Words from a US Veteran

I can remember the smell of Iraq, the roads, the face of children.

I remember very clearly a day when we raided a house in Baqubah. Raids aren't these "surgical" events like in movies. They are messy, violent, painful and destructive. Most of all they terrorize human beings. They terrorize children and their loved ones. They terrorize an occupied population and by the suicide rates soaring in americas military, raids, occupations and war terrorize the hearts and minds of those who participated in them.

I often spend my time thinking about the broken doors, smashed television sets, the couches we cut open "looking for weapons."

I spend a lot of time wondering if the same couches cut open are still there. If the families could even afford new ones. I wonder if the doors I personally kicked open remain broken. I wonder if the families I threw on the ground remember my face as clearly as I remember theirs.

If they hated me I wouldn't blame them. I hate me for what we did. There's nothing honorable about kicking a door in at 3 am and shoving a person to the ground in the middle of the night. There's nothing honorable about violating human dignity.

There is honor in refusing to partake in a war. There's honor in what Bradley Manning did.

I'm writing this not for attention or having a "pity party" I'm writing because some friends recently have asked me about joining the military. I think they should know the reality.

If you are thinking about it I'd suggest you take a trip to the Veterans Affairs hospitals. You'll see people broken, staring at walls...almost expressionless. If you don't want to be like them don't join.

For those "friends" of mine who will dislike what I'm saying or say I'm "anti-soldier" my reply is I care about everyone I served with. I care about them, their families and the families in Iraq.

Most people wouldn't think something as simple as looking at your front door would open doors in your mind remembering Iraq.

I know several of my former comrades I served with feel the same way.

Peace for the Iraqi people and all occupied peoples in the world.

-Kevin Baker, US veteran of Iraq war