18 Quotes from U.S. Soldiers Speaking Out Against War

“The pioneers of a warless world are the youth that
refuse military service.”
– Albert Einstein

On February 20th, 2012 hundreds of Veterans and Military marched on the white house.  They were marching for Ron Paul, who is against all wars, and in his platform openly expresses his disdain for war and the immediacy of bringing the troops home to America.  And was this on the American news?  Absolutely not.

In addition to this Military march of current and veteran soldiers, we have literally thousands of veterans who have formed an organization to protest war, and to expose the truth about what goes on in these so called ‘wars’.  The group is called Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), and it’s subscription of enlightened veterans – already in the thousands – is increasing everyday.

Here are 18 inspiring quotes from U.S. Soldiers who are against war:

“When I was in Iraq I saw the devastation that the invasion had made out upon the Iraqi people.  I saw and at times participated in the dehumanization and degradation of the Iraqi people.  By robbing others of their inherent dignity, by denying them respect, and by treating them as a less-than-human other, we ultimately robbed ourselves of our own humanity and compassion.”
– Kelly Dougherty, Iraq Veteran

“You roll into Baghdad, and every single big apartment building is blown up by artillery and airplanes bombing.  You cannot meet someone in Iraq who has not lost a family member.  Can you imagine what we would have done in America if after 9/11, everybody in America lost a family member?  We’d be in the streets with weapons.”
– Darrel Anderson, Iraq Veteran

“I was ordered multiple times by commissioned officers, and non-commissioned officers to shoot civilians if their presence made me feel uncomfortable.  The primary loyalty is not to democracy, or to the flag, or to America, or to the Iraqi people or to the rule of law.  It is to each other’s safety at the expense of everything else.
– Jason Lemieux, Former Marine Sgt. & Infantryman

“There is a cost to this war, and this cost is being paid in American blood.  In my soldier’s blood.  And that is not okay.”
– Sgt. Selena Coppa, Iraq Veteran

“From my perspective it didn’t seem to make any sense what we did.  We didn’t accomplish anything.”
– Casey Porter, Iraq Veteran

“A few months after we were there a lot of things weren’t sitting right with me – the command structure, the missions that we were getting didn’t make any sense, we were going after people and they didn’t have any idea which ones were the right ones and which ones were the wrong ones.  We were kicking in the wrong doors, terrifying children – helicoptors screaming over their heads at night – and I was trying to calm the women and children – while the men were dragged and separated out, and completely humiliated in front of their families.”
– Grant Collins, Iraq Veteran

“911 was a lie – I know it.  We’re soldiers – We know it.”
– Darrel Anderson, Iraq Veteran

“On March 21st, 2003 my military service was hijacked in an unconstitutional order to invade the sovereign nation of Iraq.  This is a slap in the face to every service member who feels used because he was told he was going to go fight for his country and then was sent to go and kick in the doors of innocent people, unprovoked in the middle of the night, to draw fire into their house so that we might have somebody to shoot back at.”
– Jason Lemieux, Former Marine Sgt. & Infantryman

“If the media was not biased, this film would be shown here, so that you could then make a decision.  Show them both sides of the story and then let the human being make the decision whether they want their kids there or not.  Don’t show me one side and say it’s patriotism, it’s courageous.  Nothing I did in Iraq was courageous.  I brought fear into people’s homes, I travelled with a 50 caliber weapon every single day and slept with a pistol underneath my pillow.  Tell me what is so courageous about that.”
– Kyle Snyder, Iraq Veteran

“I tried hard to be proud of my service but all I could feel was shame.  The racism could no longer mask the reality of the occupation.  These were people, these were human beings.  I’ve since been plagued by guilt anytime I see an elderly man, like the one who couldn’t walk, who we rolled onto a stretcher and told the Iraqi police to take him away.  I feel guilt anytime I see a mother with her children, like the one who cried hysterically, and screamed we were worse than Saddam as we forced her from her home.  I feel guilt anytime I see a young girl, like the one I grabbed by the arm and dragged into the street.  We were told we were fighting terrorists.  The real terrorist was me, and the real terrorism is this occupation.”
-Mike Prysner, Iraq Veteran

“Funding the war is killing the troops.  If you think about it, it’s really really blatantly obvious – and it’s really stupid that we have to say this.”
– Adam Kokesh, Iraq Veteran

“When I joined the military I raised my hand and said that I’d protect the constitution of the United States and its people, and against foreign and domestic enemies.  But guess what?  I did not raise my hand to protect private companies like KBR, and put my life on the line so we can make a buck.  When are we going to realize, the people fighting in Iraq that are fighting against us – they’re not terrorists – they’re soldiers.  What would we do if somebody invaded us?  I know I would pick up my weapon and fight against them.  What the hell do we call them?  Terrorists!?  These people want their country back.  Let’s give them their country back!”
– Iraq Veteran Against the War

“Those who send us to war do not have to pull a trigger or lob a mortar around.  They don’ t have to fight the war, they merely have to sell the war.  They need a public who is willing to send their soldiers into harm’s way.  They need soldiers who are willing to kill and be killed without question.  They can spend millions on a single bomb, but that bomb only becomes a weapon, when the ranks in the military are willing to follow orders to use it.  They can send every last soldier anywhere on earth, but there will only be a war if soldiers are willing to fight.  And the ruling class – the billionaires who profit from human suffering – care only about expanding their wealth, control the world’s economy.  Understand that their power lies only in their ability to convince us that war, oppression, and exploitation is in our interest.”
– Mike Prysner, Iraq Veteran

“We do have a resistance movement – we do have dissent within the ranks.  It’s happening – for each one of us who goes public, there’s probably a hundred who are resisting quietly.”
– Camilo Mejia, Iraq Veteran

“Let’s be brutally honest – our leaders are not going to end the occupation, it’s going to be us that ends the occupation.”
– Matt Howard, Iraq Veteran

“To me this phenomenon we’re witnessing is actually a natural evolution.  Anytime you organize human beings to come together to use violence as a way of conflict resolution, you will have a breakdown of that organization.  Peace is not a political process, and it’s certainly not a militaristic process.”
– Matt Howard, Iraq Veteran

”  I refuse to participate in the Iraq Occupation.”
– Matthis Chiroux, War Resister

“Our real enemies are not in some distant land.  They’re not people whose name’s we don’t know, and cultures we don’t understand.  The enemy is people we know very well and people we can identify.  The enemy is a system that wages war when it’s profitable; the enemy is the CEO’s who lay us off of our jobs when it’s profitable;  it’s the insurance companies who deny us healthcare when it’s profitable; it’s the banks who take away our homes when it’s profitable.  Our enemy is not 5000 miles away – they are right here at home – and if we organize and fight with our sisters and brothers, we can stop this war, we can stop this government, and we can create a better world.”
– Mike Prysner, Iraq Veteran