Soldiers and Citizens An Oral History of Operation Iraqi Freedom from the Battlefield to the Pentagon

by Mirra, Carl; Appy, Christian

• ISBN13: 9780230601550
• ISBN10: 0230601553
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-11-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

This book presents wide-ranging oral history of the Iraq War, capturing the diverse viewpoints of the soldiers, policymakers, family members, and others whose lives it changed.

Author Biography

A soldier in the U.S. Marine Corps during the first Gulf War, Carl Mirra is an Associate Professor in the Ruth S. Ammon School of Education at Adelphi University.

Table of Contents

Series Editors' Foreword	p. xi
Foreword	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xvii
Introduction	p. 1
Iraq and the United States: A Brief Sketch	p. 9
The New Winter Soldiers Redux: The Patriotism of Antiwar GIs	p. 21
"He was juggling a Kuwaiti skull"	p. 29
"Vietnam did not change until the veterans spoke out"	p. 33
"The whole war was a lie"	p. 38
"I was able to use Halliburton's greed to my advantage"	p. 41
"Kindly, go fuck yourself"	p. 43
"The U.S. invaded Iraq to control the oil resources"	p. 46
"We need to get closer to a social revolution"	p. 51
"There is no greater freedom than the freedom to follow one's conscience"	p. 57
From Bunker Hill to Baghdad: We Will Continue the Mission	p. 67
"It really is a sense of honor; it is the right thing to do"	p. 72
"You signed up for this. You have a responsibility to fight"	p. 77
"The man reached over and kissed me on the cheek"	p. 80
"It is not supporting the troops by keeping them from doing the job that they volunteered to do"	p. 85
"They want you, your family and everyone you know who is not a Muslim dead"	p. 87
"It was almost a personal quest for me"	p. 93
"You know who the bad guys are, don't you?"	p. 97
The Sacrifice of Military Families	p. 103
"How is it okay for my son to go and be killed in this war that no one can explain, but the people who wanted the war don't send their kids"	p. 105
"It touches you in ways that you can't imagine unless you've been there"	p. 107
"The issues are more important than we are"	p. 112
"Dad on fire"	p. 116
War Managers: Pundits and Policy Officials	p. 123
"The military effort is a futile one"	p. 127
"There is no question that the war was justified"	p. 132
"How can you prove that there is no mouse in the New York Metropolitan Opera?"	p. 136
"I do think that there will be some war crimes action against the Bush administration"	p. 142
"We worked in the open, not conspiratorially"	p. 148
"I call it propaganda production"	p. 152
"What would happen if I resigned?"	p. 158
"You have the number two guy in government saying that torture is okay"	p. 163
"They put themselves in harm's way to try to help Iraq"	p. 167
"The Iraqi people believe in unity, we love each other"	p. 172
"This was a serious accusation; it meant killing immediately"	p. 176
Notes	p. 181
Bibliography	p. 193
Index	p. 197
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