2001, 5 I remember standing up as a 16-year-old boy -- I was 6 still in high school when this happened -- standing 7 up the day after September 11th and talking about 8 how we should use biological weapons or chemical 9 weapons over the entire Middle East to make it so 10 the religious land, the holy land, is not an issue 11 that harms America. 12 I want to state that I have since changed and 13 I am no longer racist and I am no longer filled with 14 hatred like that, but that is what drove me even 15 harder to join the Army and to fight in combat. 16 I joined as a Forward Observer and was 17 trained to use artillery, some of the most 18 destructive weapons that the Army has, though when I 19 deployed to Iraq in 2005, I was not authorized 20 artillery because we had drawn a truce with Muqtada 21 Al Sadr, the leader of the Mahdi Militia and a 22 prophet to some across all of Iraq, especially those 47 1 in Sadr City. 2 Begin with the first slide, please. 3 I took this photograph as was my job because 4 I wasn't authorized artillery. That blue Arabic 5 graffiti right there is on the side of a school 6 somewhere in Sadr City, and I didn't know until 7 three days ago when I had a good friend of mine who 8 is Iraqi translate it for me, but in 2005, an Iraqi 9 in Sadr City spray painted that and it translates 10 directly to "Welcome America to the Second Vietnam". 11 Vietnam and Iraq have not been compared only by Iraq 12 Veterans Against the War and Vietnam Veterans 13 Against the War. It is being compared to by the 14 very people of Iraq that Americans think are too 15 ignorant to realize what's going on in the world. 16 These are smart, educated people that are dying 17 every day. 18 Go to the next slide, please. 19 Underneath the black spray paint is red spray 20 paint. It's written in English, not spelled very 21 well, but obviously from the hand of an Iraqi, and 22 it says "The U.S. and Alawi are terrorment", meaning 48 1 terrorists. That is the feeling of the people in 2 Sadr City. They feel they have been let down by 3 America and by their own government that George 4 Bush's Administration put in power. 5 Before I go on, I want to say that I do not 6 blame you as Congress members for not ending the war 7 as many Americans do. I do not blame the President 8 for not ending the war. I blame the people of 9 America and their apathy because you are responsible 10 to follow what they say, and they have not done a 11 good enough job to convince the rest of your peers, 12 mainly Republicans, to fight to bring our troops 13 home and save lives in both America and Iraq. 14 Next slide. 15 The violence was already low due to the cease 16 fire with Muqtada Al Sadr -- next slide, please -- 17 so my primary mission, our primary mission was 18 supposed humanitarian aid. Humanitarian aid, 19 though, became trumped by presence patrols. This, I 20 go into further detail with my written testimony 21 that I've submitted, and presence patrols, what they 22 do is ensure that the populus knows that there's an 49 1 armed and dangerous Army or Marines, there is 2 military patrolling their streets every day and that 3 we are not going to let up. It's basically fear 4 tactics, fear tactics to create compliance among 5 civilians. 6 This humanitarian aid that we did was once a 7 week. We would on average once a week or three 8 times a month on Sundays, my platoon would be 9 assigned to escort pump trucks such as these to 10 clear the sewers of Sadr City, and what this really 11 was -- next slide, please. What this really was was 12 sucking up a puddle of sewage which would quickly be 13 refilled, often within hours or even minutes, just 14 to make it appear in our photographs that we would 15 submit to intelligence, that I would submit to 16 intelligence, that would be submitted to those of 17 America's government who control this war to force 18 them to believe that we are really doing 19 humanitarian aid, but as made obvious in the Bechtel 20 Report, "Bechtel's Dry Run" which was written by 21 Dahr Jamail and submitted to the Senate and also the 22 Inspector General, the Honorable Joseph E. Smits on 50 1 April 5, 2004, the state of the city is in dire need 2 of repair. 3 In an article by the humanitarian coordinator 4 of the Office of the Coordination of Human Affairs, 5 OCHA, dated 15 April 2008, under water and sewage it 6 says: "The lack of potable water is critical 7 because armored vehicles have torn up the road, 8 exposing drinking water pipes to raw sewage. 9 When I was there, it was in a horrible state. 10 That was three years ago. It was bad when Saddam 11 was in control. It is now worse than it was in 12 2005. In 2005, it was horrific. 13 Next slide, please. 14 This is a young girls schools in Sadr City, 15 and what you are looking at is the bathroom. 16 Because the sewage system was so backed up, the 17 young females, which are some of the most beautiful 18 little girls I've ever seen in my life, would 19 excrete onto the floor, and this was the state of 20 every single school bathroom that I had ever been 21 in. We made no attempts at repair. We were unable 22 to. 51 1 Next, please. 2 This is a school which is flooded. 3 Next, please. 4 That's kids being exposed to massive amounts 5 of sewage. 6 Next, please. 7 That is trash outside of one of the biggest 8 markets in Sadr City. 9 Next, please. That is sewage right outside 10 of the Red Crescent Hospital that we often visited. 11 We made no attempts, no real attempts to fix the 12 situation. 13 I'm sorry, but I'm running out of time. So 14 I'm going to skip to what effects have left and I'm 15 going to make it very brief. The images you're 16 going to see are vulgar. 17 Flash forward. Flash forward. Next slide. 18 These are the things that haunt American 19 Soldiers. This is an image that I was forced to 20 take for intelligence reasons. I was told that I 21 was taking this picture to identify this man. No 22 one in the world can identify that man by the 52 1 photograph. 2 Next slide. 3 I was "stop-lossed". My one hope and dream 4 in the military was to go to college after I went to 5 Iraq. I was "stop-lossed" the same week that I was 6 supposed to get out of the Army for an 18-month 7 deployment. This man went through the same 8 stop-loss as I. He almost lost his right leg and 9 the only reason he didn't is because in Germany 10 where they were going to cut it off, they messed up 11 his paperwork and flew him home. He's now able to 12 walk, but they were going to cut his leg off as a 13 quick fix, and that is what they're doing in the 14 hospitals in Germany to who knows how many hundreds 15 of American veterans. 16 Since I have returned -- or excuse me. I 17 attempted suicide. I never deployed a second time, 18 and because of that, I received a general discharge 19 and I lost my college benefits. The $40,000 20 promised to me in the Montgomery GI Bill, I will not 21 be eligible to receive, and currently, there is a 22 Senator in Congress running for President -- in the 53 1 Senate -- excuse me -- who is fighting to kill our 2 Karl-Webb GI Bill, and I'm one of the soldiers who 3 will never get that money. 4 So I would urge you to read my report, 5 distribute it among your peers as I show very 6 accurately that what's going on in Sadr City is 7 horrific and that veterans are not being taken care 8 of after they return home. 9 [The prepared testimony of Kristofer 10 Goldsmith is incorporated herein.] 11 VIII. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS, PANEL I 12 MS. WOOLSEY: Thank you very much. Thank -- 13 don't go away -- all four of you. Thank you for 14 your bravery. Thank you for your openness. Thank 15 you for trusting us with your words. 16 We have a lot of questions, I'm sure. We're 17 going to begin with Representative Maxine Waters, 18 who is part of the triad of Woolsey-Waters-Lee and 19 Sheila Jackson-Lee belongs to also. We never do 20 anything that doesn't include you. 21 Maxine Waters is the founder of the Out of 22 Iraq Caucus. Maxine and then, Sheila, you'll be 54 1 next. 2 MS. WATERS: Thank you very much, my dear 3 friend and colleague, chair, co-chair of the 4 Congressional Progressive Caucus and of the Out of 5 Iraq Caucus for providing the leadership to bring 6 the Iraq Veterans Against the War here today to 7 share with us this information about their 8 experiences in Iraq. 9 Of course, Sergeant Millard is no stranger to 10 me. I have interacted with him on more than one 11 occasion as he's been in these halls trying to tell 12 the story of what is going on in Iraq. 13 To all of you who are here today, I want to 14 thank you for your courage. I want to thank you for 15 your bravery and I want to thank you for your 16 sacrifices, and I want to thank you for having more 17 courage than many of the members of Congress have by 18 coming here in defiance of what you have been 19 instructed and taught to do and believe. You are 20 soldiers who have given a part of your life to 21 fighting an unjust war, a war where you were misled, 22 and you are soldiers who they attempted to tell you 55 1 that everything that you saw and everything that you 2 did and everything that you witnessed was what 3 happens in war and you were to be satisfied with 4 that, but you're not. I praise and honor you for 5 that and I thank you again for being here. 6 I have often wondered as I've read accounts 7 of killings in Iraq of civilians where they are 8 described to us in the newspaper as some attack or 9 some killings that have been executed because 10 they're suspected terrorists, suspected of this, or 11 suspected of that, and when I see women and children 12 and civilians being killed, I often wonder who are 13 those people. No one will ever be able to know what 14 the true story is, and they have nobody to stand up 15 for them and to say that they're innocent, that they 16 are guilty of no crime. They just get killed and 17 they die, and that's it, and I wonder often times 18 about those families and those children that we see 19 getting killed in ways that you described here this 20 morning. 21 Mr. Goldsmith, I want you to know I am so 22 moved by your testimony that you had the courage to 56 1 come here today and share with us what you have 2 shared and say this is how I thought a long time 3 ago, but that's not who I am today. That is very 4 powerful. That is very moving, and I had to be 5 contained up here by my leader. I just wanted to 6 stand up in applause, and she said just be cool 7 because we want to honor everybody in a very special 8 way. 9 Now let me say this, Mr. Goldsmith: I don't 10 like to make commitments that I am not sure I can 11 follow or carry out, but you are going to get your 12 GI Bill. You are going to go to college. 13 SERGEANT GOLDSMITH: Thank you. 14 MS. WATERS: I'm going to tell you here and 15 today that I'm on it. I'm focused. I don't know 16 what I have to do, but I'm going to get it. You're 17 going to get it. I'm going to make that commitment 18 to you today, and whoever is standing in our 19 collective way, because I know that my colleagues 20 share in my feelings about this, they better get out 21 of the way because we're going to get it. You have 22 to have it. You must have it. 57 1 And I'm so glad that you did not take your 2 life, that it did not work, and I want you to know 3 that no matter the disappointment, no matter the 4 lies, no matter the experiences, there are some 5 people here who believe in you. Some people are 6 going to continue to fight to bring our soldiers 7 home and some here are going to stand up and fight 8 for you no matter what the obstacles are. 9 I just wish you all would defy this leader 10 and just give him and everybody a big round of 11 applause. 12 MS. WOOLSEY: We'll do it at the end. 13 [Applause.] 14 MS. WOOLSEY: You're such an agitator. 15 MS. WATERS: I know. I know. 16 MS. WOOLSEY: She's the agitator of all of 17 us. 18 SERGEANT GOLDSMITH: Thank you, 19 Representative Waters. 20 MS. WATERS: You're so welcome. 21 Thank you all. 22 SERGEANT GOLDSMITH: Thank you very much for 58 1 that. I'd just like to add that I, myself, as 2 distressed as I may appear right now, find telling 3 my story to be therapeutic, and there are hundreds 4 of thousands of soldiers who are unable to tell 5 their stories. There are many that I know who got 6 out of the Army and are doing nothing but drinking 7 and sitting in their basement, yelling at the TV, 8 watching Fox News, and it's very hard for us to find 9 the courage to come up here, and I would to thank 10 you again for hearing us. 11 MS. WATERS: Thank you so very much. 12 MS. WOOLSEY: Congresswoman Sheila 13 Jackson-Lee. 14 MS. JACKSON-LEE: I'm honored to be able to 15 sit here with Congresswoman Woolsey, Congresswoman 16 Lee, and Congresswoman Waters, and I would claim 17 that we are sisters in arms for your battle. 18 I am grateful for Sergeant Kelly for coming 19 back and putting her anguish. The way we always 20 look at Americans is to fix it and to make it right. 21 I think your generation of solders will really claim 22 the name "The Greatest Generation", and we are 59 1 grateful for your presence. 2 To each of you, I want you to consider 3 yourself today to be the empowerment of those whose 4 voices cannot be heard, and I feel a sense of 5 urgency. I will leave this mike for a moment to go 6 to the floor to take some of the points that you've 7 made and to offer them in my opposition to the war 8 in what will be my vote against any more funding for 9 the war in Iraq. 10 We've made a personal commitment that we will 11 never vote for another cent. Sometimes we're 12 blind-sided. Sometimes they sneak it in or sneak it 13 around, but we try to be like Sherlock Holmes and to 14 find it and make sure we do not cast our vote. 15 What I think I heard from Mr. Goldsmith was 16 that there was this stop-loss policy of Secretary 17 Rumsfeld, and I think that what I've heard from my 18 constituents is that a general discharge -- in fact, 19 I think we heard that yesterday about a general 20 discharge -- now blocks everyone from their 21 education benefits. So let me join with 22 Congresswoman Waters to say that this has to be 60 1 fixed, morphed, refined, disguised so that 2 individuals who have for causes, for reasons, for 3 tragedies found themselves under this particular 4 discharge do not have to suffer anymore. 5 Let me also very quickly say that you are 6 creating a movement. It pains me to hear that you 7 are representing those who are shouting in the 8 darkness. So maybe as we have had, and I know that 9 you have gathered, but those hundreds of thousands 10 need to hear our voice. Let us welcome them to 11 Washington. Let's bring a hundred thousand of your 12 members to Washington and let's call the roll on 13 members of Congress to come and tell them why this 14 war continues. I think, frankly, that should be the 15 challenge today, get all of the news, TV watchers 16 that are shouting, get all of the PTSD folks that 17 cannot seem to think that anyone else cares, get the 18 thousands of those who may have attempted suicide 19 and God allowed them by intervention to still be 20 here, get them here on bus or train or road. 21 Now, I have been committed to a position. 22 Many of us have legal positions that we are 61 1 committed to, and I hope you can convince people to 2 vote for a proposition that, really, the resolution 3 that put this war forward in 2002 has expired. It's 4 over. There is no more authority, and I have a 5 resolution that suggests that you have done 6 everything we asked you to do. Saddam Hussein is 7 not there. There is an elected democratic 8 government and a portion of the UN security 9 resolution passed, war over, resolution, no 10 authority. No President right now has any authority 11 to be in Iraq and you should come home with honor. 12 I hope you can be convinced of that, because 13 every time Americans begin to think they want the 14 war over, someone will poison their mind: We have 15 to stay; the terrorists are there; we are fighting 16 the terrorists. You're telling us that what we are 17 doing is bloodying our hands. We are bloodying our 18 hands. We are disregarding the flag. We are 19 disregarding the Constitution and what Americans are 20 known for. We are defenders of peace, defenders of 21 democracy and freedom, and you are telling us that 22 that's not what we are doing. 62 1 So I hope that you understand that you can 2 stand up and say the authority of this President is 3 over. We have committed all of the aspects of the 4 resolution that were asked. It is over. It is 5 done. 6 And lastly, our brothers and sisters who came 7 home from Vietnam, we did not decipher from them and 8 the war, and somebody needs to stand up and join a 9 portion of what I've offered as a national day of 10 honor and celebration for every single one of you 11 and that we rise together, the pink ladies, the 12 other ladies, Republicans and Democrats and 13 independents, and celebrate a day of honor. That is 14 what I go to the floor and argue for. It was 15 offered in an amendment last night. 16 But I do want to say to each and every one of 17 you we have listened to your story. You might say 18 we don't have a question. That is because you are 19 more than eloquent and what we've done now is to 20 commit to you that we will be your soldiers, and so 21 come on up. Bring a hundred thousand of you. We'll 22 make it work and we will let the world see the brave 63 1 and patriotic young men and women and others of 2 older age that have cast their lot on behalf of this 3 nation. We will never, never let you down. 4 I yield back. 5 MS. WOOLSEY: Thank you. 6 Congresswoman Lee. 7 MS. LEE: Thank you very much, and let me 8 join my colleagues in saying thank you. All of your 9 testimony, your service, your lives have been 10 courageous and remarkable. 11 I wanted to mention a couple of things. 12 First of all, when I spoke to the Winter Soldier 13 gathering in Silver Spring, I believe it was only 14 Pacifica Media that covered that very powerful four 15 days, and I'm delighted that we have media here 16 today, because your testimonials and your stories 17 and what the truth is has not gotten out. In many 18 ways, the media has been complicit in what has taken 19 place. So I want to ask you to continue to get 20 these stores out, to continue to talk to the press 21 and your members of Congress so that the American 22 people -- and, Mr. Goldsmith, you talked about the 64 1 apathy. 2 I don't think the American people really, 3 quite frankly, have felt what we're feeling today 4 and have seen and witnessed what we know is taking 5 place, and so we have to continue making sure the 6 public understands what is going on. I'd like to 7 ask you this: Now, I know part of the psychology of 8 war is to dehumanize people so that the atrocities 9 that are committed, that those atrocities bear 10 minimal emotional impact on the soldier. 11 How does this affect the mental health of 12 those who have to do these things and how do we need 13 to move forward to make sure that suicide attempts 14 don't occur and that Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome 15 is minimized and that we can really help with the 16 psychology and the psychological needs of our 17 veterans? Because all of you talked about and we 18 saw and we witnessed on the slides this 19 dehumanization process in action, and that's part of 20 war and I don't know how they train our young and 21 men for this, but that's what occurs. So we have to 22 figure this out and what we can do to help when you 65 1 come home. 2 SERGEANT GOLDSMITH: Yes, Congressman. 3 Something that was brought up to me by a very good 4 friend of mine sitting behind me, Mathis Cheroux, 5 just mentioned maybe two weeks ago and it was 6 something I never thought about, was that every 7 enlistee spends a week of basic training or at least 8 a few days doing bayonet training, and we are 9 putting a bayonet, a knife on the end of a rifle, 10 and we repeatedly stab a dummy that looks like a 11 human being and yell kill with every movement. 12 MS. LEE: This is part of your training? 13 SERGEANT GOLDSMITH: Yes. That is the basis 14 of the military on a broad scale. That is the basis 15 and the first step to dehumanization towards the 16 enemy and the acceptance to kill. There is a very 17 popular thing that the drill sergeants require us to 18 say, and I remember the first time I heard it, I 19 refused to say it. It wasn't because I didn't want 20 to be a soldier. It was because I thought it was 21 weird, and the response to the question: "Soldiers, 22 what makes the green grass grow?" And the response 66 1 is: "Blood, blood, blood, Drill Sergeant." 2 So I would like to allow Geoffrey to go on 3 how we can move past that. 4 SERGEANT MILLARD: You asked in your 5 question, Congresswoman, what can you do to move 6 forward with veterans coming home with scars that 7 can't be seen by the eye, ones of mental wounds. 8 Well, in Iraq Veterans Against the War, we didn't 9 wait for the VA. We started a counseling group 10 called Home from Battle Buddies. In the Washington, 11 D.C. chapter, which I'm the president of, we meet 12 every Sunday at Washington, D.C., our home, to meet 13 for our Home from Battle Buddies. That program is 14 expanding nationally. 15 We in Iraq Veterans Against the War have a 16 saying that we're not going to wait for politicians 17 to end the war; we end the war every day in what we 18 do. We also do the same when it comes to our other 19 goals, including taking care of veterans. We have 20 started counseling groups, but what you can do 21 starts simply with getting more Iraq veterans into 22 college with the GI Bill. Even myself with an 67 1 honorable discharge and nine years of service am not 2 eligible under the current GI Bill for any benefits. 3 The GI Bill is the start, but also making 4 sure that the Veterans Administration is fully 5 funded, making sure that there is no waiting list 6 for PTSD care. We have seen multiple suicides this 7 year alone on veterans who have been waiting on a 8 waiting list to get mental health care at a VA. 9 This is inexcusable. There should never be a 10 waiting list for any veteran, especially not one so 11 young coming home from Iraq when they ask for mental 12 health care. 13 These are the types of things that while we 14 move forward in Iraq Veterans Against the War, that 15 Congress can certainly move more funding into the 16 VA, more funding into our veterans as they come home 17 and out of the occupation. 18 Thank you. 19 MS. WOOLSEY: Well, I'll be the final. I'm 20 the clean-up batter for this panel. 21 You know, you talk about the apathy of the 22 American people. I want to tell you I believe the 68 1 American people are totally with you. I believe it 2 with all of my heart. When I first introduced 3 legislation to bring our troops home, I was really 4 criminalized around the country. When Barbara Lee 5 voted against the President's power in the first 6 place, she was a villain to say the least, but she 7 wasn't. She was the one right person in the House 8 of Representatives. 9 But I think the people of this country, they 10 feel shame for how we treated the Vietnam Veterans, 11 and we should feel shame, but the apathy that's 12 there, knowing they support you, but not knowing 13 what to do, belongs here in the House of 14 Representatives. We are the ones that get hired, 15 elected to lead the way on how to bring our troops 16 home, and we know how to do it, but we want the rest 17 of the Congress to catch on, and we are the ones who 18 have to help ensure that your benefits are in tact, 19 that your life gets back together. 20 And I can tell you that this GI Bill -- you 21 know, we do this day in and day out. 22 There's Marcy Kaptur from Ohio. She's here 69 1 now. 2 The three of us, the four of us -- and Sheila 3 Jackson-Lee was here -- we never stop working on 4 these issues, but I learned something today. I 5 mean, I love it that you've brought so much to us. 6 The light bulb went on. We can pass this GI Bill 7 and there's going to be a whole bunch of action to 8 keep people out so they won't get coverage. Well, 9 you've got the front here. We're onto it. So we're 10 going to fix that for you. 11 But my question for you, if you can answer 12 this, how do you individually deal with your own 13 grief? I love it that you talk about what the 14 Veterans Against the -- the Iraq Veterans and all of 15 that are doing, but what do you do individually? 16 What is the one thing that you that do, 17 Jason? 18 SERGEANT LEMIEUX: Thank you, Congressman, 19 for your question. Well, let me say that when I 20 first exited the Marine Corps, I sought PTSD 21 counseling at the VA Hospital in Long Beach, 22 California. I had sessions there with a psychology 70 1 intern from September until December of 2006. She 2 then told me that my psychology sessions were going 3 to be terminated because she was moving to a 4 different ward of the psychology unit there at the 5 hospital where she would work with vets who have 6 terminal illnesses, because they rotated interns 7 throughout every department in the VA to get them 8 the breadth of experience. 9 I then submitted a letter to my Congressman, 10 the Honorable Ed Royce, to stop my termination. He 11 then did, or whatever happened, my sessions were 12 allowed to continue. In any event, she eventually 13 left her internship and I moved to a program called 14 the "The Soldiers Project" that works in the Los 15 Angeles area, and it's basically a group of Ph.Ds in 16 psychology who provide their services to veterans 17 for free. 18 So that's what I did, and I guess the other 19 thing really is that I serve in Iraq Veterans 20 Against the War and I try to right as much as I can 21 the wrongs I've made, and that would be the best 22 answer I could give you. 71 1 MS. WOOLSEY: Scott. 2 SPECIALIST EWING: Thank you, ma'am. For me, 3 I think being involved in IVAW has been very 4 important. I think I have felt an obligation to do 5 something to try to make up for the moral debt I 6 think that I've personally incurred. Beyond that, 7 for me, I am actually going to school. So academics 8 has played a big part in my getting over it and I'm 9 actually doing research into various parts of Army 10 life and moral psychology and stuff like that. So 11 that's also been very helpful. 12 Thank you. 13 MS. WOOLSEY: Geoff. 14 SERGEANT MILLARD: Well, as most of you have 15 seen me in these halls, it's usually in one of these 16 black tee shirts, and you ask what do I do to 17 recover? I get to wake up every morning, put on 18 that black tee shirt, and work to bring the troops 19 home and take care of them when they get home, and 20 make sure that Iraqis receive reparations. That is 21 what keeps me going. It gets my head off the pillow 22 every morning and makes sure that when it goes down 72 1 there very late at night for the couple of hours of 2 rest that I get, that I get to, as one of my heroes, 3 Harry Chapin, said "Sleep the sleep of the just", 4 because what we do every day in Iraq Veterans 5 Against the War keeps me going. 6 Thank you. 7 MS. WOOLSEY: Thank you. 8 SERGEANT GOLDSMITH: After being removed from 9 the Army involuntarily, I received very little help 10 getting into the VA. I received no training on how 11 to collect compensation which I believe that I'm 12 going to be entitled to, and I didn't contact the VA 13 for a couple of months until I fell into a pit of 14 depression, and I went on line, filed for 15 compensation back in October, and I haven't seen a 16 response other than we're waiting on your paperwork 17 to go through. The VA has gotten my paperwork, but 18 it's been seven months now and I haven't gotten 19 anything because there is a 400,000-claim backup at 20 the VA right now, and hopefully I'm getting close to 21 the end of that. 22 But I drank and I self-medicated for a very 73 1 long time until I spent almost every dime that I 2 came out of the Army with, which was about $20,000, 3 and it wasn't until February of this year when I was 4 contacted and asked by the IVAW to come speak at 5 Winter Soldier that I had ever told my story to 6 anyone. Even my family and my closest friends 7 didn't know the more graphic details of what I had 8 been through. I have used telling my story as a way 9 to recover, but again, there are tens of thousands, 10 if not hundreds of thousands, of soldiers and 11 Marines who are still self-medicating and haven't 12 found that outlet the way that I have. 13 MS. WOOLSEY: Well, I thank you all. 14 Congresswoman Kaptur, would you like to wait 15 for the next panel and give your remarks? 16 MS. KAPTUR: Sure. 17 MS. WOOLSEY: Thank you. I'd appreciate 18 that. 19 I want to say something about moral debt. 20 This has to weigh so heavy on you, but you have to 21 know that moral debt belongs up here. We thank you. 22 You did the job you were hired to do, that you 74 1 volunteered to take care of your country. You did 2 the best you could. The moral debt belongs to us. 3 Thank you. 4 Okay. Now the next panel. We're not going 5 to have -- we were supposed to have a video. That 6 isn't going to happen. So we're just going to go on 7 to the next panel. 8 Okay. Here we go. You guys, here is what 9 we've just learned. You're sitting here in the 10 middle of the Congress, you know. At around 11, 11 we're going to have a series of votes that are going 12 to take 30 to 45 minutes. So what we would like to 13 do is have you complete your testimony. So we can 14 go after your testimony and come back for the 15 questions and answers. We get 20 minutes once the 16 bells start ringing. 17 So if you could possibly, you know, go 10, 18 20, 30, 40, that's going to be cutting it real 19 close. 20 So, Vincent, would you introduce yourself and 21 begin? 22 IX. TESTIMONY OF VINCENT EMANUELE 75 1 LANCE CORPORATE EMANUELE: First, I would 2 like to thank the Progressive Caucus for inviting us 3 to speak with you this morning. We truly appreciate 4 the opportunity. 5 My name is Vincent J.R. Emanuele. I am a 6 resident of Indiana and I served with the United 7 States Marine Corps from September 2002 through 8 January of 2006 with the 1st Battalion 7th Marines 9 Alpha Company 3rd Platoon as a rifleman and a squad 10 automatic machine gunner. 11 I was deployed to Iraq in August of 2004 12 where I spent my time in Iraq as a rifleman in 3rd 13 Squad, 1st Team, 3rd Platoon. Our area of operation 14 was a small border town a mile south of the 15 Euphrates and 15 miles East of Syria, called Al 16 Qaim, Iraq. 17 The issues I will be discussing today include 18 rules of engagement or the breakdown thereof, the 19 death of innocents, the destruction of civilian 20 property, the abuse of prisoners, and the 21 mishandling of the dead, all of which took place 22 during the duration of our tour in Iraq. These 76 1 stories are not mine alone. These are our stories, 2 the stories of 3rd Platoon. I had the chance to 3 speak with several members from my platoon, and 4 these are the events they and I felt were pertinent 5 to discuss with you today. 6 An act that took place quite often in Iraq 7 was that of taking pop shots at cars that drove by. 8 This was quite easy for most Marines to get away 9 with because our rules of engagement stated that the 10 town of Al Qaim had already been forewarned and knew 11 to pull their cars to a complete stop when 12 approaching a United States convoy. Our rules of 13 engagement stated that we should first fire warning 14 shots into the ground in front of the car, then the 15 engine block, and then the driver and passengers. 16 Most of the time, however, the shots made their way 17 straight to those very individuals in the car. That 18 is if the car was even moving in the first place. 19 Many times, cars that had actually pulled off to the 20 side of the road were also shot at. 21 Of course, the consequences of such actions 22 pose a huge problem for those of us who patrolled 77 1 the streets every day. This was not the best way to 2 become friendlier with an already very hostile local 3 population. This was not an isolated incident and 4 took place for most of my eight-month deployment. 5 In one particular instance, we were sent on a 6 mission to blow up a bridge that was being used to 7 transport weapons across the Euphrates. During this 8 mission, we were ambushed and forced to return fire 9 in order to make our way out of the city. There 10 were several problems with instances such as these. 11 First, it was very difficult, if not impossible, to 12 clearly identify hostile targets. This resulted in 13 our unit firing into the town with little or no 14 identification of these hostile targets. Because of 15 inadequate intelligence and lack of personnel or 16 competent leadership, our platoon lost a good Marine 17 that day and I lost my best friend. 18 The Re-trans Site, otherwise known as a 19 Re-Transmission Site, was a communications post set 20 up on a plateau overlooking the town of Al Qaim. 21 This communications site was there to provide 22 communications between the main base at the railroad 78 1 station where we were stationed and an outpost in 2 Husaba, Iraq where Bravo Company's area of 3 operations took place. We would encounter mortar 4 fire on a daily basis. Most of the time, we would 5 return this fire with mortar fire of our own. Some 6 of the time, counter battery would call in a 7 specific location for us to exchange fire. On 8 occasion, when the counter battery could not call in 9 a specific location, our unit would fire upon the 10 town anyway, sometimes in the hills off to the west 11 of the town where we thought the mortar fire was 12 coming from and other times straight into the town 13 of Al Qaim itself, on the buildings, houses, and 14 businesses. 15 Because of the lack of personnel at the 16 Re-Trans Site, very rarely, if ever, did we conduct 17 a battle damage assessment report to report civilian 18 deaths and destruction. So almost all of the time, 19 these incidents went unreported and not 20 investigated. This was not an isolated incident as 21 well. 22 Another mission our platoon was tasked to 79 1 take on was that of transporting prisoners from our 2 detention facility on base back to the desert. The 3 reason I say the desert and not their town is 4 because that is exactly where we would drop them 5 off, in the middle of nowhere. Now, most of these 6 men had obviously been deemed innocent or else they 7 would have been moved to a more permanent detention 8 facility and not released back into the local 9 population. Our unit engaged in the punching, 10 kicking, butt stroking, or generally harassing and 11 abusing these very prisoners until the point at 12 which our unit would take them in the middle of the 13 desert, miles from their respective homes, and at 14 times throw them out of the back of our Humvees, all 15 the while continually punching, kicking, and at 16 times even throwing softball-sized rocks at their 17 backs as they ran away. This, once again, was not 18 an isolated incident. 19 Possibly the most disturbing of what took 20 place in Iraq was the mishandling of the dead. On 21 several occasions, our convoy came across bodies 22 that had been decapitated and were lying on the road 80 1 sometimes for weeks. When encountering these 2 bodies, standard procedure was to run over the 3 corpses, sometimes even stopping and taking 4 pictures, which was also standard practice when 5 encountering the dead in Iraq, this along with 6 neglecting to account for many of those who were 7 killed or wounded. 8 On one specific occasion, after I had 9 personally shot a man attempting to flee while 10 planting a roadside bomb, we drug his body out of 11 the ditch he was laying in and we subsequently left 12 that body -- slide, please. We subsequently left 13 that body to rot in the field where we saw this man 14 up to a week later. 15 These are just a few of the disturbing and 16 unacceptable stories I could share with you from my 17 time in Iraq. Others would include continually 18 dehumanizing Iraqis by referring to them as Hajjis 19 or sand niggers, even the racist and sexist nature 20 that exists within the military itself, which was 21 overtly obvious on a daily basis. I could also tell 22 story upon story of families being destroyed as a 81 1 result of an occupation that unfortunately should 2 have never taken place. Several members of my 3 platoon went through divorces and/or separations, 4 many of the time with children involved. 5 I could also testify to the overwhelming 6 majority of those I served with who did not think 7 dying in Iraq was honorable or acceptable nor did 8 they enjoy or want to go back to Iraq a second or 9 third time. Unfortunately because of personal 10 circumstances, whether they be financial or family 11 issues, many, indeed, were deployed up to three 12 times during their four-year enlistment. In fact, 13 many, including myself, at times did not have any 14 intention of helping the Iraqis. 15 Because of the hostile intent as well as the 16 loss of lives close to us, our best friends, our 17 unit had a general disdain and distaste for Iraqis 18 and their country. Further, our unit, for the most 19 part, did not trust our command and had a general 20 mistrust and distaste of this occupation from its 21 inception onward. I could also speak to the 22 personal attacks veterans, including myself and many 82 1 others, had to encounter once we were willing to be 2 treating for PTSD within our unit. The idea of 3 being a real Marine that does not complain when 4 coming back home and who sucks it up and does the 5 job that we were tasked to do, this mentality 6 resulted in many of the Marines I served with, 7 including myself, turning to drugs and alcohol to 8 cope with the horrors of this bloody occupation. 9 I'm going to leave the time for the rest of 10 the members. Once again, I would like to thank the 11 Progressive Caucus for inviting us to speak on this 12 occasion. 13 Thank you. 14 MS. WOOLSEY: Thank you. 15 [The prepared testimony of Vincent Emanuele 16 is incorporated herein.] 17 MS. WOOLSEY: Mr. Gilligan. 18 X. TESTIMONY OF JAMES GILLIGAN 19 CORPORAL GILLIGAN: Good morning, everyone. 20 My name is James Gilligan. I served a 21 four-year and two-year contract honorably for the 22 United States Marines Corps. While on active duty, 83 1 I achieved the rank of corporal and was promoted in 2 the Individual Ready Reserve to the rank of 3 Sergeant. I was deployed in Kuwait and later in the 4 initial assault five years ago to Iraq for Operation 5 Iraqi Freedom in 2003 with the 2nd Marine Division 6 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion H & S Company, CEB 7 Main, and served as a member of the Nuclear 8 Biological Chemical Recognizance Team for Combat 9 Engineer Battalion Main. Later in the same month of 10 returning home, I deployed to United States Naval 11 Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba with 3/6 Weapons Company 12 CAAT Platoon. I was assigned to the Joint 13 Operations Center and later on, the fence line. 14 I have personally observed Camp X-ray from the 15 outside and later once inside. 16 In 2004, I was deployed with the same unit to 17 Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring 18 Freedom. I have testimony on all three deployments 19 to be entered into the record; however, today, in 20 the message of solidarity with IVAW, we're only 21 going to talk about and speak about Iraq. 22 I am also a member of that 120 a week. In 84 1 2007, I tried to take my life as well. I feel deep 2 regret and remorse for what we've done in Iraq and 3 on the Global War on Terror. This is my testimony. 4 Kuwait and Iraq 2003, the initial invasion 5 was to be a mechanized breach or a MCLC. It's a tub 6 of C-4 on a high-tension rope with a detonation cord 7 inside. It fires on a rocket over a mine field and 8 is used in counter land mine warfare to make a lane 9 which trucks can drive through. We practiced this 10 maneuver twice in Kuwait and never performed it. It 11 was on the oral history review for DSIT AE 015 12 conducted January 14th of 1991, an interview between 13 Major Dennis P. Levin of the 130th Military History 14 Detachment and Major Walter Wilson, Jr. S-3, 1st 15 Battalion, 504th Infantry. It was quoted right 16 away. 17 Major Levin: "The primary focus of this 18 interview is about the training relative to the 19 Iraqi strong point that was constructed on the Ali 20 Range, and I am interested in what preparation you 21 had before the training operation and then if you 22 could just kind of take me through the operation as 85 1 it went." 2 Major Wilson replied back with: "The main 3 preparation we did other than issuing formal 4 operations orders was to rehearse it twice before we 5 actually conducted the attack, and also, we had 6 about two Officer Professional Development classes 7 on the Iraq strong point and what it consists of and 8 how we would envision taking it down." 9 This tactic was in the works prior to the 10 invasion. Twelve years later, we were issued the 11 same warning orders, and instead of breaching under 12 fire, we breached the country twice by road, the 13 second time by the UN security car through Kuwait 14 and back onto the Iraqi roads. This was all due to 15 the incompetence of the leaders of the convoy 16 commander. I am sure without fail that we were the 17 only ones in history to have ever invaded a country 18 and invaded it all in 10 minutes twice. 19 It was then that we drove on through the day 20 and continued unhindered for most of the next two 21 days while American air power pounded the hell out 22 of Iraqi armor and buildings with depleted uranium 86 1 rounds. The amount of destruction was tremendous, 2 and we watched once while in a traffic jam as a pair 3 of Apaches laid rockets and gunfire into the heart 4 of a city a few kilometers in the distance. Without 5 a doubt, I have been in and around buildings 6 destroyed by depleted uranium rounds as well as 7 vehicles, armored personnel carriers, tanks, and 8 corpses. 9 During the invasion, we were also exposed to 10 severe sandstorms, which meant that we were 11 breathing in sand for days, sand that more than 12 likely contained depleted uranium. I went for 47 13 days without a shower in the initial invasion, and I 14 could buy a Playstation II game in a Post Exchange 15 before I could even shower because our contractors 16 were already making bases and had a routine supply 17 line while we were sleeping out in the open. Almost 18 daily, I found Iraqis who spoke English whose 19 questions were who we were and how long we were to 20 be there. 21 Today is the Conscientious Objector Day, May 22 15th, and the day that honors those who choose not 87 1 to fire their weapons. They do go to combat 2 sometimes by force of their command. We were just a 3 week before the flight to Kuwait when I saw my First 4 Sergeant chew someone out about his C.O. status. I 5 heard the First Sergeant say what if those "F" blank 6 rag heads came into your home and raped your 7 daughter and tortured and murdered your wife? I was 8 shocked to hear the bravery in the young Lance 9 Corporal's voice as he told the First Sergeant, No, 10 I don't know what I would; why, would we do that to 11 them? His remarks were overlooked and he deployed 12 regardless and remained in rear positions, but was 13 still exposed to indirect and routine patrols. 14 I never fired my weapon in combat. I had 15 plenty of waiting and traveling around in a gun 16 truck. I was bombed, mortared, rocketed, IEDed and 17 even shot at. All through that, I still had not had 18 the reasonable level needed to escalate the deadly 19 force. I do not believe in the free fire orders 20 commonly given to ground forces currently operating 21 in Iraq and I do not believe that they are morally 22 correct. 88 1 We were always running about five minutes too 2 late or two kilometers away from the action. Our 3 tactics were search and avoid. It was a good 4 mission if we did not have to fire our weapon. 5 Though many were anxious to get their combat action 6 ribbon, I am certain many did not fire their weapon. 7 We were shot at several times, but it would be a 8 sporadic thing, happening at your position or on 9 another patrol; however, this was not the case for 10 most of the units. The Marines in Fallujah were in 11 armored personnel carriers and were ordered to mount 12 bayonets. The destruction on the civilian 13 population level was atrocious. Saddam had pardoned 14 many convicts and prisoners. We knew that if we 15 were to get into a major civilian area, we would 16 kill a lot of innocent people. 17 During the initial ground invasion, a Key 18 Wife volunteer from 2nd CEB was called by her 19 forward deployed Marine who told her a Marine had 20 died while securing an airfield. She immediately 21 called everyone on the Key Wives list. With the 22 gossip, calling everyone on the list, not confirming 89 1 who or what unit, surely caused a lot of heartaches 2 for families and wives at home while the Marine was 3 from 1st CEB and not 2nd CEB. This misinformation 4 is irresponsible of the senior leader who did not 5 observe military operational security. 6 One dark night on a road convoy north, I 7 remember during the initial assault my unit 8 witnessed at U.S. Military helicopter crash nearby 9 where we had stopped for the night. When we could 10 not be sure of signs of ejections or shoots, we had 11 asked our leaders to go to the site, what would be a 12 short foot patrol to help this U.S. pilot. We were 13 told not to go and to stay put through the whole 14 night. I had fire watch during the night and stayed 15 awake through the rest of the night, but we never 16 went. 17 Destroying Iraqi property was such a pleasure 18 for some, but for me one day, it was orders. I was 19 ordered to take Lance Corporal Jerome with me as 20 security, and I received orders via inter-squad 21 radio to destroy a civilian's pickup truck. I 22 slashed as much as I could and I kicked in the 90 1 windshield for good measure. It was later with 2 regret that I thought that this might have been this 3 man's livelihood. 4 Looting during the initial invasion was 5 rampant. Nearly everyone had something, rugs, pens, 6 pictures, you name it, anything that you could find 7 that would fetch a price. Later, I had to surrender 8 to U.S. Customs officials military liaison my pins 9 with Saddam's head on the design. They wanted them 10 back because all uniform items were to be 11 confiscated for the rebuilding and reconstituting of 12 the Iraqi Army. Meanwhile, we were running over 13 guns and blowing up weapons caches. 14 Slides. 15 Those that didn't bought their souvenirs on 16 the street, some of which were probably stolen. 17 That's a picture of me as a tunnel rat in 18 Afghanistan. 19 Next slide. 20 For some members of my unit, it was the Iraqi 21 Atomic Energy Facility that was profiting. It was 22 there that I was told that members of my unit had 91 1 breached a safe containing gold coins. I was not on 2 that foot patrol which took place deep within the 3 compound; however, I was shown the coins later from 4 fellow NCOs in my platoon. 5 When I deployed, it was with two SAPI armor 6 protective plates, yet I was ordered to give one to 7 a fellow Marine from 1st Combat Engineer Battalion 8 who had not deployed one. Such was the case for a 9 majority of the junior NCOs and below from 1st CEB, 10 deploying with inadequate armor. During the initial 11 invasion, in fact, my Humvee had plastic doors. We 12 never found evidence of weapons of mass destruction 13 while on patrol with a Nuclear Biological Chemical 14 Warfare Chief Warrant Officer and fellow members of 15 my recognizance team. 16 Early May, while trying to win the hearts and 17 minds of the Iraqi people, we were surrounded by a 18 crowd of non-hostile Iraqis. I witnessed my First 19 Sergeant for H & S Company as he exited the Humvee 20 without any backup or support. He ran down a male 21 Iraqi child who was maybe seven to eight years old 22 and lifted him in the air, hand-choking the boy. 92 1 With his pistol already drawn, he pointed it into 2 the child's head and neck area, threatening and 3 screaming shouts of profanity. As a result of this, 4 the mood in the truck was dead silence until we 5 returned to our campsite. 6 Thank you very much. 7 MS. WOOLSEY: Thank you. 8 [The prepared testimony of James Gilligan is 9 incorporated herein.] 10 MS. WOOLSEY: I'd like to acknowledge that 11 Representative Keith Ellison from Minnesota has 12 joined us. 13 Mr. Adam Kokesh. 14 XI. TESTIMONY OF ADAM KOKESH 15 SERGEANT KOKESH: Kokesh, yes, ma'am. 16 Good morning. I think my background can best 17 be summarized by a form that I filled out 9 June 18 1999 at the military entrance processing station 19 after I enlisted in Santa Fe, New Mexico, entitled 20 "Why Join the Marine Corps": 21 "I feel a responsibility to take part in the 22 national defense in some way. 93 1 For whatever short amount of time or whatever 2 miniscule part of it that I am, I would like to do 3 my part and I feel the Marine Corps is the best way 4 for me to do it. 5 I am also joining for the experience and 6 self-growth that comes with being a Marine. The 7 experiences are priceless and many cannot be had 8 anywhere else." 9 I would only hope that anybody considering 10 joining the military today for those reasons, of 11 which I am very proud of, realize that they have a 12 higher calling than serving their country, to 13 restore faith in our system of governance before 14 they make themselves ready to fight and kill and die 15 in the United States of America, knowing that they 16 may end up dying for a lie. 17 I joined the Marine Corps. I shipped to boot 18 camp on June 18, 2000 and checked into my reserve 19 unit at the end of that year after completing 20 artillery training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma and went 21 to college in southern California, and in the route 22 to the war, I believed the narrative that was being 94 1 put forth by this Administration. I believed what 2 Colin Powell said at the UN, and still I believed 3 that the war would not be in this nation's best 4 interest and was against it from the beginning, but 5 after the war, after the invasion, at the beginning 6 of the occupation, I felt that what we were doing 7 was cleaning up our mess and genuinely responsible 8 foreign policy and trying to do good by the Iraqi 9 people. 10 So I volunteered to go with the Civil Affairs 11 Unit, and in the two weeks between being activated 12 and deploying to Iraq, I learned that what we were 13 doing in Civil Affairs was going to be working with 14 the Iraq people on schools and mosques, and clinics, 15 and water projects. To me, it sounded like exactly 16 what the President was promising that we would be 17 doing in Iraq, and I was very excited about that. I 18 thought that we were going to be the tip of the 19 spear, and I had to go to Iraq myself to find out 20 that that was not the case and that the greatest 21 enemies of the Constitution are not to be found in 22 Fallujah, but are right here in Washington, D.C. 95 1 On our way into Iraq, I was issued this rules 2 of engagement card that is supposed to be the gold 3 standard of conduct and use of force for the 4 military in the occupation of Iraq. They couldn't 5 even cut the card square. If I may, it begins with: 6 "Nothing on this card prevents you from using 7 deadly force to defend yourself. 8 Section 1: Enemy military and paramilitary 9 forces may be attacked subject to the following 10 instructions: Positive identification is required 11 prior to engaging. PID is, quote, reasonable 12 certainty, unquote, that your target is a legitimate 13 military target. If no PID, contact your next 14 higher commander for decision. 15 Section 1, Delta: Do not fire into civilian 16 populated areas or buildings unless the hostile 17 force is using them for hostile purposes or, if 18 necessary, for your self-Defense." 19 Section 3 reads: "You may detain civilians 20 if they interfere with mission accomplishment, 21 possess important information, or if required for 22 self-defense." 96 1 It says at the end: "Remember: Attack only 2 hostile forces and military targets." 3 And at the very end, it says "these will 4 remain in effect until your commander", and then the 5 rest of that sentence is actually cut off here. 6 That just goes to show that not only are the rules 7 of engagement as they're strictly outlined by the 8 this card to contradict themselves and to be 9 confusing and to put Marines in a situation where 10 their morals as defined by those rules are put at 11 odds with their survival instincts, and I think that 12 it's fundamentally criminal to put brave young 13 Americans in that situation. 14 I was attached to Gulf Company 2-1 in my 15 Civil Affairs Team before the Siege of Fallujah, and 16 we were called with them to support them in the 17 blocking of the two bridges over the Euphrates River 18 on the west side of Fallujah after four Blackwater 19 security agents were killed and had their bodies 20 burned and strung up on the northern bridge in April 21 of 2004. Shortly after arriving there -- first 22 slide, please -- there was a checkpoint shooting to 97 1 the west of our position where a man coming home 2 from work at the end of the day did not see the 3 newly-placed Humvee, desert colored, against the 4 desert background manned by Marines wearing 5 desert-colored camouflage, and a Marine there 6 decided that he was approaching at a too fast rate 7 of speed and emptied into the vehicle with a 8 50-caliber machine gun. 9 We later justified this by saying that 10 hearing the vehicle burning afterwards, there were 11 rounds cooking off from the heat, although it's 12 clear from this picture and from every other 13 examination that there were no rounds in the vehicle 14 cooking off that would have made punctures in the 15 outer body of the vehicle. 16 Next slide, please. 17 The second round or the round that hit this 18 Iraqi gentleman in the chest hit him so hard that it 19 broke his chair and knocked him back in his seat. 20 Next slide, please. 21 The vehicle was dragged into our compound 22 where we were sleeping. You can see in the 98 1 background where the vehicles are parked in this 2 picture. This is a picture that I'm very ashamed 3 of, having posed with this dead Iraqi as a trophy 4 picture, but what felt awkward to me at the time was 5 not so much that I was taking a picture, but rather 6 that I had not killed this man and I was taking a 7 trophy of someone else's kill, and my entire team 8 was present for this, including a Major, and 9 numerous members of my team took similar pictures. 10 In the first Winter Soldier investigation in 11 1971, one of the Vietnam Veterans held up a similar 12 photograph and said don't ever let your government 13 do this to you, don't ever let your government put 14 you in a position where this attitude towards death 15 and this disregard for human life is acceptable or 16 common, and yet we are still doing this to service 17 members every day as long as this occupation 18 continues. 19 Next slide, please. 20 At one point during the Siege of Fallujah, it 21 was decided that we were going to allow women and 22 children to leave the city. We thought this was the 99 1 most magnanimous thing we could have done, and yet 2 our rules were to let only women and children out, 3 and so any male over the age of 14 or, as we were 4 told, anyone who was old enough to be in your 5 fighting hole or was too old to get out of the city 6 was turned away, and so my responsibility during 7 this time at certain points was to go out on this 8 bridge and turn away families. 9 And, like I said, we thought this was the 10 most magnanimous thing we could have been doing; 11 however, it's clear that we were giving these 12 families an impossible choice, whether they could 13 stay together with their families in tact or split 14 their families up and hope that half of them end up 15 with something better, but all that we had to offer 16 them was literally the mosque across the street, 17 good luck. 18 What happened there can only be described as 19 either the deliberate or careless creation of 20 internally displaced refugees. During the Siege of 21 Fallujah, our rules of engagement changed so often 22 that we were often uncertain of them, and at one 100 1 point, anyone who was described as a suspicious 2 observer would be a legitimate target, anyone 3 holding a cell phone, binoculars, or at one point, 4 anyone out after curfew, and this led to an incident 5 where Marines were firing at firefighters and cops 6 silhouetted against a fire that our indirect fire 7 had caused who were trying to help out the civilians 8 that were being affected by that fire. 9 After the Siege of Fallujah, my team was 10 tasked with setting up a checkpoint at the Civil 11 Military Operations Center at Fallujah where we 12 detained various personnel at snap VCPs during the 13 summer of 2004, many of whom were harassed 14 unnecessarily. One such person had a bag of cash in 15 his back seat and was harassed by human intelligence 16 officers before being released, and the abuse of him 17 was such that they were even reprimanded by a higher 18 officer, but they determined that there was no 19 reason to detain him and he was let go. If that 20 money was not intended for the insurgency before 21 this incident, I have to assume that it was 22 afterwards. 101 1 I realize that we in Civil Affairs were a fig 2 leaf. We were there to make the operation look 3 good. We even came up with a slogan to justify our 4 existence to the infantry commanders that we had to 5 beg to be able to get out and do our missions, and 6 it was: "We care so that you don't have to." 7 If there are any questions from members of 8 Congress as to the particulars of any incident that 9 I have mentioned here, I will be happy to provide 10 names of all personnel and units involved, dates, 11 and grid coordinates. I hope that my testimony has 12 helped shed light into some of the shadows that make 13 up our collective denial of the occupation of Iraq. 14 As a country, we have allowed fear to overwhelm us 15 and have failed ourselves by allowing this criminal 16 occupation to have ever happened. 17 You do not have to have served to see how 18 recent pressures on the military are making us 19 weaker as a country. You do not have to have 20 witnessed the occupation firsthand to see its 21 absurdity, and you do not have to be an expert on 22 international relations to see the disastrous 102 1 effects of our foreign policy. Ignorance, 2 propaganda, and distraction have made up the last 3 refuge of those Americans who would rather remain in 4 denial about our current state of affairs. 5 Now that we are facing the truth and the 6 majority of America is at least nominally against 7 the occupation of Iraq, what fate will we claim for 8 our nation? For some, their silence will be their 9 hypocrisy and their inactivity will be their 10 complicity with the destruction of our great union, 11 but I have an unwavering faith in my country, and I 12 know that the self-righting ship of the United 13 States of America will one day regain its course, 14 but only with the great toil, courage, and sacrifice 15 that it demands of its Winter Soldiers. I am proud 16 to call myself one of them today. 17 Thank you. 18 MS. WOOLSEY: Thank you very much. 19 [The prepared testimony of Adam Kokesh is 20 incorporated herein.] 21 MS. WOOLSEY: Sergio Kochergin. 22 XII. TESTIMONY OF CORPORAL SERGIO KOCHERGIN 103 1 CORPORAL KOCHERGIN: My name is Sergio 2 Kochergin. I am from Eugene, Oregon. 3 After early graduating from high school at 4 the age of 17, I joined the United States Marine 5 Corps. My intentions were to defend my country from 6 all the enemies, foreign or domestic. Upon 7 completion of my training, I was assigned to the 1st 8 Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division in 9 Twenty-nine Palms, California, at which point I 10 served two deployments in Iraq, first from February 11 of 2003 through November of 2003 with 1st Battalion 12 7th Marines Alpha Company 3rd Platoon. My second 13 deployment was from August 2004 through March 2005 14 with the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines Scout Sniper 15 Platoon. 16 First, I will begin with the entry into 17 Baghdad District. As we cleared all of the 18 buildings and moved into the city and we finally had 19 time to take a little break, we found a lot of 20 left-behind vehicles from pickup trucks all the way 21 to luxury Toyota Avalons with leather and sunroofs, 22 which we used for perimeter patrolling. The pickup 104 1 trucks and the other vehicles were used for the car 2 derby. We would either ram into each other or just 3 ram into the walls while the Iraqi people watched us 4 and were asking for their vehicles. We knew they 5 were going to loot the cars. So we just destroyed 6 them so that the people would not have a chance to 7 take them except for the scraps. 8 We also were exposed to a lot of dead Iraqi 9 citizens, either enemy combatants or the innocent 10 civilians who were killed by initial air strikes or 11 invasion. At one point, after approaching the dead 12 bodies of about four people, we began to take 13 pictures and tried to move and flip them over to try 14 and identify them as civilians or enemy combatants. 15 A few days later, a family of the killed came by and 16 asked if we found anyone who was killed nearby. Me 17 and another Marine led the family to the dead 18 corpses, and they were identified as their sons and 19 uncles and nephews of the family. It was very hard 20 to see the pain in the people's eyes from their 21 loss. They began to cry and point at us and at the 22 sky and telling us that the planes killed them and 105 1 it was our fault also, but we tried to explain to 2 them that it wasn't us. 3 While serving in Najaf, the only humanitarian 4 work that we did was painting a park for kids, which 5 one of the platoons did for a week or two, and after 6 that, we did not do any humanitarian work until we 7 left. 8 The other incident that I want to mention in 9 An Najaf was concerning an outsider who was in 10 charge of the largest militia in Iraq. Our unit was 11 assigned to prepare a task force to arrest Al Sadar 12 to prevent other clashes between U.S. forces and 13 Sadar's militia. We spent a great amounts of time 14 on training to prepare for the raid. After the 15 months of training and preparing, the mission was 16 canceled. Nobody gave us any reasons why the 17 operation did not go through. 18 In Imam Ali Mosque in An Najaf, Iraq, and 19 influential Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir 20 al-Hakim, was killed with other 122 innocent people 21 on August 30, 2003. A few of our Marines went to 22 the hospital to provide security for all of the 106 1 relatives that were trying to contact their 2 families. When they came back, they said they had 3 never seen so much blood before. They said that 4 they couldn't even see the ground, so much blood and 5 body parts were everywhere. The suicide bombing was 6 placed by al-Hakim's political and religious 7 opponent Al-Sader. An unknown number of attacks 8 have been organized by Al-Sader's militia against 9 innocent people of Iraq and against the occupying 10 forces. 11 One other responsibility we had in An Najaf 12 was to guard an ammunition supply point about 30 13 miles northeast from our base. Our job consisted of 14 patrolling the ASP, and when we came into contact 15 the Iraqis stealing stuff, we would take physical 16 action to make sure they would never come back. We 17 would shoot their tires out or shoot their windows, 18 putting them on their knees like we were about to 19 execute them and just shoot in the air and laugh and 20 yell at them and tell them that the next time, it 21 would be worse. 22 Our order directly from command was to 107 1 roughen all the guys up. They would always tell us 2 that everybody is an enemy and that we can't trust 3 them and the only way to keep them in place is to 4 put as much fear as possible and to let them know 5 that we're not playing around. 6 During deployment in An Najaf, nothing was 7 fixed or intended on being fixed at all except 8 keeping the city in the occupied hands and to 9 instill the fear into the people at every chance we 10 got. 11 My second deployment was in the city of 12 Husaybah in the Al Anbar province in the Al Qaim 13 region on the Syrian border. The first thing I want 14 to talk about is the drop weapons. Drop weapons are 15 the weapons that are given to us by our chain of 16 command in case we kill somebody without any 17 weapons, and so that we would not get into trouble, 18 we would carry an AK-47, and if the person that was 19 shot did not have the weapon, an AK-47 would be 20 placed at his corpse, and when the unit would come 21 back to the base, they would turn it in to identify 22 the shot man as an enemy combatant. The weapons 108 1 could not come from anywhere else but the higher 2 chain of command, because after the raid, all the 3 weapons were turned in to the armory and should have 4 been recorded. 5 Two months into deployment, our rules of 6 engagement changed to personnel with having a bag 7 and a shovel at the intersection or on the roads, 8 that they were suspicious. This gave us a bigger 9 window on who we can engage. Looking at the 10 situation from this point of view, a lot of enemy 11 combatants that we shot were in the wrong place at 12 the wrong time. We were tired, mad, angry, and we 13 just wanted to go home and stop this killing of our 14 brothers. One of our intelligence officers told us 15 that they received a call from one of the sources in 16 the city telling them that there were flags posted 17 all over the town that says that there are known 18 snipers in the city; they killed insurgents and the 19 civilians. 20 We did not take into consideration that the 21 innocent people are being killed by us, because 22 every time we sent the pictures to the command post 109 1 through the interlink system, we would receive an 2 approval to kill people with shovel and the bags. 3 Now, I know that it wasn't right to do that, but 4 when you trust those who act like they care for you, 5 you listen to them and follow their orders because 6 you don't want to let your friends down. "What if" 7 was used as propaganda and a way to relieve our 8 minds from the actions we have partaken in and to 9 make it easier on us. 10 Another thing I want to touch on is problems 11 with equipment, another big problem. Where is all 12 the money going that is given to the military? 13 During my first deployment, I had a Vietnam era flak 14 jacket without a plate. My M-16 was made back in 15 the late seventies. We did not have enough night 16 vision goggles for everyone. While Marines are 17 patrolling in the Hummers every day and getting 18 blown up because the only protection they have are 19 the flak blankets hanging from the doors, Generals 20 and Colonels and other high-ranking officers that 21 leave the base in a while have brand new fully 22 armored Hummers that are always spotless clean 110 1 sitting on the base while other Hummers are bleeding 2 with our brothers', sons', daughters', sisters' 3 blood every day. 4 When we all come back from Iraq and we seek 5 help from our command, they call us weak and 6 cowards. The lines for psychologists are almost a 7 year long, and the only thing that can help us is 8 the alcohol and the prescription pills that are 9 given out to us like candy to keep us down, because 10 it seems like doctors don't want to do their job and 11 they just don't care. Use of drugs amongst the 12 military units is critical. We lost numerous 13 numbers of people from failing drug tests. They 14 either want to get out or they're just so messed up 15 and the only one thing that can help them escape is 16 the drugs. 17 The last thing I want to tell you is about a 18 roommate who we shared a bathroom with, a Marine who 19 was on a suicide watch for about a few months on and 20 off. The last three weeks before we were deployed, 21 he was constantly on watch. A week before a family 22 day when the family comes in and says goodbye to 111 1 their Marines before we deploy, he was released from 2 the watch so that he would not say anything to his 3 parents, and he did not say anything to them. About 4 a month into the deployment, he blew his brains out 5 in the shower stall. Actions like that show the 6 poor judgment of our command just to have numbers 7 for the troops and just to keep their own skin safe. 8 The Marine should have never gone to Iraq in the 9 first place and nobody was held responsible for his 10 death. If there is no care for your own Marines, 11 what care do they have for the people of Iraq when 12 they give the orders? 13 I want to thank you for your time, and I 14 believe that you will make the right decision that 15 will help us to stop this inhumane treatment of Iraq 16 people and the troops and stop the occupation of 17 Iraq and help us to bring the troops home. 18 Thank you. 19 [The prepared testimony of Sergio Kochergin 20 is incorporated herein.] 21 MS. WOOLSEY: Luis Montalvan. 22 XIII. TESTIMONY OF LUIS MONTALVAN 112 1 CAPTAIN MONTALVAN: Yes. Esteemed 2 Congresswomen, the spirit of lady justice is 3 definitely in this room, and for that, I thank you. 4 I'm sorry. And for you too, Congressman. I didn't 5 notice your approach. 6 MS. WOOLSEY: But he is the first guy that's 7 shown up. 8 CAPTAIN MONTALVAN: Yes. In any event, 9 please forgive me in advance for any staccato 10 testimony that I give. I am enduring psychological 11 and physical wounds from Iraq and 17 years of Army 12 service. So I will try to make my testimony as 13 coherent as possible. 14 My testimony is in the form of a letter 15 addressed to Colonel Westhusing, and it reads as 16 follows: 17 "Dear Ted: You are my hero. I did not get 18 the opportunity to meet you while we served in the 19 Army together, but I feel as though I know you from 20 your honorable life and tragic death. Just one 21 month before returning to your wife, Michelle, and 22 three children, you were found dead on June 5, 2005 113 1 from a bullet to the head. Investigations conducted 2 by the Army deemed your death a suicide, but the 3 circumstances are highly controversial. I have 4 spoken with your brother, Tim, and father, Keith, 5 and we are now close friends. Both Tim and your 6 father believe that the Army did not do a through 7 investigation and covered up many of the important 8 aspects surrounding your mysterious and untimely 9 death. 10 When you volunteered to deploy to Iraq in 11 2004, you were the Army's top ethicist and a 12 professor of ethics at West Point. You graduated 13 third in your class from West Point in 1983. You 14 served for decades with honor and distinction. 15 Years later, you earned a Ph.D. in ethics from Emory 16 University, and in 2004, you volunteered to deploy 17 to Iraq. 18 There are many things I would like to share 19 with you, Ted, but I have only so much time to do so 20 in this letter, but there are things I will mention, 21 like how in September 2004 at Fort Carson, I was put 22 in charge of 80 soldiers bound for Iraq, deploying 114 1 to a theatre of war with no weapons. We traveled 2 through Iraq without any weapons and ammunition. 3 Then we were mortared for three days in Balad before 4 arriving to Al Anbar Province for link-up with our 5 unit. How could the greatest Army in the world send 6 soldiers into combat without weapons? 7 Later that month, I was put in charge of a 8 key strategic location, the port of entry at Al 9 Waleed, between Syria and Iraq, with a mere 30 to 40 10 troopers to secure 100 linear kilometers of 11 Syrian-Iraqi border and between five to 10,000 12 square kilometers of Al Anbar desert. Additionally, 13 we had to secure the enormous border crossing point, 14 recruit, train, and equip Iraqi security forces, and 15 re-develop the local infrastructure and economy. I 16 wrote countless memoranda to my superiors requesting 17 more resources and personnel, but they went 18 unanswered. 19 In Iraq, I witnessed many disturbing things. 20 I witnessed water-boarding. I was given unlawful 21 orders by superiors to not offer humanitarian 22 assistance to refugees caught between Syrian and 115 1 Iraqi borders. I disobeyed those orders. I 2 witnessed and participated in countless massive 3 operations led by American commanders whose metrics 4 for success were numbers of detainees apprehended 5 without regard to the real effects, tribal, ethnic, 6 and sectarian strife conducted by American 7 taxpayer-funded, uniformed, and equipped militias 8 the U.S. Military calls Iraqi security forces. 9 Most reprehensible was that we have never had 10 close to the amount of troops we needed in Iraq, yet 11 from 2003 until today, Generals Sanchez, Casey, and 12 Petraeus, among others, did not heed the requests of 13 their subordinate officers for resources and more 14 troops. Instead, they perpetually painted a rosy 15 picture of the situation while the country fell into 16 civil war. These Generals consistently overstated 17 the strength and number of Iraq security forces to 18 Congress and still do. Their misrepresentation of 19 the facts should be grounds for courts martial and 20 criminal indictments. 21 I lost many friends in Iraq, American and 22 Iraqi. Many Iraqi friends continue to suffer as 116 1 refugees inside and outside of Iraq. As a matter of 2 fact, an Iraqi friend, whom I consider a brother, 3 named Ali is meeting with the United Nations High 4 Commissioner for refugees office in Jordan today to 5 process his application for asylum under the United 6 States Refugees Admissions Program. Recently, Ali 7 contacted me through my website asking for help. As 8 a result, a few of my comrades in the U.S. Army sent 9 him letters of support since he frequently risked 10 his life to help us in 2003 and 2004. I pray that 11 Ali and many others are quickly helped. 12 I wish to focus this letter, Ted, on things 13 we both struggled with enormously: Negligence, 14 dereliction of duty, and corruption. You believed 15 Generals Joseph Fil and David Petraeus were 16 negligent and committed dereliction of duty. So do 17 I. 18 In the note you addressed to Generals 19 Petraeus and Fil found by your body that the Army 20 says is your, quote, suicide note, you stated, 21 quote: You are only interested in your careers and 22 provide no support to your staff, no mission 117 1 support, and you don't care. I cannot support a 2 mission that leads to corruption, human rights 3 abuses, and liars. I am sullied no more. I didn't 4 volunteer to support corrupt, money grubbing 5 contractors, nor work for commanders only interested 6 in themselves. 7 The members of your family believe this note 8 is a part of a journal entry that was removed and 9 placed near your body. Moreover, they told me that 10 they have not received your journal among other 11 personal effects. 12 While at the port of entry at Al Waleed in 13 2003, among the many memoranda I submitted to my 14 superiors was a report expressing the need for an 15 automated tracking system for immigration and 16 emigration. General Ricardo Sanchez and Paul Bremer 17 sent a delegation to Al Waleed to assess the port of 18 entry to installation of the Personnel 19 Identification Secure Comparison and Evaluation 20 System, known as the PISCES, to provide tracking of 21 transnational movement, of immigration and 22 emigration. When the team departed, they informed 118 1 me that the facilities would support installation of 2 the PISCES. By the time my unit, the 3rd Armored 3 Cavalry Regiment, left in March 2004, PISCES had not 4 been in place. 5 In 2005, I returned to Iraq for a second 6 tour. Assigned as the regimental Iraqi security 7 forces coordinator working for Colonel H.R. 8 McMaster, who has today been slotted for General, 9 among my duties was to oversee the development and 10 security of the northern half of the Syrian-Iraqi 11 border at the port of entry at Rabiya. On June 12 2005, Commander Guy Vilardi, working for 13 Multi-National Corps Iraq, informed me that CPATT, a 14 subentity, had possessed a dozen PISCES and 15 containers located in Baghdad. He also informed me 16 that they would install the systems in the near 17 future. 18 Upon return to Western Nineveh Province, I 19 informed my superiors, including Colonel McMaster. 20 In August 2005, General Joseph Fil, commander of 21 CPATT visited Rabiya so that we could brief him on 22 the status of the Syrian-Iraqi border. We briefed 119 1 General Fil who scoffed at the notion of the 2 installation of the PISCES system and stated that 3 the system was no good and we don't have them 4 anyhow. I informed General Fil of my conversation 5 with Commander Vilardi to which General Fil replied 6 "That's not true and the PISCES is no good anyhow". 7 In January of 2006, shortly before departure 8 for my second tour, Colonel Carl Lammers, United 9 States Marine Corps Reserve, sent me an E-mail on a 10 secure network indicating that, in fact, the PISCES 11 systems were in containers in Baghdad. I was 12 outraged. 13 As of March 2006, when the 3rd ACR departed 14 Western Nineveh Province, no PISCES or equivalent 15 tracking system had been installed in the Rabiya 16 POE. From 2003 to 2007, no computer systems for 17 tracking immigration or emigration were installed 18 along the Syrian-Iraqi border. This surely 19 contributed to the instability of Iraq. Foreign 20 fighters and criminals were free to move 21 transnationally with little fear of apprehension. 22 It is probable that significant numbers of Americans 120 1 and Iraqis were wounded and killed as a result of 2 this." 3 I see that I have one minute left. So I'll 4 skip down to one more important point. 5 I witnessed contractual corruption on the 6 point of Lee Dynamics International. I have written 7 testimony, notes from then Brigadier General Bergner 8 on page 4 elucidating the fact that General Petraeus 9 and General Fil had no systems of accountability for 10 thousands of weapons and no standard operating 11 procedures for the procurement, stowage, and 12 dissemination of that equipment. 13 And, lastly, I would end that, you know, for 14 the past year and a half, myself and a number of 15 fellow veterans of Iraq have co-authored pieces in 16 the "Washington Post", the "New York Times", the 17 "San Francisco Chronicle", among a number of other 18 medical outlets, and we have beaten our drum to try 19 to raise the issue of the dereliction of duty 20 committed by a number of Generals who have promoted 21 and promoted again and continue to perpetuate the 22 lies and paint a rosy picture of the situation of 121 1 Iraq, and I strongly urge you to please take 2 measures to perhaps have congressional testimony to 3 address these matters in entirety, particularly the 4 death of Colonel Ted Westhusing. 5 Thank you for your time and I appreciate it. 6 MS. WOOLSEY: Thank you very much. 7 [The prepared testimony of Luis Montalvan is 8 incorporated herein.] 9 XIV. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS, PANEL II 10 MS. WOOLSEY: We actually have enough time 11 for Congresswoman Kaptur and Congressman Ellison to 12 each take like three minutes, and then we're coming 13 back. We have to go vote and come back. We're in 14 the middle of a vote right now. 15 MS. KAPTUR: I thank the witnesses very much 16 and the leadership of the Progressive Caucus for 17 hosting this hearing today. Let me just say that 18 for Mr. Montalvan's testimony, I do not have that in 19 my packet. So I hope that we will be afforded the 20 opportunity to copy your remarks today. 21 First of all, thank you. Thank you for your 22 patriotism and thank you for your service to our 122 1 country. I'm from the State of Ohio. If you can't 2 get medical help personally or if you know of 3 soldiers that need care, you let me know, and I will 4 work with you on that. We've established a special 5 center at Case Western Reserve Medical Center in the 6 State of Ohio, and we have placed several million 7 dollars there to assess and treat our 8 neuropsychiatrically impaired vets, and if they 9 can't do it, we'll find a way to do it. 10 All right? So that's number one. No veteran 11 should go without care, and this Congress has 12 increased the funding to the Veterans Administration 13 and to the Department of Defense enormously. The VA 14 alone has received over a 20 percent increase in its 15 budget, 20 percent, and in the area of 16 neuropsychiatric and traumatic brain injury, in this 17 past budget cycle, we placed nearly a billion 18 dollars at the Department of Defense, and I can tell 19 you it's been very difficult to get them to -- and 20 Congress did this. They didn't want to do it. 21 Members of Congress forced that legislation to be 22 passed. 123 1 So your presence here today is very, very 2 important not just for yourselves, but for your 3 colleagues and for those who are still in theatre. 4 All right? 5 Your testimony here today also helps us 6 contribute to a resolution of the situations we face 7 in Iraq and in Afghanistan, and I want to urge you 8 on to take your message across the country as best 9 you are able. Don't wear yourselves out doing that. 10 Organize your time. You've got a good organization, 11 but your message is very important because the 12 American people want to be successful. They know 13 we're not on the right track, but they're a bit 14 unclear on the direction we need to head. Many of 15 you, by putting your collective intelligence 16 together, can make a difference. 17 The one question I have deals with rules of 18 engagement. Most of you are Marines. 19 [Panel members gestures.] 20 MS. KAPTUR: Thank you. Thank you. 21 Marines are trained to be a strike force, and 22 we respect that. We respect the training and the 124 1 grit it took for you to do that and for your 2 colleagues. 3 My question is as a Marine, did you feel that 4 the rules of engagement were unclear because you 5 were being asked to participate in civil affairs and 6 other functions that had nothing to do with your 7 training? Several of you have mentioned a confusion 8 on the ground, and what threat do you see to the 9 Corps itself because of the fact that you are being 10 asked to do something you weren't trained for? You 11 were properly trained to be a strike force. Could 12 you comment on these confusing rules of engagement 13 for the Corps? 14 SERGEANT KOKESH: Yes, ma'am. Absolutely. 15 This will have absolute long-term implications for 16 the Marine Corps. We sometimes jokingly refer to 17 the military presence in Iraq as a provisional M.P. 18 unit, because there are numerous units. My 19 artillery unit, after I left to go into Civil 20 Affairs, was cross-trained as military police and 21 then deployed. 22 What Iraq needs desperately more than 125 1 anything is rule of law. They will never get it 2 with the foreign military martial law, and what we 3 have, all we have is this: We have some concept of, 4 well, an Iraqi is allowed to have one weapon per 5 household or one per adult male per household. I've 6 heard so many different rules on that from people in 7 different units at different times, but the fact is 8 that in order to establish rule of law as is needed 9 in Iraq, this isn't going to cut it. 10 [Sergeant Kokesh displays document.] 11 MS. KAPTUR: That's all you were given? 12 SERGEANT KOKESH: We were not given any kind 13 of laws. We were not told that we were enforcing 14 Iraqi laws. Of course, I was there in 2004, but 15 even the military that's there today is not 16 instructed to enforce any laws or rule of law that 17 is being established by the Iraqi Government. It 18 was clear to me from my deployment that a single 19 Iraqi police, corrupt as he may be, with a single 20 AK-47 has more of an effect in creating a rule of 21 law in a small Iraqi village than an entire platoon 22 of Marines even if they come through once a day, 126 1 which they rarely have the time, inclination, or 2 resources to. 3 All we are able to do is come in and stop 4 bomb makers from perhaps setting up shop on the 5 street corner, but we do manage to piss people off 6 and make targets of ourselves. 7 If I may just comment on your earlier remarks 8 about veterans issues, when the military is 9 struggling so desperately as it is right now to meet 10 manpower requirements and threatening members with 11 stop loss of over 120,000 and an untold more with 12 involuntary extension, it is in the interest of 13 those who wish this occupation to continue to make 14 life difficult for veterans because they don't want 15 people to think that when they get out of the 16 military, they will be taken care of, and they want 17 to do everything in their power to increase the 18 dependency that service members have on the 19 military. 20 MS. WOOLSEY: Gentlemen, we have to go. 21 Now, Keith, can you come back? 22 MR. ELLISON: I'm stacked in the afternoon, 127 1 but there's really nothing more important for me to 2 do than this, but do I have time for just two 3 questions? 4 MS. WOOLSEY: Well, I mean, it's not my time. 5 We're voting. We've got less than a minute. So 6 let's go. 7 MR. ELLISON: Well, let me just tell you guys 8 I'll be back and thank you for everything you've 9 done. 10 CORPORAL GILLIGAN: We hope to see you and 11 your fellow Congressmen. Go on down there and 12 invite them all back up here. 13 MR. ELLISON: You've got it, buddy. 14 [Recess.] 15 MS. WOOLSEY: Thank you all for your patience 16 and for staying until we could get back. 17 We have Congressman Donald Payne from New 18 Jersey here, and he will be next. 19 MR. PAYNE: Thank you very much. I'll be 20 very brief. 21 First of all, let me commend the Progressive 22 Caucus, Congresswoman Woolsey and Congresswoman Lee, 128 1 Congress Waters, for leading this hearing. Their 2 work on this issue has been outstanding. I 3 certainly look forward to hearing continued 4 testimony, questions and answers. 5 I recall back when the resolution to give the 6 President pre-emptive strike authority came up, I 7 happened to be a member of the Foreign Affairs 8 Committee, and it was our committee that had the 9 responsibility to lead the two-day debate on the 10 resolution. I was the most senior member, only 11 though fifth in seniority at that time, but I was 12 the first member on the Democratic side to 13 vehemently oppose giving the pre-emptive strike to 14 the President, to oppose the war. 15 So I had the privilege for the two-day debate 16 of controlling the debate on the floor of the House, 17 and I recall some of us pleading at the time. The 18 inspectors, Hans Blitz and the inspectors, were 19 given authority to go anywhere at that time but 20 Saddam Hussein; however, President Bush ordered the 21 UN inspectors out in 48 hours. I knew then that he 22 had his mind made up. Saddam Hussein was admitting 129 1 that he had no weapons of mass destruction, had no 2 chemical or biological weapons, and that's why he 3 stopped preventing the inspectors from going 4 wherever they wanted to go. However, the 5 Administration's mind was made up and they were 6 going to go in on shock and awe come hell or high 7 water. 8 As a result, we're expanding our energies in 9 Afghanistan, where we should have had all of our 10 troops. By this time, Osama bin Laden, I believe 11 would have been eliminated. I think that we would 12 have had a stable Afghanistan by now if the 13 resources and assets that we sent to Iraq wrongly 14 would have been sent to Afghanistan, and the whole 15 world would have been different. Your lives would 16 have been different. Those 4,000 Americans' who 17 have died lives would have been different. Those 18 20-plus thousand seriously injured would have been 19 different. The tens of thousands of Iraqis who are 20 now dead would have been different. Those many, 21 many, many, perhaps hundreds of thousands of Iraqis 22 who are injured would have been different. 130 1 So let me just commend those of you who have 2 served our country. We're proud of you; however, 3 our country needs to be proud of what we do and 4 don't do things that are unnecessary. 5 I'll yield back to the chairperson. Thank 6 you very much for this time. 7 MS. WOOLSEY: Thank you. 8 Congresswoman Waters. 9 MS. WATERS: Thank you very much. 10 Again, as I attempted to communicate to the 11 previous panel, I'm so very proud of you and I'm so 12 very, very sorry that this President led us into 13 this war and that the members of Congress have not 14 had the courage to learn and to understand what has 15 really been happening here and to stop the funding. 16 As a matter of fact, we just voted on a rule and the 17 bill for supplemental funding will be up today, I 18 guess, in two hours, and that supplemental funding 19 request is about 170 billion more dollars to 20 continue the war. 21 We fought to try and separate the funding 22 from other issues. We met with the leadership and 131 1 we said the members deserve an opportunity to vote 2 up or down on this issue; don't pile the funding up 3 with a lot of domestic spending to make people feel 4 bad that they're not supporting the extension of 5 unemployment or they're not supporting other kinds 6 of things, and so we did get that. We advocated for 7 that. They did separate it. 8 So the funding resolution is going to be 9 separate, and for all of those people who say that 10 they want to end the war, the proof in the pudding 11 is in the eating. If they vote for this 12 supplemental appropriation, they are not serious 13 about ending this war. 14 They have two other portions to the bill: 15 Amendment No. 2 where basically they have a lot of 16 other conditions, but the first part of it is a 17 little bit tricky because they say that there will 18 be an attempt to start redeployment within 30 days 19 with an absolute end to -- a goal of an absolute end 20 to the war by December '09. I'm nervous about that 21 because that's too long. That's December of '09. 22 We have had some targets before. 132 1 We have always been for getting out as 2 quickly as possible. We know that it takes some 3 time to wind down and move equipment and re-deploy, 4 and we've always thought six months was a reasonable 5 amount of time to talk about doing that. We've even 6 entertained the idea of maybe one year, but now, you 7 know, it's further out with this December 9. 8 So I know that I'm voting against the first 9 part of the war. I'm uncomfortable with it going 10 until December of '09, and the third part, there are 11 some conditions with the separate one that I could 12 support. So I'm going to be talking with my 13 colleagues before we take that vote to take a look 14 at that second amendment that talks about winding 15 out, starting deployment within days 30. 16 In 30 days of what? Does anybody know in 30 17 days of what? 18 MS. WOOLSEY: The sworn-in new President. 19 MS. WATERS: Of the new President. Well, 20 see, that takes us to January. Within 30 days, that 21 starts in February, and then it goes on until the 22 end of the year. That may be just a little bit too 133 1 long for me. Even though I'm anxious to get some 2 kind of language that talks about getting out, 3 that's taking it a little bit too long. 4 MR. PAYNE: December '09. 5 MS. WATER: December '09. That's a little 6 bit too long for me, but I wanted to share that with 7 you so that you'll know when you're talking to 8 members of Congress who are telling you all these 9 good things and how much they are supportive and 10 they're against the war. You take a look at that 11 vote today and see who's voting for that money to 12 continue the kinds of things that you have described 13 here to us. 14 Let me just ask, Mr. Gilligan, I think you 15 said that you would be willing to name Generals. Is 16 it you who said that, Mr. Gilligan? 17 CORPORAL GILLIGAN: Ma'am, I don't believe I 18 said that. 19 MS. WATERS: Who said that? 20 SERGEANT KOKESH: I said that I would be 21 willing to provide names of all personnel involved, 22 units, locations, grid coordinates, times, and dates 134 1 of all incidents mentioned in my testimony. 2 MS. WATERS: Okay. Thank you very much, and 3 I will be talking with you about that. 4 Let me just try and focus for a moment on 5 Fallujah. I know that there have been a lot of 6 confrontations and a lot of fighting in different 7 areas, but for some reason, Fallujah loomed large at 8 the point that we were learning about it, and the 9 images that we were seeing coming back about 10 Fallujah, it looked as if our military was going to 11 door to door, kicking down doors and shooting 12 anything that moved. Is that a correct assumption? 13 Could you describe a little bit what happened in 14 Fallujah? 15 SERGEANT KOKESH: I believe what you're 16 referring to is the second battle of Fallujah in 17 November. I was there for the first battle when the 18 primary military action was the siege of the city, 19 and I was there for the whole interim period in the 20 summer. I left in September of 2004, but what I saw 21 was at the Civil Military Operation Center where I 22 worked is that we created the Fallujah Brigade and 135 1 handed over security of the city to this brigade of 2 Iraqi security forces, and we knew and I as a 3 sergeant knew and all of my Marines knew that by 4 June of 2004, we were essentially arming and 5 equipping the insurgency in Fallujah by providing 6 supplies for what we called the Fallujah Brigade, 7 and we waited until August to announce that we were 8 disbanding the Fallujah Brigade and asked that 9 members turn in their American-issued ID cards and 10 uniforms and weapons and told them if they didn't, 11 they would never get another federal job. 12 The reason we were able to say that was 13 because despite the hand-over of power happening on 14 June 28th, we were still handling all payroll for 15 the Iraqi security forces, at least where I was, and 16 we didn't go into the city of Fallujah for the 17 second battle until after the presidential elections 18 of 2004 because, I believe, that the President knew 19 he could not get elected with the headline of 20 20 Marines dead in downtown Fallujah, which I believe 21 is what it would have been had we gone through when 22 we knew, at least by our thinking at the time, that 136 1 we would have had to go through Fallujah. 2 And not only did numerous Americans die 3 unnecessarily in that battle, because as ignorant as 4 people were to what it meant that there were eight 5 battalions poised outside the city of Fallujah, the 6 insurgents knew and they were ready for the soldiers 7 that went in, and as it was, almost a hundred 8 Americans lost their lives in that battle, but not 9 only that, numerous Marines died every single day 10 maintaining that loose cordon of Fallujah throughout 11 the summer of 2004, but what it's made clear is that 12 this Administration has chosen a policy for this 13 country that values looking good or doing right, and 14 as soon you choose looking good over doing right, 15 you will fail miserably at both. It is what we are 16 doing as a country right now. It is what our 17 leadership is doing and it is what the Democratic 18 Party has done since it took power in 2006 when it 19 decided that it would be more concerned with looking 20 good than doing right in terms of the policy towards 21 Iraq in order to secure an advantage for the 2008 22 election. 137 1 My apologies to members of the Democratic 2 Party in the room, but it is clear to me that that 3 policy of looking good or doing right has been 4 established firmly by this Administration and has 5 poisoned not only the military culture, but our 6 entire society and political leadership as well. 7 MS. WATERS: So would you conclude that in 8 Fallujah, when our soldiers went in, that whatever 9 the command was, whatever the instructions or the 10 orders were, that some of our soldiers who died 11 there died because of poor command or a lack of -- 12 SERGEANT KOKESH: I think the manipulations 13 that led to the unnecessary deaths in Fallujah 14 happened at the highest policy making levels. There 15 was State Department personnel present during the 16 negotiations that created the Fallujah Brigade at my 17 facility, and it is those manipulations of the 18 process that led to those deaths. I don't think 19 even the Generals who were conducting those battles 20 had any say in the timing or the actual conduct, 21 really, of those engagements. 22 MS. WATERS: Thank you, and finally, the 138 1 civilians who died there who were in those houses 2 where it appeared that our soldiers were sent to 3 kick down the doors and to shoot anything that was 4 moving, is it reasonable to conclude that that 5 policy was not a good policy, that people died 6 needlessly, soldiers and civilians? 7 SERGEANT KOKESH: Well, in terms of kicking 8 down doors, I believe you're referring, again, to 9 the second battle of Fallujah. So I'm not going to 10 try to comment on that, but the way that the siege 11 was handled absolutely led to the unnecessary 12 innocent deaths of civilians, and one of the things 13 we were tasked with at our Civil Military Operations 14 Centers was the paying of silacea payments or battle 15 damage claims, as we called them, and distributed a 16 couple of million dollars that way. I was 17 interviewed by Al Jazeera because doing something 18 like this was historically unprecedented, but we 19 would turn around and pay people what it would cost 20 to rebuild their homes had we destroyed their home 21 by accident. So somebody coming to our facility, 22 filing a claim, might get $25,000 for the home that 139 1 we accidentally dropped a bomb on and $2500 for the 2 son that was killed in that accident, and that just 3 goes to show the relative value of life that 4 Americans have or the value that Americans place on 5 Iraqi lives based on that policy that we carried out 6 there. 7 MS. WATERS: Thank you very much, Madam 8 Chair. 9 Thank you, sir. 10 MS. WOOLSEY: Congressman Ellison. 11 MR. ELLISON: Thank you, and I just want to 12 thank the leadership of the Progressive Caucus and 13 certainly I want to thank everyone who is here. 14 My first question is this: There is this 15 sort of assumption, this base-level assumption, when 16 you go out and you talk to folks and when you talk 17 to people around here that if there was a 18 precipitous or a quick withdrawal from Iraq, that it 19 would lead to more chaos than exists today and that 20 you also hear as a corollary to that, you know, that 21 that's why we have to somehow stay until we, 22 quote-unquote, win. 140 1 Could you all address that assumption 2 squarely, that somehow we are the glue holding Iraqi 3 together? 4 CAPTAIN MONTALVAN: Yeah. I'd like to answer 5 that. I'd like to answer that since I was a member 6 of the Iraq Enterprise Institute which contrived the 7 surge and I was vehemently against it. I'm sorry. 8 The American Enterprise Institute. Sometimes my 9 brain, the synapses don't fire; but, you know, there 10 is a misconception that staying in Iraq is vital to 11 our national security interests and that a 12 precipitous withdraw, as you mentioned, Congressman, 13 will lead to further chaos both in Iraq and in the 14 Middle East. 15 First of all, that's an assumption, an 16 assumption that has been made time and time again by 17 the highest echelon of our general officers, who I 18 might remind you again have consistently lied and 19 misrepresented the situation on the ground in Iraq 20 for the better part of five years. 21 That having been said, there is no doubt that 22 a withdraw from Iraq is going to increase bloodshed 141 1 and humanitarian refugees and suffering. The 2 question is ought we to be there, ought we to 3 continue to fund billions of dollars of American 4 taxpayer dollars toward an endeavor with no 5 clearly-defined end state for an unknown period of 6 time. It's my belief that a withdraw of the 7 majority of conventional forces in Iraq will, in 8 fact, force the hand, and it might not be in the 9 type of way that we would all like. There will be 10 violence, no doubt about it, but it will force the 11 hand of the tribal, ethnic, and sectarian leaders to 12 sort out their matters on their own while we should 13 be maintaining the sovereign borders of Iraq so as 14 to prevent the civil war in Iraq to further growing 15 into a Middle Eastern regional war. 16 MR. ELLISON: Do you gentlemen agree? 17 SERGEANT KOKESH: Well, from my experience, 18 it is clear that every specter that has been raised 19 in terms of potential consequences of withdraw from 20 Iraq is worse the longer we stay there, every single 21 one, most notably the follow-us-home argument, 22 because the more enemies we make over there, which 142 1 we are making every day, the more there will be to 2 follow us home. 3 We call for the immediate withdraw of all 4 occupying forces, and what that means most 5 importantly to me is the immediate end to the 6 occupation, that is to say the forceful interference 7 with Iraq sovereignty, which we are doing every time 8 we go out the gates and impose martial law through 9 our presence, but we also advocate reparations for 10 the Iraqi people and recognize that we do have an 11 obligation to the country of Iraq and that a 12 continued diplomatic presence is there in order to 13 ensure that that leads to the kind of rule of law 14 and stability and prosperity that the Iraq people 15 deserve is ensured. 16 MR. ELLISON: If I had more time, I'd want to 17 explore it deeper, but I have to jump to my next 18 question. You know, one of the recurrent themes we 19 hear today is that Iran is somehow playing a role in 20 Iraq that might justify U.S. intervention against 21 Iran, and that concerns me because, you know, we've 22 been hearing about IEDs. You've been hearing it 143 1 too, I'm sure. Am I right? You've been hearing it 2 too. Right? 3 But my question is, you know, help me 4 understand the Iraqi-Iranian relationship, because I 5 just saw on March 3rd, Mr. Ahmadinejad get welcomed 6 in a pretty friendly manner into Iraq, and so how 7 can we maintain that Iran is playing this pernicious 8 role in Iraq and yet Iraq being a sovereign country 9 seems to want to have international relations with 10 Iran? I'm just haven't trouble understanding this 11 situation. 12 SERGEANT KOKESH: I can only testify that I 13 saw absolutely no evidence of Iranian involvement 14 while I was there, although it was 2004, but it's 15 very interesting to note that the Iraqi Government 16 backed by the United States was unable to negotiate 17 a settlement to the recent violence in southern 18 Iraq, but that the Iranians were, and what we don't 19 notice when we say that Ahmadinejad was greeted and 20 welcomed enthusiastically in Baghdad, the President 21 of the United States flies in under the cover of 22 darkness with no prior announcement and only under 144 1 secrecy. 2 MR. ELLISON: Adam, the President does and 3 all of us do too. I've been to Iraq, and when I got 4 there, we took off in a C-130 from Kuwait, and they 5 had evasive maneuvers. I'm not claiming some Hilary 6 Clinton-type thing, but they had us going in in sort 7 of, you know, an angle, you know, all for the 8 purpose of protection. So, you know, we're sneaking 9 in and out of there, and he goes right in there. 10 The last question I have, because I know 11 we've got to move on, contractors -- okay. That's 12 not my good last question. Here is my last 13 question: What do things like Abu Ghraib and other 14 abuses that have been described, what does that do 15 to the average Iraqi who may not hold any animus 16 toward the United States or soldiers, but after 17 their cousin, uncle, aunt, or wife has been abused 18 or outraged, what does that do to them and what does 19 it do to your security? 20 CORPORAL GILLIGAN: That's an excellent 21 question. When you meet an Iraqi teenaged male on 22 the street, you're not meeting your average American 145 1 male. You're meeting an Iraqi male who has 2 experienced a conflict, an occupation, that has been 3 going on for the past five years in his homeland, in 4 his neighborhood, in his streets, in his schools. 5 So when you meet these people on the streets, 6 you're meeting people that, I mean, they know what's 7 up. They know exactly what the Marine air wing is 8 capable of. They know exactly what our prison 9 systems are like. They know exactly what our 10 responses are going to be to gunfire, mortar fire, 11 sniper attacks, etc., and they're doing it and 12 they're doing it good. They're doing it 13 consistently, and they're trying to continue this 14 resistance, and this active resistance is not going 15 to end until we are actually out of that country. 16 SERGEANT KOKESH: I served, I was manning a 17 checkpoint or running a checkpoint at the Civil 18 Military Operations Center when the Abu Ghraib 19 scandal broke and had to go out the next day and 20 face crowds of Iraqi people, and for us, it felt as 21 though we had been betrayed by the policy that 22 resulted in that scandal occurring the way it had 146 1 and that that was the environment that we were 2 facing, that the new challenge that I had that day 3 was to go and still convince people that we were 4 there to help them. 5 CAPTAIN MONTALVAN: Congressman, to answer 6 the point about Iran, there is no doubt about it 7 that Iran has influence in Iraq. Muhtaq Al Sadir 8 and Isam al-Khafaji from the Iraqi Council, he met 9 with George Bush not long ago here in the White 10 House. The Iranians have been using EFPs and 11 rockets in Iraq. They have undue influence in Iraq 12 and for very good reason. So that's, I think, 13 without question. 14 The question is whether or not that requires 15 a response, a military response, which I don't think 16 it does. 17 MR. ELLISON: Are they there against the best 18 wishes of the al-Maliki government or are they there 19 at the invitation of the al-Maliki government? Are 20 they there with the knowledge of the al-Maliki 21 government? 22 I mean, that's the problem. If Iraq is a 147 1 sovereign country and they have diplomatic relations 2 with another country next door, that's kind of their 3 prerogative. Right? So how then do we take a 4 position that we're threatening war against Iran 5 because they're in Iraq at the invitation of the 6 government, or am I all wrong? 7 MS. WOOLSEY: Congressman, we're going to 8 leave that as a rhetorical question. You aren't all 9 wrong, and thank you. 10 MR. ELLISON: I am all wrong? 11 MS. WOOLSEY: You are not all wrong, believe 12 me. 13 Sheila Jackson-Lee. 14 MS. JACKSON-LEE: Madam Chair, thank you very 15 much. 16 For those of you in the audience, I came back 17 because I believe in you and I believe we can do 18 this. 19 I do want to ask the question that I posed 20 earlier, and that is would you work with us and join 21 us in working to bring a hundred thousand people 22 again to the mall in their opposition to the war, 148 1 but more importantly, to make a final statement and 2 important statement that members of Congress -- and 3 this is the bottom line. We're on the floor today, 4 and I indicated to you that I was on the way to the 5 floor. The bottom line is to get one vote at a 6 time, enough votes to cut the funds for this war in 7 Iraq without denigrating the honor of the troops or 8 the safe deployment of the troops, and it can be 9 done. 10 Can I ask you, starting here; yes or no, 11 would you join us for that effort? 12 CAPTAIN MONTALVAN: I would say that yes in 13 principle, but, you know, beyond amassing hundreds 14 of thousands of people here, which has been done 15 before to no avail, there has to be clear 16 objectives. 17 MS. JACKSON-LEE: And I would welcome that, 18 and I'm not cutting you off, but my time is short, 19 and so I would understand that we would have to have 20 a framework. 21 Sergio? Am I getting it right? 22 CORPORAL KOCHERGIN: I would take a stand 149 1 with Luis, what he said. 2 MS. JACKSON-LEE: Thank you. 3 Adam? 4 SERGEANT KOKESH: I would only support such 5 an effort if it were tied to more substantive 6 action, because when injustice becomes law, 7 resistance becomes duty, and if amassing that number 8 of people would simply be an expression of the 9 antiwar sentiment that we know exists throughout 10 America, it would not be as productive as organizing 11 and supporting the resistance that we take as our 12 mission to end the war through direct action as Iraq 13 Veterans Against the War. 14 MS. JACKSON-LEE: All right. 15 James? 16 CORPORAL GILLIAN: Congresswoman, I fly this 17 flag today upside down because my nation is in 18 distress. I don't see why we have to wait a day, a 19 week, or a month for an impeachment. 20 [Applause.] 21 MS. JACKSON-LEE: Thank you. 22 Vincent. 150 1 LANCE CORPORAL EMANUELE: Yes. I'll agree 2 with that statement, that if there is substantive 3 results from action such as that, then definitely. 4 MS. JACKSON-LEE: Then I challenge all of you 5 as you do us to frame the substance. I think the 6 substance, of course, is that final vote, whether 7 it's one or two votes, to stop the funding of the 8 war, and I think that is something of substance to 9 frame a movement again. What you did yesterday and 10 last year is to be commended, all of us who are in 11 the mix, but there is nothing wrong with doing it 12 tomorrow, the next day, or the day after if it gets 13 us to where we'd like to be. 14 Let me ask my next series of questions. This 15 is not an official hearing, but I'd like to ask, yes 16 or no, for those of you who would be willing to come 17 to present documents under oath to any of the 18 committees. It may have been asked, but I want to 19 ask to just get a yes or no. 20 Let me start with you, Luis. 21 CAPTAIN MONTALVAN: Absolutely, yes, 22 Congresswoman. 151 1 CORPORAL KOCHERGIN: Absolutely, yes. 2 SERGEANT KOKESH: Absolutely, yes. 3 CORPORAL GILLIGAN: Congresswoman, as long as 4 I can provide documents. 5 MS. JACKSON-LEE: Absolutely. 6 LANCE CORPORAL EMANUELE: Absolutely, yes. 7 MS. JACKSON-LEE: There are a number of 8 committees with jurisdictions, Homeland Security, 9 Armed Services, Appropriations Committee, Judiciary, 10 and I think it's our duty to find ways of having you 11 before our committees under oath. 12 Are any of you still on active duty? 13 SERGEANT KOKESH: None of us on this panel 14 are, ma'am, but we have numerous members who are on 15 active duty in the reserves and inactive reserves 16 and a number of members who are currently serving in 17 Iraq today. 18 MS. JACKSON-LEE: Would you comment, Vincent, 19 on the questions of your patriotism by appearing 20 here today and participating in a movement to oppose 21 the war, having worn the uniform, challenges to your 22 patriotism? 152 1 LANCE CORPORAL EMANUELE: I usually don't 2 answer those questions because my answer is simply 3 I'm a veteran, and we are the men and woman who have 4 fought in this occupation and I think we have the 5 right to say whatever it is that we experienced 6 during our time over there. 7 MS. JACKSON-LEE: Thank you. 8 MS. WOOLSEY: Thank you very much, 9 Congresswoman. 10 We were supposed to be out of this room a 11 half an hour ago. I'm not going to rush it. 12 MS. WATERS: We ought to occupy it. 13 MS. WOOLSEY: We ought to occupy it. That's 14 right. 15 There are three things that we're going to 16 do. Geoff Millard is going to make a closing 17 statement for the Iraq Veterans Against the War. 18 Congresswoman Lee is going to make a closing 19 statement, and then I will bring it to a close. 20 Geoff. 21 MS. JACKSON-LEE: And I just want to yield 22 and say thank you very much for the hearing. 153 1 MS. WOOLSEY: Thank you. 2 MS. JACKSON-LEE: Thank you all for the 3 challenge. I'm going to accept it and I hope we'll 4 meet in my office and accept that challenge. 5 Thank you. 6 MS. WOOLSEY: Thank you, Sheila, for coming 7 back. 8 Geoff. 9 XV. CLOSING IVAW REMARKS BY GEOFF MILLARD 10 SERGEANT MILLARD: Thank you again for 11 recognizing me. I'm Geoff Millard. I'm the 12 Washington, D.C. Chapter president of Iraq Veterans 13 Against the War. 14 A Winter Soldier is one who after their 15 contract to the military is over knows that their 16 commitment to the country remains. The members of 17 Iraq Veterans Against the War that you have heard 18 from today could have all simply gone home as war 19 heroes, pinned our metals on our chests, and moved 20 on with our lives. Instead, we have continued on 21 with our commitment to protect and defend the 22 Constitution of the United States from all enemies, 154 1 foreign and domestic. 2 IVAW demands three very simple things: 3 First, an immediate withdrawal of all occupying 4 forces from Iraq. Congress can make this happen 5 today by voting down continued funding for the 6 occupation. We, the troops, are asking you not to 7 fund the killing of more of our brothers and sisters 8 in arms. 9 Second, care for all veterans upon our 10 return: Congress can start to make this happen 11 today by passing a new GI Bill. 12 Third, reparations for the Iraq people. 13 Congress has yet to pass any bill that would make 14 this happen, but I have the utmost confidence that 15 the legislators before us today will make this 16 happen not only for the Iraqi people, but for the 17 soul of America. 18 In the 1970s, Vietnam Veterans Against the 19 War had no greater supporter on the Hill than Al 20 Lowenstein. Today, Iraq Veterans Against the War 21 have no greater supporters than the Triad of 22 Woolsey, Lee, and Waters. In the 1970s, VVAW helped 155 1 to lead a GI resistance that was the driving force 2 to ending that occupation. Today, IVAW is leading 3 the way for a GI resistance that will end this 4 occupation. 5 The only remaining question is will Congress 6 be there to help us. 7 Thank you. 8 MS. WOOLSEY: Thank you very much and thank 9 you for all that you did to put this together, 10 Geoff. 11 Congresswoman Lee. 12 XVI. CLOSING STATEMENT BY THE CO-CHAIR 13 MS. LEE: Well, let me first thank all of you 14 for being here, all of our witnesses. You are truly 15 patriots, and there are some who may try to question 16 the reliability of your testimony. We've received 17 some communications from some who, you know, in many 18 ways would do that, but these members don't. 19 We appreciate your courage and we appreciate 20 your moving forward to try to make sure that we do 21 end this occupation of Iraq, and this is a moment -- 22 and again, I have to say that I'm pleased that the 156 1 press is here, because your voices have really not 2 been heard during this entire war and occupation, 3 and this is, I think, a very historic moment for the 4 country and for the world. 5 I will have to go back to what Congressman 6 Payne said. Just in terms of history, when this 7 unfortunate authorization to use force came before 8 us, we tried to provide an alternative resolution. 9 Some of you may remember there were 72 votes on a 10 resolution that I offered that just said, basically, 11 let the United Nations continue with the inspections 12 process. That would have determined that there were 13 no weapons of mass destruction. We knew that, 72 14 votes. 15 Four thousand of our young men and women have 16 died. Thirty thousand plus have been injured, 17 countless Iraqi civilians. That could have been 18 prevented. 19 I want to -- and you all have so eloquently 20 described and I know it's been very painful for you. 21 It's been very painful for us here. It's been very, 22 very sad. It's sorrowful, and it's difficult as you 157 1 describe the dehumanization process that you were 2 put through and the effects of this dehumanization 3 process, and we've been told that, of course, this 4 has been about winning the hearts and minds of the 5 Iraqis, the hearts and minds of the Iraqis by doing 6 what you were instructed to do. 7 So I must ask you a couple of things with 8 regard to our national security. Given what has 9 taken place, what do you think about how safe 10 America is now versus before, first of all? 11 Secondly, I know over 60 percent of the 12 American people, very recently, in fact, still 13 believe that there was a connection between Al-Qaeda 14 and 9-11 and Saddam Hussein and Iraq. I don't know 15 how you feel, what you believe, what was told in 16 terms of the military, you know, the perception from 17 your point of view. So I'd like to hear your 18 response to that. 19 And, finally, I would just like to say to you 20 that I hope you will continue to come to Capitol 21 Hill, continue to be here, continue to talk to your 22 members of Congress. We should have had the entire 158 1 Democratic and Republican Caucus here today, coming 2 in and out at least given, you know, what's taking 3 place on the floor, but every member should have 4 come here if they really want to hear the truth, and 5 so I hope and encourage you to continue with your 6 efforts, because it's going to be, you know, your 7 voices, the real voices, those who have served, 8 those who have paid often times the supreme price, 9 you know, to end this with us, and certainly these 10 members will continue and forge forward. 11 I hope today that we'll have a strong vote 12 against this funding. I hope that we can show you 13 that this Congress is moving forward even though we 14 may not get all of the votes we need, but I just 15 hope and I pray, and I'm going to continue to work 16 to make sure that we get the strongest vote that we 17 can against the continuation of this funding of this 18 occupation. 19 Thank you, and I'd like to yield now to any 20 of you who would like to answer those couple of 21 questions. 22 CORPORAL GILLIGAN: Having been to 159 1 Afghanistan and having had to search for Al-Qaeda, 2 Taliban, and Osama bin Laden, I would say that we 3 might as well start searching Guam or Puerto Rico, 4 someplace small, because let me tell you. 5 Afghanistan is one really vast place. 6 Now jumping to Iraq, every time the Iraqi 7 Military comes into contact with a hostile force, 8 when they kill them, it is written up on most blogs 9 as they're killing militants. Every time an 10 American force operates in around the area of Iraq 11 and they meet with resistance, they are actually 12 taking out Al-Qaeda or insurgents, and I think that 13 we need to clarify exactly what we're killing over 14 there, exactly. 15 As far as the national security of here in 16 America, we are at no greater risk now, today, from 17 our own government than ever before. 18 CAPTAIN MONTALVAN: I concur with that. I 19 believe in the national intelligence estimate that 20 says that between five and ten years from now, an 21 American city will go bye-bye, and I'm not a 22 doomsday person. I would also offer one 160 1 recommendation, and that is that -- because I had 2 the unusual circumstance of escorting a number of 3 Congressional delegations to Iraq around various 4 parts of Iraq, and I, for one, would be willing to 5 participate in a congressional delegation going to 6 Iraq and not getting the Disneyland tour that the 7 general officers put you through, showing you the 8 joint security stations and all of the things that 9 they think are going well. I'm prepared to take you 10 and a number of others. Well, I and others are 11 prepared to take you on the real situation, on the 12 real -- having patrolled the mean streets of Iraq 13 for a couple of years, to take you on a real tour of 14 what Iraq is. 15 SERGEANT KOKESH: I can only testify from my 16 experience that it is clear we have made more 17 enemies, but it should be clear to all Americans 18 that the greatest threat to American security is the 19 current corruption of our government. 20 XVII. CLOSING STATEMENT BY THE CHAIR 21 MS. WOOLSEY: Well, thank you, Congresswoman 22 Lee, for being part of this. 161 1 Thank you, Congresswoman Waters. It takes 2 three strong women and we can get a lot done. 3 Thank all of my colleagues who came today. 4 Yes, there should have been more, but those who came 5 cared, and that doesn't mean those many who weren't 6 here don't care, believe me. We were down on the 7 floor for the votes, and there was a lot of reasons 8 why people -- I started to say excuses -- reasons 9 why our colleagues weren't here, but we told them 10 they were really missing something important, and we 11 will make sure that we have your written testimony 12 available so our colleagues can get the benefit if 13 they choose. 14 In listening to your testimony this morning, 15 I have been particularly struck that while each and 16 every one of you brings a unique and very personal 17 perspective to this occupation of Iraq, there's been 18 one consistent thread, and you've said it in 19 different ways, but you've all said it, and that's 20 despite the valor and the sacrifice of your troops 21 and our troops, almost every level that we're 22 involved in, every level of President Bush's 162 1 strategy in Iraq has failed and it continues to 2 fail. 3 The President is failing our military forces 4 who are serving in Iraq, the men and women who have 5 been given the impossible task of policing a civil 6 war that has absolutely no end in sight, and for 7 five years, they've all risked -- you and those who 8 are there now have risked their lives day in and day 9 out without a clear mission or even definable goals, 10 and while the President continues to move the goal 11 post on success in Iraq, our soldiers have done 12 every single possible thing that's been asked of 13 them and they've done it with honor. 14 The President is failing the Iraq public as 15 well who for five years of this invasion continued 16 to struggle to not only put food on their tables, 17 but in many cases, simply to stay alive among the 18 violence and the chaos that continues to engulf 19 their country. Our country, the United States of 20 America, must stand ready to aid the Iraqis with 21 non-military support, to help them undertake the 22 reconciliation process, to help them with their 163 1 refugees, and to bring all sides together. 2 And perhaps most importantly, President Bush 3 is failing every man and woman who has worn our 4 nation's uniform in Iraq only to come home to a 5 broken and underfunded VA healthcare system. All of 6 you bear the irreparable mental and physical wounds 7 of war, and once home, you must struggle to receive 8 the physical and psychological care that you have 9 earned, that was promised you. That is a disgrace. 10 Our nation is better than that and we must do 11 better. 12 I know that it wasn't easy for each of you to 13 testify today, but while I've been listening to you, 14 I've also been looking at the audience behind you. 15 You cannot believe. The people behind you have your 16 backs. The looks are your faces back there, it's in 17 describable. 18 I thank you all for being here. I thank you 19 for your testimony and the support behind. Thank 20 you. 21 We're not through. We're going to do more. 22 Thank you very much. 164 1 (Whereupon, at approximately 1:13 o'clock, 2 p.m., the above meeting was adjourned.) 3 * * * * * 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 165 1 2 CERTIFICATE OF COURT REPORTER 3 4 I, CATHERINE B. CRUMP, the officer 5 before whom the foregoing meeting was taken, do 6 hereby testify that the meeting was taken 7 by me stenographically and thereafter reduced to 8 typewriting under my direction; that said transcript 9 is a true record of the meeting. 10 11 12 13 _____________________________ 14 CATHERINE B. CRUMP 15 Court Reporter in and for the 16 District of Columbia 17 18 19 20 21 22