Jacob Tucker

I joined the Army July 24, 2001 and was in basic training during the events of Sept 11. At the time I was mostly ignorant about the devastating role our military plays in global affairs. I had no objection to, nor significant consciousness of, our policy regarding and invasion of Afghanistan. I was in lengthy language training for the run-up to and invasion of Iraq. I attempted to educate myself on the matter and was fully against the invasion of the country which had little to do with any terror attacks against our national interests. It upset me greatly the way our culture painted war dissenters as "anti-American," as well as the group think demanded from the military culture. It was initially very difficult to exist in the Army with a stance against the Iraq war and, increasingly, against our military engagements elsewhere. However, toward the close of my 6-year enlistment, the national discussion began to change regarding the wars and my frustration with our policy became more accepted and shared, even among fellow service members. I was mandated to reclassify to be an interrogator and subsequently stop-lossed, extending my enlistment 20 months. Embittered, I "served" in Iraq for 15 months "interrogating" Iraqi prisoners, most of whom I encountered had no place being in detention and had zero meaningful due process. I did, however, learn a great deal from many of the Iraqi detainees and felt the vast majority of them were essentially prisoners for actions taken trying to survive despite the chaos and destruction we had brought to their lives. After my Iraq deployment (my only deployment), I attended college with the GI Bill studying sociology seeking to gain understanding of the United States' role in the world as global super-power. What I uncovered was the ugly side of US imperialism upon which our nation was founded and continues to this day as "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world." I have been active in fighting injustice in many forms and currently work at a hotel and operate as a shop steward for our union. I find it important for activists and advocates for all types of justice to stand in solidarity with the anti-war stance, the people and communities affected by our policies, and the soldiers and families who do the bidding for our sociopathic, war criminal policy makers.