Wounded Iraq Vets Speak Out Against Bush Policies
A politically diverse group of Iraq vets say it's time for Americans to face the ugly truths about the war.
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By Mary Jacoby
Oct. 13, 2004 | It's the obvious political ad that has just been waiting to be made -- a young Iraq war veteran, missing a body part, talking simply and directly to the camera about the sacrifice he made in the service of official lies. The idea didn't come from the Democratic Party, or MoveOn.org, or the Kerry campaign. The new ad is the creation of a group of Iraq war veterans, most in their 20s, operating on a shoestring budget. Their organization, Operation Truth, a nonpartisan, nonprofit group of 150 members, is dedicated to elevating the perspective of soldiers and holding elected officials accountable for their policy decisions.
"I was called to serve in Iraq because the government said there were weapons of mass destruction -- but they weren't there," Spc. Robert Acosta, 21, who was an ammunitions specialist with the 1st Armored Division in Iraq, says in the thought-provoking ad. "They said Iraq had something to do with 9/11 -- but the connection wasn't there ... So when people ask me where my arm went, I try to find the words, but they're not there." The ad ends with a shot of Acosta removing his prosthesis, revealing a stub where his right hand should be.
In Washington on Tuesday, Acosta, Operation Truth founder Paul Rieckhoff, 29, and Operation Truth board member David Chasteen, 25, made the media rounds to promote the ad and their group. After a morning news conference at the National Press Club, they were at CNN's studios, talking on camera with Wolf Blitzer, and then trucked back to the Press Club for more interviews, including one with Salon.
The ad "is meant to wake people up," Rieckhoff told me. "And if people are uncomfortable [with the image of Acosta's missing hand] for a few seconds, I'm OK with that. Because Robert's going to be uncomfortable for the rest of his life."
Rieckhoff declined to say how much money Operation Truth has raised for the ad campaign but said it was less than $100,000. Most of the donations come in amounts of $25 or less over the Internet, he said. The major goal of Tuesday's publicity swing was to raise more money to broadcast the ads, which the group plans to air on cable television in swing states.
"We needed a splash. That's the only way to get attention like this," Rieckhoff said, citing as a kind of role model the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth attacks on John Kerry's record. "But we don't have millions of dollars, like they did," he said, laughing.
Rieckhoff, a political independent, looks like the former football player that he is: 6 feet 2 inches, and 250 pounds. His head is shaved bald. At Amherst College he played tight end, and after graduating in 1998, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves. Later, while working for J.P. Morgan, he transferred to the New York Army National Guard. On Sept. 11, 2001, he was in his Manhattan apartment when the first plane hit the World Trade Center; he rushed to ground zero to join volunteer rescue efforts. His Guard unit was formally activated that evening.
In January 2003, Rieckhoff went to Iraq, where he was assigned to lead the 3rd Platoon, B Company, 3/124th INF (Air Assault) FLNG. For the next 10 months, he conducted combat operations in the Adamiyah section of Baghdad on the eastern bank of the Tigris River. He was released from active duty in March. Returning to the United States, he was struck by what he calls the "disconnect" between how most Americans viewed Iraq and veterans issues and how the soldiers felt.
"All you ever see on TV here is the burning Humvees. People aren't hearing about the [Department of Veterans Affairs funding] cuts, the overextension of the military. They weren't hearing soldiers' voices, or learning about the gray areas that we live in every day. Like what do you do if you see a child in an alley and you think he's armed? Now that we're off active duty, we can voice our opinions," Rieckhoff said.
Operation Truth's mission is to get that point of view out, but its members span the spectrum politically. Acosta, a soft-spoken young man with a goatee and a metal hook in place of his right hand, is so discouraged by the political process that he doesn't even plan to vote in November. Rieckhoff, a political independent, believes the goal of overthrowing Saddam Hussein was worthy, but he argues that the postwar planning was a disaster. Operation Truth board member Chasteen, a financial advisor in Washington who was a chemical weapons specialist in Iraq, is a registered Republican and evangelical Christian who says he is "leaning" toward Kerry because he believes George W. Bush's policies have severely damaged national security. |
