Iraq 20 years later: 3 vets reflect on the war they fought | Nightline

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  • Опубликовано: 12 янв 2025

Комментарии • 1,9 тыс.

  • @AlmaDrid-Satchitananda
    @AlmaDrid-Satchitananda Год назад +1656

    The fact that around 400,000 Iraqis lost their lives is the telling factor. The vast majority innocent civilians all of sudden caught up in a situation from which they had no control.

    • @societyreborn33
      @societyreborn33 Год назад +195

      Easily over 1 million dead

    • @Kingishumble
      @Kingishumble Год назад +1

      This is why the Mexican people doesn’t want the US military on their territory

    • @alexandrasymeon5893
      @alexandrasymeon5893 Год назад +142

      No, it was over 1 million innocent civilians, most of them women and children.

    • @NeoFreshair
      @NeoFreshair Год назад

      1 million children died from economic sanctions alone after Kuwait invasion!! And the US administration using same sanctions against Cuba, Venezuela, Sudan, Yemen, North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan under Taliban, and now Russia!!! Why?
      To change regimes and replace them with puppet regimes!!

    • @mihaelbitola3812
      @mihaelbitola3812 Год назад

      More than 90% of the victims were civilians, and about 30% of the victims were children. And they killed more than 1 milion people in Iraq.

  • @ReasonNotFightFlight
    @ReasonNotFightFlight Год назад +443

    I was on a plane about a week ago and some old fella sitting beside me started telling me how stupid the invasion of Iraq had been and how beautiful the country was when his military unit went in. I couldn't figure out why he was telling me this but now I see it was anniversary time. "There are no winners in war, only widows and orphans."

    • @secrets.295
      @secrets.295 Год назад +1

      There are winners. America stole hundreds of billions of dollars worth of oil. In Afghanistan, American military base was located next to the biggest poppy field in the world. Go figure.

    • @jonkennedy6595
      @jonkennedy6595 Год назад +1

      Exactly can we chat please

    • @matthewtonkovich8709
      @matthewtonkovich8709 Год назад +19

      He just wanted somebody to hear his recall. Thank you for listening to him

    • @muntajibkhan4986
      @muntajibkhan4986 Год назад

      And widows start masturbating.

    • @mrb2643
      @mrb2643 Год назад +3

      Yall want sympathy? We want justice in this world or the next

  • @mustafamohammed8758
    @mustafamohammed8758 Год назад +569

    "The wars will end and the leaders will shake hands, and that old woman will remain waiting for her martyred son, and that girl will wait for her beloved husband, and the children will wait for their heroic father, I do not know who sold the homeland but I know who paid the price"
    - Mahmoud Darwish

    • @thefriendlypsychopath3894
      @thefriendlypsychopath3894 Год назад +1

      Who killed them?

    • @markstewart4501
      @markstewart4501 Год назад

      Capitalism has no "moral" code or identity. It will buy and sell children for any and all horrors. We push some capitalism into "black markets", but we do that SOCIALLY. Society DOES and CAN decide how we choose to treat each other...Currently, the USA in one of the countries that chooses to use mass death and mass fear to get what it wants. Cheaper oil prices. Cheap exploitative labor. Dumb toxic chemicals into drinking water in foreign lands, because its cheaper.
      It's not 'who' sold the homeland, it's 'what' WE sold the homeland for. This is called GREED.

    • @Alan_Masters21
      @Alan_Masters21 Год назад +43

      @@thefriendlypsychopath3894 in the context of Mahmoud Darwish, the Israelis

    • @emeyeare
      @emeyeare Год назад

      Wow

    • @RUSure-jm9rp
      @RUSure-jm9rp Год назад

      You’re still lying to yourselves. You went there for the business of oil, your friends and the people of Iraq died because some people wanted their oil and used you as a tool to get control of it.

  • @tacklengrapple6891
    @tacklengrapple6891 Год назад +672

    There’s always context left out when talking about the US military volunteers of the early 00’s. Most of their early childhood was the super patriotic Reagan/GI Joe 80’s or Gulf War era. Then in high school or middle school the WW2 media explosion of the late 90’s kicks off with ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and a million movies, video games, shows and books building up military service, patriotism, and the sacrifices of ‘the Greatest Generation’ come out and permeate the culture. Then a couple years later 9/11 happens when they’re either college age or near the end of high school. Of course many of them joined up, seemingly oblivious to what had been learned by the Vietnam generation the hard way.
    I was twenty when 9/11 happened, and seriously considered joining when I was in college at the time. However, I had been such a military history nerd, had read everything from ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ to Vietnam era books like ‘Dispatches’ since I was very young that I just didn’t bite the bait. I already knew about the Pentagon Papers, and what my government was capable of sacrificing for economic interests and unreachable political goals. Everything I’ve seen play out in Afghanistan and Iraq since then tells me I made the right decision. This generation of soldiers was used for political and monetary gain by elites in the political and industrial power class, at the costs of thousands of lives, both US and Iraqi, and none of the people responsible for the decisions ever faced any consequences. Amazing…

    • @captainpawpawchannel
      @captainpawpawchannel Год назад +32

      So true. Itwould not have happened if USA was a real democracy

    • @XBKLYN
      @XBKLYN Год назад +1

      Truth......and the irony today is when the Cheney family says they want to save you from MAGA you know you've sunk to the lowest level possible.

    • @LetGo0007
      @LetGo0007 Год назад +34

      Thank you for the brief history about the movies, videos games, and military celebrities/characters. That is important context 🙏

    • @J.Wick.
      @J.Wick. Год назад +39

      This is a perfect description of that time, and it's media. Excellent fill in of extremely important context.

    • @markstewart4501
      @markstewart4501 Год назад

      You forgot to mention 80% of Americans identified as "Christian". For the dullards, this means it WAS NOT the other religious groups or the the atheist choosing the U.S. leadership. Christians sold their souls to Capitalism in the 80's. The irony that an actor from hollywood convinced those now fox news watching folks.

  • @josefadams647
    @josefadams647 Год назад +675

    That US Colonel is full of it. He is saying what his masters want him. You think he’s gonna say that the war wasn’t legit being active in the military?! A career man? 😂

    • @elanguevara1
      @elanguevara1 Год назад +45

      Everyone has a choice. God will judge him accordingly!

    • @Vampybattie
      @Vampybattie Год назад +2

      True 😂

    • @Jay-jb2vr
      @Jay-jb2vr Год назад +12

      Political Correctness goes a long way

    • @pepperachu
      @pepperachu Год назад +37

      The way he smiled when he answered, "love" was creepy

    • @EckRD
      @EckRD Год назад +3

      At that time( 2002-2008), a lot of people were ready to volunteer during high school and out for blood. Like me.

  • @zimhoungz3438
    @zimhoungz3438 Год назад +254

    Who’s going to tell the story of the innocent people they killed and terrorized?

    • @realnapster1522
      @realnapster1522 Год назад

      Not US media. They never tell American public about their war crimes abroad 😢

    • @realnapster1522
      @realnapster1522 Год назад +59

      It’s funny how Americans are now calling Putin a war criminal. Hypocrisy should have some limits. 😂

    • @ela5746
      @ela5746 Год назад +23

      Yeah, there are hundreds of thousands of stories missing in these interviews coming out.
      Like the one of Samar Hassan, whose innocent parents were shot and killed by US troops in front of her as a 5 year old, and of her 11 year old brother who was also shot but survived and was left paralysed. The photo of her covered in blood immediately after the incident many would be familiar with as it has become one of the most influential historical photos of all time.
      Although it is overwhelming to think that her story exists not only in the hundreds of thousands of deaths which her parents were part of but in the millions of Iraqis who were witnesses, relatives, friends of these people. Iraqis were, as you said, terrorised on a scale that completely eclipses the couple thousand casualties of the Coalition. Of course every death is a tragedy and America rightfully feels great loss and pain from this war, but it feels absurd to completely ignore the further horrors which largely make up the real story of the Iraq War.

    • @secrets.295
      @secrets.295 Год назад +27

      It always amazes me that Americans always see themselves as victims even though they are the monster 😂

    • @tabo01
      @tabo01 Год назад +8

      @@secrets.295 And then we make movies about how we are victims. Priceless.

  • @christonngoveni8438
    @christonngoveni8438 Год назад +157

    Captain Johnson saying the war was worth it just to keep his position in the Military. Look at his mouth and eyes, full of horror and terror, i wish him a good state of mind.

    • @catherinealexander6705
      @catherinealexander6705 Год назад

      No he said it was worth it because of the way Hussain abused his people. Husan cast is on people while drinking in his religious. Don't forget the facts

    • @PavelAVasilevich
      @PavelAVasilevich Год назад +7

      Colonel now

    • @MB-rq4ss
      @MB-rq4ss Год назад

      Captain Johnson is a Soulless human being. No regrets after freeing the people of Irak from a tirant by humiliating then and killing then on the order of Liar and war criminal Bush.

    • @zacharydavidvbangura9873
      @zacharydavidvbangura9873 Год назад +8

      I hope he repent.

    • @etheu9sby292
      @etheu9sby292 Год назад +1

      Or he might believe it.

  • @Oceansta
    @Oceansta Год назад +198

    Imagine what the Iraqis went through if you think it was that bad for the aggressors.

    • @usernameanon3111
      @usernameanon3111 Год назад

      They don’t care. They view us middle easterns as subhumans so what’s the problem if 400k subhumans living in a desert die but god forbid one of our soldiers can’t sleep at night because of the Atrocities they committed 😥

    • @BigKnecht
      @BigKnecht Год назад +30

      These evil, whining self pitying demons don't care about their victims. Only about themselves.

    • @secrets.295
      @secrets.295 Год назад

      ​@@BigKnechtExactly. I am so sick with Americans and how they always play victim even though they were the devil.

    • @dertypderhalt
      @dertypderhalt 11 месяцев назад +9

      ​@@BigKnechttalking about americans?

    • @grandcanyon-d4d
      @grandcanyon-d4d 10 месяцев назад +1

      ​@@dertypderhalti think so

  • @corneliusrupert7354
    @corneliusrupert7354 Год назад +573

    "WAR is a RACKET. It always has been.
    It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives." - Two Time Medal of Honor Recipient USMC Major General Smedley Butler (1935)

    • @soledieairvideos5974
      @soledieairvideos5974 Год назад +14

      What a man! It’s sand that it took him so many years carrying out the empire’s bidding but I’m glad that he eventually learned the truth and used the rest of his years to fight against it.

    • @Jack-oz4bf
      @Jack-oz4bf Год назад +11

      Thank you for posting this and I say this as a Marine.

    • @jayklink851
      @jayklink851 Год назад +18

      If you were to buy $10,000 in stock of America's top five defense contractors on September 10th, 2001;15 years later, that initial 10k investment, after dividends, would be worth $100,0000. There is an article explaining somewhere out there out there.
      On a side note, my uncle participated in the invasions; not as infantrymen, but in a support role, he was there for 18 months straight. When he retired, he was in parts and acquisitions for a Forward support Company. And according to him, they would buy thousands of screw drivers (in bulk) for $70 a piece. A civilian, however, could by those same screwdrivers, with the exact same model number, at Walmart for $8.

    • @rickycrawford9807
      @rickycrawford9807 Год назад +4

      @@jayklink851 my father deployed twice to iraq once to dismantle the Iraqi army and once to fight the foreign fighters who's sole purpose was to kill Americans the way the budget works is what you don't use you lose growing up on military bases we were buying vehicles almost every week just fill up the motor pool and they would sit there for years warehouses upon warehouses upon weapons and gear that just got moved around and was never issued anywhere it's amazing how money works in a war and in a military budget I remember listening in while soldiers complained about their brothers being killed because of inadequate vehicles and how the politicians put the MRAP truck on hold for years we spend billions of dollars but it's never in the interest of our troops or the citizens alot of men would be alive today and a lot more would have all their limbs it's infuriating

    • @peni1641
      @peni1641 Год назад +5

      Ik someone who served in Iraq, they said it was just business & confirmed they something in the opium poppy fields, but they didn't have jurisdiction to get involved.

  • @GoldenBloodyBeared
    @GoldenBloodyBeared Год назад +136

    what about the media's role in all of this? a bit of self reflection never hurts

    • @fluxcapacitor1621
      @fluxcapacitor1621 Год назад

      Republicans are to blame.

    • @gabrieljohannson6777
      @gabrieljohannson6777 Год назад +9

      Absolutely!

    • @IceAxe1940
      @IceAxe1940 Год назад

      ​@@fluxcapacitor1621 Oh piss off both Democrats and Republicans have blood on their hands, your daddy Biden was very supportive of this war so was Hitleray.

    • @realnapster1522
      @realnapster1522 Год назад +11

      Media, politicians, public. All of those people who went ahead with this war crime.

    • @tabo01
      @tabo01 Год назад

      What the DoD learned in Viet nam was CONTROL THE MEDIA, so they came up with "embedded journalists" propaganda

  • @miriamwells35
    @miriamwells35 Год назад +83

    My grandfather was suicidal starting about 20 years after his service in WW2 fighting the Japanese in SE Asia and then as part of occupation forces there for several years, going into Nagasaki shortly after bomb was dropped there. What disturbed him more than the war itself were the business deals being made both before and after the war.

  • @AA-zs7jw
    @AA-zs7jw Год назад +15

    US soldiers died for nothing.
    Iraqi people defended their land and they're the true heroes.

    • @gamecraze3905
      @gamecraze3905 Год назад

      The insurgents? Hell no! 95% of civilian deaths were because of them. The World isn’t black and white, especially when it comes to conflicts

  • @h.b.7104
    @h.b.7104 Год назад +221

    Proud of the Iraqi people for resisting the illegal invasion of their country. They are the heroes.

    • @felizamarro1508
      @felizamarro1508 Год назад +71

      They are the true victims. The rich countries really need to change their narrative.

    • @catherinealexander6705
      @catherinealexander6705 Год назад

      Too bad Hassan invited the United States to invade him for gassing his people

    • @cashewnuttel9054
      @cashewnuttel9054 Год назад +11

      @@felizamarro1508 I will say this every time I see comments like this: they won't.
      The only way to make them change their ways is if they get invaded, defeated, and surrender on their soil.

    • @claudiaclaudia936
      @claudiaclaudia936 Год назад +1

      @@cashewnuttel9054 never fold never bend =W

    • @WJWeber
      @WJWeber Год назад

      I’d do it again

  • @samnous2002
    @samnous2002 Год назад +78

    The two reasons for the invasion did not include "removing a dictator and freeing his people," especially because it was the US that had helped Saddam to power to begin with. The two reasons were that Saddam was linked to Al-Qaeda and that he had weapons of mass destruction. Both of them were false allegations. Just like the Vietnam war before it and the Afghanistan war after it, the US lost that war.

    • @brentdavidson1
      @brentdavidson1 Год назад +5

      truth and adds to the lack of accountability the US media has held to political leaders

    • @bipslone8880
      @bipslone8880 Год назад +7

      @@brentdavidson1 How about the people that signed up for this illegal war..... all these people seem to lack of accountability

    • @secrets.295
      @secrets.295 Год назад

      Removing a dictator? U really think this is the reason? If that's the case then go and remove Kim Jogn Un and Xi Jin Ping. But no, America is a coward. They only bully weak nations. Whether Saddam is a dictator or not that is none of America's business. The real reason is because Israhell wants Saddam out. Saddam is a threat to Israhell and they don't like it so they created the 9/11 when it's obvious that they are the ones responsible for the attack. And now Israhell wants Iran out.

    • @adewilson132
      @adewilson132 9 месяцев назад

      @@bipslone8880keep crying.

    • @bipslone8880
      @bipslone8880 9 месяцев назад

      @@adewilson132 keep being evil

  • @MightyTiki
    @MightyTiki Год назад +356

    War is a terrible human experience that no one should have to experience, regardless if you wear a uniform or just an innocent bystander. I hope all that were involved in Iraq: combatants, insurgents, civilians, and anyone who experienced this horrific event are able to find some comfort and peace. Great story ABC.

    • @cashewnuttel9054
      @cashewnuttel9054 Год назад

      But sometimes countries get what they want via war.
      Also, why become a soldier if you can't handle it. A soldier is paid to follow orders, if those orders involves killing 10 pregnant women you do it because that is your job.

    • @feeedom
      @feeedom Год назад +9

      For US and EU its business.for their life

    • @feeedom
      @feeedom Год назад

      @Joe Mama but it happen ad real that EU aand US need war for their economy, and interest.
      They can product weapon and sell it to the other country.

    • @meself349
      @meself349 Год назад

      Georgie Bush never had to worry about finding equanimity again after the horrors of a war that he created but got to watch at a same distance along with the rest of his family. Apparently being a bona fide war criminal who invaded another country for no legitimate reason never seemed to have weighed too heavily on his conscience. Enjoying his retirement now playing golf and painting his stupid paintings.

    • @FaceFcuk
      @FaceFcuk Год назад

      Bush and Blair should be in prison

  • @supermanny865
    @supermanny865 Год назад +266

    It's sad that the captain doesn't regret the Iraq invasion. How does he sleep at night knowing he and his colleagues killed a million innocent people

    • @PavelAVasilevich
      @PavelAVasilevich Год назад +13

      Colonel

    • @catherinealexander6705
      @catherinealexander6705 Год назад

      He doesn't regret it because he knows it had to be done. Hassan was having us seeing pictures of dogs with little bandanas being ghast with cyanide gas to scare USA. He killed five thousand of his own his own blood. I wouldn't regret it either. Getting rid of a madman that's going to kill off his own people wow he's trying to kill versus regret no-brainer.

    • @cashewnuttel9054
      @cashewnuttel9054 Год назад

      A lot of people just don't have any conscience, like Himmler or Mao Zedong.

    • @doubled57690
      @doubled57690 Год назад +11

      @@PavelAVasilevich you mean NZI

    • @Tony-mq5yo
      @Tony-mq5yo Год назад

      He must be brained washed. Too much TV

  • @ashifabedin
    @ashifabedin Год назад +132

    no mass weapons....just oil

    • @tomedwards6354
      @tomedwards6354 Год назад

      There were indeed WMDs. Millennials, the personification of evil. From provoking their classmates to shoot up the school to provoking the nation into Godless Wokeness.

    • @mattyjay1711
      @mattyjay1711 Год назад +5

      no creativity, just another unoriginal statement.

    • @RobertK1993
      @RobertK1993 Год назад

      Got there ahead of China

    • @anticoomer
      @anticoomer Год назад +17

      Not even about the oil. Literally all for Israel

    • @realnapster1522
      @realnapster1522 Год назад +2

      It’s funny how Americans are now calling Putin a war criminal. Hypocrisy should have some limits. 😂

  • @victoriaw4137
    @victoriaw4137 Год назад +11

    a beautifully raw segment, thank you for putting so much thoughtfulness into how to tell the story of such a difficult experience

    • @bipslone8880
      @bipslone8880 Год назад

      More difficult than the hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraq civilians killed in this illegal war?

  • @jay_blade2819
    @jay_blade2819 Год назад +103

    You could tell that marine colonel was wanting to tell the truth, but swore to never tell the truth.

    • @barkobummer
      @barkobummer Год назад +1

      with the amount of profits made, i too would lie my a55 off.

    • @jay_blade2819
      @jay_blade2819 Год назад

      @@barkobummer money may seem good but at the end of the day you still will have guilty conscience especially when you lost friends over someone’s greed.

    • @secrets.295
      @secrets.295 Год назад +3

      The temptations of blood money was too hard to resist for him

    • @adelinod.5568
      @adelinod.5568 Год назад +1

      @@secrets.295 How much money does a US Marines Colonel make?

    • @virginiaarthur5
      @virginiaarthur5 13 дней назад

      @@adelinod.5568 not as much as you think like 200,000

  • @marc2638
    @marc2638 Год назад +61

    I was there 19 years ago in April. Spent 17 months in Iraq and like that marine put it, I've been in the deep end ever since. I did a total of 6 deployments 3 of which were in the middle east. Nothings been the same nothing ever will be the same that's just the way it is now. One thing I try not to do is stop and look back, I a get lost.

    • @thebronzetoo
      @thebronzetoo Год назад +4

      Keep your chin up, brother. Keep the faith and keep looking forward.

    • @thebronzetoo
      @thebronzetoo Год назад

      @@TR8jhlo He had more than 17 months of service, dumb fk. Learn how to read.

    • @emeyeare
      @emeyeare Год назад +1

      Brother God knows what’s in ur heart and ur intentions. We all make mistakes, if you’re truly sorry for ur mistakes He will forgive you…u wanted to help, maybe u were tricked by the ones starting the wars…they will pay for all of what they’ve done, in Iraq and to the vets who have to suffer for the experience…those ppl who sacrificed all that to make their pockets fatter

    • @roberthernandez1141
      @roberthernandez1141 Год назад

      Appreciate u brother

    • @alfonsoramirez367
      @alfonsoramirez367 Год назад

      I been thinking off joining the marine corps

  • @ElenaMZapata
    @ElenaMZapata Год назад +51

    “If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie.”
    Tim O'Brien

    • @RUSure-jm9rp
      @RUSure-jm9rp Год назад

      You’re still lying to yourselves. You went there for the business of oil, your friends and the people of Iraq died because some people wanted their oil and used you as a tool to get control of it.

  • @battlechaser9
    @battlechaser9 Год назад +226

    I can't believe it's been 20 years. Its funny how a few images brings so much memories back. I remember 9-11 and how I wanted vengeance. I remember when we were in Kuwait waiting to crossover. MOPP 2 for almost a month, that sandstorm, the confusion getting to the objectives, the people hurt, the elation that we were in Baghdad, the audacity of driving around Baghdad with a soft humvee with no doors, the shots coming from nowhere, the RPGs, the IEDs, going back, different RoEs, uncertain missions, making and losing friends, coming home, finding out about the lie, the betrayal, the detachments. There's always a question in my mind being in multiple OIF and OEF deployments, what was the point?

    • @claudiaclaudia936
      @claudiaclaudia936 Год назад +4

      WAR GAMES=DESERT TRAINING

    • @GweGwe-lu9ob
      @GweGwe-lu9ob Год назад

      All lies. The war on terror is a lie. 4,000 American soldiers died and millions of dollars and innocents for what nothing. They didn’t knock down the twin towers we all know who did.

    • @John-ct9zs
      @John-ct9zs Год назад +1

      When you were there, did it ever occur to you that you are seeking vengeance on the wrong people? Iraq didn't attack America on 9-11. Most of the hijackers were Saudis, but we didn't go attack them, oh wait that's right they are our customers/partners in OIL.

    • @Berm_Blaster
      @Berm_Blaster Год назад +4

      Regardless, thank you for your sacrifice and service. One question, what was it like being in that massive sandstorm? I can't imagine.

    • @Benshafran
      @Benshafran Год назад +11

      when Iraq entered Kuwait, America became angry and sent troops, at this time Russia entered Ukraine, and America was powerless, why? now you have an equal opponent militarily, that's why america is afraid to interfere. LoL

  • @leolee5907
    @leolee5907 Год назад +15

    So basically for every 100 U.S soldiers that died 4000 civilians was killed 😢😢😢😢 and in the end nobody won our troops were left traumatized with little to no help when they returned and Iraq was destroyed and yet to recover. No more wars #WorldPeace☮️ #PeaceOnEarth☮️

  • @Soulessdeeds
    @Soulessdeeds Год назад +112

    I haft to wonder how much of that officers answer about the war is due to him still being in uniform vs becoming a veteran. I have to think inside he might have a different answer. When I deployed to Iraq for the first ever rotation in. I also thought we were there to help and do good. And after I left I knew they hated our guts. All of my uncles x2 stories who served in the Marines during Vietnam. Their stories range hard in my mind. I did 3 tours in Iraq with the first two being hard tours, allot of funerals. The 3rd was my last as I was injured. After how Iraq ended. I honestly don't feel any of it was worth the lives of my friends. I feel like their lives were thrown away in another pointless war we should have never been in. Afghanistan was just Vietnam 3 at this point. And now people want to throw our nations kids into another war over seas. Maybe 2 wars at the same time. Its just insane how ok we are with this in the US these days.

    • @exelsuremovers8889
      @exelsuremovers8889 Год назад

      you are a fucked up human being if you only care about how the war took the lives of just your friends. how about the innocent Iraqis, or the country you destroyed? you deserve the injury and your friends deserve the death. I pray your friends' deaths was under painful circumstances. you imperialist swine

    • @soledieairvideos5974
      @soledieairvideos5974 Год назад

      Yeah it makes me so angry that people are trying to push into a war with China. Why can’t we just mind our own affairs here at home?

    • @c2ccontracting47
      @c2ccontracting47 Год назад +1

      ''And now people want to throw our nations kids into another war over seas.''
      Thankfully there's no chance US troops will fight Russians in Ukraine, if that's what you mean.

    • @secrets.295
      @secrets.295 Год назад +1

      It's unbelievable how ignorant u are even after serving. Saddam was ruthless because he had to be. The Kurds hated him back then, now they are crying for him to come back from the dead. That is something u Americans will never understand because life is so easy for u. U live in your own little bubble with your privileged lifestyle. U don't have a problem so u create problems. America invaded Iraq, killing millions, forever destroying Iraq's economy, stealing hundreds of billions of oil revenue and then only to replace Saddam with somebody 50x worse. Its not enough that you create problems at home, you have to create problems in other countries as well. And here you are feeling sorry about young privileged Americans who are about to be drafted. How about showing some sympathy about the millions of lives lost that you participated in.

    • @saadx7724
      @saadx7724 Год назад +17

      It wasnt worth the lives of your friends? The people who voluntarily joined, of course not. But what about the hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi lives lost, and the millions of lives ruined, people who had no choice in the matter, do they hold any value?

  • @ialokinnefah
    @ialokinnefah Год назад +61

    Do you think it would feel bizarre watching Russian soldiers being interviewed 20 years from now saying "It was worth it" when being asked about invading Ukraine? Yes? Watching all those veteran interviews coming out recently is exactly how it feels for much of the world today.

    • @pocu321
      @pocu321 Год назад +6

      Actually....interview veterans of the Soviet-Afghan war....

    • @anthonyrez7000
      @anthonyrez7000 Год назад

      its like if russia took over canada or mexico and put warheads and military bases on your doorstep. What would you do if you were russia? You have to protect your people, america and the UN has gone too far.

    • @stormysky5177
      @stormysky5177 Год назад

      Let me borrow from James Bond movie dialogue, "....Think on your sins", the US and NATO. On this Ukraine Russia war, If you have not pushed the red line, none of this would have happen. Let me remind all this self righteous American, when the Soviet deployed missiles in Cuba so close to the American soil, WTF did you American threatened to do?

    • @AHappyCub
      @AHappyCub Год назад +6

      As much as i dislike the current conflict in Ukraine, the majority of the blame belongs to the US and its puppets for pressuring Russia while acting innocent to the world, people forget that NATO is a military alliance to counter the USSR, now USSR was generally neutral at first, but the moment West Germany became part of it, USSR formed the Warsaw pact, and the fact that NATO still exist AND expanding to this day understandably worries Russia, especially how exposed their heartland is historically. I also would like to emphasize that there is no such thing as right or wrong in diplomacy and relations between nations, and it is completely different to relations between 2 or more people

    • @RobertEsteve-f6m
      @RobertEsteve-f6m Год назад

      They won't be alive yo hice any interviews

  • @Massomvlog
    @Massomvlog Год назад +10

    They have killed millions of children... And they are still free... How injustice!!!

    • @nas84payne
      @nas84payne Месяц назад

      When you find out about the many war crimes the US has committed in history, it makes your blood boil.

  • @Jacob-lj8
    @Jacob-lj8 6 месяцев назад +3

    My Dad was a Marine in the War he was shot Md stabbed and blown up he lost a lot of friends he lived he has PTSD and he has really bad pain and lost his teeth GOD BLESS him and all the other SOLDIERS AMEN

  • @mcboyz1173
    @mcboyz1173 Год назад +5

    His daughter is beautiful and looks like her father. Thank you sir for giving your time and life on behalf of the country we live.

  • @ferminchapa6254
    @ferminchapa6254 Год назад +14

    I went to Iraq In 04-05, I needed to hear this.

  • @sendittobrandon2012
    @sendittobrandon2012 Год назад +116

    It’s crazy I just turned 24 I’m almost done with college. And I’ve been seriously considering joining doing my part while I’m still young and able too. But that guy literally said “I felt like I sold my body”

    • @sartajaziz5930
      @sartajaziz5930 Год назад +79

      Take my advice and don't. Just trust me.

    • @tts1551
      @tts1551 Год назад +63

      hey brother, please, don't do it.. you'll be fighting wars that are not yours

    • @soldieron9965
      @soldieron9965 Год назад +16

      Don’t do it, unless you’re going to get a profesión out of it. Or you wanna be in the rear with the gear, lol, Don’t just be canon fodder.

    • @johncelis2746
      @johncelis2746 Год назад +48

      As an Army Vet just got out the Military 4 months ago. I highly advise you to not join the military. Its not worth dealing with leaders that don’t give 2 shits about you. Please pursue your civilian dreams brotha

    • @RamSoulja86
      @RamSoulja86 Год назад +12

      I'm currently serving. YES, the military can take you places and COULD give you a jumpstart in life, but at what COST. I never agreed with going into Iraq as a response for 9/11. Funny thing is I felt that way as a teen in HS. I joined the Army in 2004 as a means to support myself because I believed that no one was going to or able to support me. There are good AND bad people in and around the military. So if you do join, be smart about your choices and remember that PEOPLE are the reason the military gets the black eyes it gets. PEOPLE!

  • @kenosabi
    @kenosabi Месяц назад +3

    The US government owes this generation a hell of a lot more then they've ever given it.

  • @SeanSalas
    @SeanSalas Год назад +15

    “Probably some of the Iraqis wonder why we are force feeding them this system meanwhile back home our system it self is broken.”

  • @BaNDA-0
    @BaNDA-0 Год назад +17

    युद्ध से कभी किसी का भला नहीं हुआ और न आगे होगा सबसे ज्यादा क्षति आम लोगों की होती है जो मर गए या विस्थापन का दंश झेलते हैं

  • @coastcity7029
    @coastcity7029 Год назад +40

    It's terribly sad, and a national disgrace, that these vets felt abandoned and so misunderstood when they returned home. Our country faced the same mental health issues when troops came back from the Vietnam War. I've worked with many Vietnam veterans, and it's disturbing how similar their experiences and sentiments are to these men's.

    • @onedey-2229
      @onedey-2229 Год назад +11

      That is karma, God never sleep.

    • @secrets.295
      @secrets.295 Год назад +1

      Who gives an F over these soldiers? These are the faces of murderers and r*pists. F them. Millions of Iraqis died in these soldiers hands. To hell with them. Lol.

    • @Chatterbox-94
      @Chatterbox-94 Год назад +4

      Iraq was my generation’s Vietnam. I’ll always look at it that way. Soldiers die from suicide not just because of PTSD. But because they weren’t greeted with respect, only judgement, and disagreement.

    • @bipslone8880
      @bipslone8880 Год назад

      Screw all of these war criminals..... hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraq civilians dead.... blood on their hands.... don't ever try and pass the buck..... If you were involved in the Iraq war, you are a war crimininal.

    • @secrets.295
      @secrets.295 Год назад +4

      ​@@Chatterbox-94Soldiers are treated like angels in America with everybody saying "thank you for your services" when they are worse than the devil themselves.

  • @sonnyanaya1877
    @sonnyanaya1877 Год назад +8

    It’s crazy it’s been 14 years since I returned from afghan. I always think about my deployment but watching this video makes it feel like it was yesterday.

    • @secrets.295
      @secrets.295 Год назад

      You are a murderer. I hope u have a miserable life

  • @logank444
    @logank444 Год назад +59

    As a Navy Veteran you suffer not just from combat but the loss of identity when you get home. I loved the Navy and when I became a civilian it took years to recover. I know combat just intensifies that feeling of loneliness and isolation. I've known a few guys who have committed suicide.

    • @secrets.295
      @secrets.295 Год назад +19

      Those committed suicide are the punishment for them after committing war crimes over an unjust war

    • @logank444
      @logank444 Год назад +3

      @@secrets.295 But we serviced in Japan on the ocean, never seen combat or fought in war

    • @rael5469
      @rael5469 Год назад +5

      "I loved the Navy and when I became a civilian it took years to recover."
      What??? Why ???

    • @rael5469
      @rael5469 Год назад +3

      @@logank444 " But we serviced in Japan on the ocean, never seen combat or fought in war"
      Then what is all the mental anguish about? ...for crying out loud.

    • @logank444
      @logank444 Год назад +6

      @@rael5469 I honestly don't know, veterans of every branch have high suicides rates like really high. I believe it's the loss of identity and the loss of your group. You become so close to people, more than friends or family. You have the best and worst days of your life with these people. Then when you're done it's over in a blink. The military doesn't give you the skills to be a civilian and in America a civilian life is really very lonely

  • @FancySeeingYouHere
    @FancySeeingYouHere Год назад +3

    I love reading all these comments from people who have never seen war, never taken indirect or been in a firefight.

  • @classicjonesy
    @classicjonesy Год назад +12

    I live a world away from both USA and Iraq but I'm in tears watching this.. RIP Edwards /salute

  • @RamSoulja86
    @RamSoulja86 Год назад +12

    Sooooooo for all the people commenting and expressing disdain against the US military, REMEMBER that the military ITSELF didn't make this decision to go to war with Iraq. You ALL know who started this. That man is still around if you believe he should be held accountable for his actions. Hell, I would NOT be the least bit surprised if you all voted for the guy!

    • @pocu321
      @pocu321 Год назад

      ""One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line." President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998.
      "If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program." President Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998.
      "Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face." Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998.
      "He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983." Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998
      "[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs." Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens. Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others Oct. 9, 1998.
      "Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998.
      He had a precedential cheering section...All of them are criminal.

    • @fiv3passion968
      @fiv3passion968 Год назад +2

      And who you think the military is working for? 🤡

    • @ReneMacias1978
      @ReneMacias1978 Год назад

      The sad thing is they did vote for him. Or more specifically the aparatus that represents the deep/security state.

    • @ReneMacias1978
      @ReneMacias1978 Год назад

      ​@FIV3 Passion We work for the people of the United States through their elected representatives. We swore an oath to that. Not our fault our politicians are corrupt fools protected by a bought and paid for media industrial complex.

  • @arjunkc3227
    @arjunkc3227 Год назад +7

    War in iraq was usa fault. There was no risk to usa from iraq. War in afghanistan is justifiable as terrorists attacked usa but we should have returned from afghanistan after laden was killed. Another 10 years in afghan was a waste for usa.

  • @BamaFanUSMC
    @BamaFanUSMC Год назад +1

    1sgt your daughter is beautiful and she's doing something for her community and that started all from you......RIP

  • @michaeltudda8462
    @michaeltudda8462 Год назад +9

    I remember this specific gentleman Mr. Smith. I was not in the war, but I remember this scene. I am Navy Veteran, Semper Fi.

  • @lcmlcm2460
    @lcmlcm2460 Год назад +11

    I’m blown away by the suicide rate and homelessness percentage. Kinda pisses me off

    • @suckthis1152
      @suckthis1152 Год назад

      When people murder women and children they sold their soul to the devil and then he calls for it

    • @fluxcapacitor1621
      @fluxcapacitor1621 Год назад +3

      Failed Republican policies in action.

  • @HighwayLand
    @HighwayLand Год назад +19

    My Grandpa was a Marine back in Korea, and I always looked up to him for what he did for our Country. I wanted to be like him, I almost joined the Marines right out of high school back in 1999, but my Grandpa told me that if I stayed home that he would cover all my college expenses. I never did join the Marines, instead I did two years Pensacola Christian College and two years at Rogue Community College, and here I am 20 years later as a Paramedic in Medford, Oregon. My Grandpa saved my life, his actions kept me out of harm's way.
    My thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by this .

    • @michaeldalton8374
      @michaeldalton8374 Год назад

      What did he do for your country in Korea? Nothing but more death for profit was accomplished there.

  • @71518
    @71518 Год назад +14

    04:37 And that's how the Empire wants to hold the rest of the world.

    • @catherinealexander6705
      @catherinealexander6705 Год назад +5

      Barbara most of us in the United States would be just as happy to stop supporting the rest of the world while their leaders have every damn thing and their people are starving to death. We would like to see those starving people overthrow their own leaving monarchies and solve their own problems. But nobody asked us. Do you want to worry about empires you might want to look at the Soviet Union and see if they'll treat you better. North Korea does not have very many lights or water but it looks like the leaders of the country or eating all right...

    • @doubled57690
      @doubled57690 Год назад

      @@catherinealexander6705 the usa fcking installed Saddam...... then when that pro usa regime changed the usa didn't like it.... the usa supported Guatemala genocide, POL POT was supported by usa...... think about that! think. This is the same usa that hasn't changed while russia did. Modern russia has killed far less civilians than usa has in 21st century.....

    • @realnapster1522
      @realnapster1522 Год назад

      It’s funny how Americans are now calling Putin a war criminal. Hypocrisy should have some limits. 😂

    • @fabiofernandes9122
      @fabiofernandes9122 Год назад

      @@realnapster1522 he is a war criminal.

  • @gbb82
    @gbb82 Год назад +17

    I can’t believe it’s been 20 years already, 18 for me because I went there in 2005.

    • @TheBellroc
      @TheBellroc Год назад

      All for corrupt George bush

    • @lilyaefjsfke7805
      @lilyaefjsfke7805 Год назад

      It's been 18 for my father, he went there mid 2005.

    • @whatsmikedoin
      @whatsmikedoin Год назад +4

      Thank you for your service and sacrifice

    • @secrets.295
      @secrets.295 Год назад

      ​@@whatsmikedoin For killing and r*ping people all over a war that was based on lies to begin with. What is there to thank?

    • @equityjustice2695
      @equityjustice2695 Год назад

      Really? 😕😒 Thanks for what? They are war criminals

  • @johanvoellner1849
    @johanvoellner1849 Год назад +2

    I also have a lot of empathy for that kid, god bless him.

    • @bipslone8880
      @bipslone8880 Год назад

      More difficult than the hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraq civilians killed in this illegal war? F every American involved in this illigal war

  • @Matice21
    @Matice21 Год назад +5

    Imagine going to war with your friends hoping to find these weapons of mass destruction and leave with the guilt of killing innocent civilians and coming home without your friends

  • @orlandos145
    @orlandos145 7 месяцев назад +3

    I loss my brother after the war. I don't know what killed him, no one at the military hospital said anything. I still hurt.

  • @Propain4eva
    @Propain4eva Год назад +4

    A message to Americans: Always question your government. Never let them have full control. Be grateful you have that freedom

  • @RoadWarrior-lo9vt
    @RoadWarrior-lo9vt Год назад +3

    1st Sergeant Smith would be incredibly proud of his daughter. She is impressive.

  • @zevlove612
    @zevlove612 Год назад +2

    If the soldiers came back with PTSD what more the lifetime of horrors for civilians in Iraq… the children whose homes where being flattened …

  • @MatthewNislein
    @MatthewNislein Год назад +18

    Col giving that answer trying to get promoted to Brigadier General 😂

  • @nevah5982
    @nevah5982 3 месяца назад +2

    Was it really worth it? I'm an Aussie with many veteran friends. Most of them are dead by suicide. U.S.A. says jump and we say how high? How long are we going to keep just to the right of the U.S.A.? Would they help us in an illegal conflict? Would they? I think not. It's time for Aussies to be Aussies and not the U.S.A.'s lapdog. We need to grow up and make our own decisions.

  • @fahmyayoob5775
    @fahmyayoob5775 Год назад +13

    I don't care about the 4000 American dead , they went looking for it . I mourn all those Iraqi civilians that died at the hands of American soldiers and American presence.

    • @bodhiutah4501
      @bodhiutah4501 Год назад

      Yeah, but most of the Iraqi civilians killed were done so, not by the US, but those in the terrorist organizations. They hid behind kids, hospitals and schools. If they weren't killing their fellow muslims due to being Shia or sunni, they fought the US and other countries.

    • @cycologist7069
      @cycologist7069 5 месяцев назад +1

      Why can't you care about both?

  • @PenelopePitstop888
    @PenelopePitstop888 Год назад +3

    So much love and respect for those who went through this war and hope these veterans can heal.

    • @bipslone8880
      @bipslone8880 Год назад

      BS..... war criminals

    • @secrets.295
      @secrets.295 Год назад +5

      Why should u give an F over a few thousand soldiers? You should be sad over the millions of Children who died, left orphaned and left hungry thanx to this proxy war.

    • @PenelopePitstop888
      @PenelopePitstop888 Год назад +1

      @@secrets.295 how was the war in Iraq a proxy war? And it's people like you who think they can dictate how someone else feels or thinks who is the danger to all.

    • @ismailibrahim9308
      @ismailibrahim9308 Год назад

      @@PenelopePitstop888 the US invaded Iraq because sadam was dictator right then why the could'nt do the same to Russia and Putin, u cowards just targeting weak countries bulshit

    • @secrets.295
      @secrets.295 Год назад

      ​@@PenelopePitstop888It was a proxy war because the US is only going to war for Isra-hell. Just look at their daily newspaper back in the early 2000s. Their headlines are always, who should we go to war with next? Should we go to war with Iraq or Iran? If we go to war with them will America back us? Ever since you people created the state of Isra-hel the middle east has been a living hell and to this day you are still giving billions to Isra-hel every single year so that they an kil" more people.
      And btw, I have been to Iraq during the height of the war as a non American humanitarian worker. American soldiers are EVIL. I saw one incident where a young girl was r@#$ by multiple soldiers at a back alley. It was traumatizing and I will never forget it. I am not telling you how to think, I am telling you I am disgusted that you showed sympathy to the vets who are war criminals, while showing zero sympathy towards the civilians.

  • @fuffoon
    @fuffoon Год назад +5

    I was so happy to be retiring when this was getting thick. I had no belief in the mission and used my time invested to follow my conscience. WMD my as.

  • @heavygunz0331
    @heavygunz0331 2 месяца назад

    Our Fallen will be forever missed and we will keep their memories alive within our hearts forever. Getsome Brothers.

  • @Tripod9648
    @Tripod9648 Год назад +3

    “Tho he still plays his guitar, the tone is different.”
    One of the most depressing quotes i’ll heard in a while…

  • @Chatterbox-94
    @Chatterbox-94 Год назад +3

    It’s still hard to believe it’s been 20 years. I wish I understood the true reality of the Iraq war when I was a kid. Now at 28 I know that the war was 90% lies 10% truth.

  • @CommonSenses101
    @CommonSenses101 Год назад +5

    No single politicians are held accountable for this unjustified war. So many Iraqi citizens, soldiers and Americans soldiers died based on a fat lie. 😢

  • @noah_am_i
    @noah_am_i 5 месяцев назад

    “I loved him.” Powerful.

  • @omarmaldonado9994
    @omarmaldonado9994 Год назад +4

    All these vets with a guilty conscious

  • @moriah1394
    @moriah1394 Год назад +3

    “No identity” that is what real ptsd does to a person.I hope we start caring about young children and adults with cPTSD and not “just” military casualties (also not assume all veterans were subjected to war nor in same way). The non active military in this video are still being brave speaking up and out now. Thank you.

  • @FabledCity
    @FabledCity Год назад +17

    Watched this from my hotel room in Baghdad while visiting the city exactly 20 years later. These stories were touching, these all seem like great dudes who fulfilled a commitment they knew to be right and just, Saddam was a nightmare who in his past had used chemical weapons but the invasion was not justified then nor justifiable in hindsight now. Iraq is just now finally pulling itself out of this mess. And the war isn't totally over as about 2500 Americans are still here. It needs to be ok to both support these men and their valor while also condemning the war and its motives. This was the lesson we were supposed to have learned from Vietnam.

    • @giampaolomannucci8281
      @giampaolomannucci8281 Год назад +2

      the only lessons the US learnt from Vietnam is how to make the war more lucrative and the troops less rebellious

    • @sagapoetic8990
      @sagapoetic8990 Год назад

      Iraq is hardly pulling itself out of this mess. FYI, our government initially supported Saddam -- we backed him at the expense of the UK-backed al Qassim and then we armed Saddam against Iran. Oops?

  • @willymay-b6e
    @willymay-b6e 9 месяцев назад

    my father served in iraq, British special forces. i've never met the man but the stories i was told. are crazy to me but yet he is also a inspo for me to enlist.

  • @lazylad8544
    @lazylad8544 Год назад

    My daughter served in basra. She wasnt the same when she came home. Rip to ALL those who lost there lives.

  • @deslow7411
    @deslow7411 Год назад +9

    8:34 False. It's not love it's addiction. Combat adrenaline is a powerfull drug.

  • @neelysipes7793
    @neelysipes7793 Год назад

    Thank you for sharing this.

  • @jnucleo
    @jnucleo Год назад +5

    Smedley Butler was the marine that had the courage to tell the truth of the wars he fought for. But the one the Marines never like to discuss.

    • @armybeef68
      @armybeef68 Год назад

      You know what, I'll do it for you,
      This is his military career,
      "Military career
      Spanish-American War
      Philippine-American War (On garrison duty with little to do, Butler turned to alcohol to relieve the boredom. He once became drunk and was temporarily relieved of command after an unspecified incident in his room)
      Boxer Rebellion
      Banana Wars (Butler participated in a series of occupations, "police actions" and interventions by the United States in Central America and the Caribbean, later called the Banana Wars because their goal was to protect American commercial interests in the region, particularly those of the United Fruit Company)
      Honduras
      Central America
      Veracruz
      Haiti
      I don't see any real war listed, and when I do,
      World War I
      This is what I read,
      "During World War I Butler was, to his disappointment, not assigned to a combat command on the Western Front. He made several requests for a posting in France, writing letters to his personal friend, Wendell Cushing Neville. While Butler's superiors considered him brave and brilliant, they described him as "unreliable"
      So you're quoting someone you know nothing about.

    • @ReneMacias1978
      @ReneMacias1978 Год назад

      That's General Butler to you sir. The man who wrote; War is a racket..

  • @tyronegreen6165
    @tyronegreen6165 Год назад +2

    Thank you............

  • @dutybound525
    @dutybound525 Год назад +4

    The worse part for a veteran is fighting for the man next to you, knowing you fought for Washington politics for nothing.

  • @nndo6953
    @nndo6953 Год назад +1

    yeah it is tough, i remember iraq and afghanistan almost everyday.

  • @luisrivera3056
    @luisrivera3056 Год назад +4

    This country needs to do more for its soldiers, too often they are uprooted away from their families and deployed to other parts of the world without even giving a damn about the 2 or 3 month old child they recently had and now have to leave.. our military shouldnt take more from its soldiers than it gives!

    • @secrets.295
      @secrets.295 Год назад +1

      Blah3. Americans are always the victim. Its amazing how they always portray themselves as a victim even though they are the monster.

  • @alx.8721
    @alx.8721 Год назад

    9:54 - this.
    This is the question I’ve had for the last 12 years. Everyday there’s a battle within, I’m on my 3rd marriage/family being over, bouts of homelessness, addiction, BS

  • @tojoheriniainatsimalay5448
    @tojoheriniainatsimalay5448 Год назад +9

    imagine reporting an invasion and only focusing on the invaders' "pain" and "emotion"

    • @moengele7560
      @moengele7560 Год назад +2

      This people are evil…

    • @j.a.3138
      @j.a.3138 Год назад

      tell your people to have their own shows then? what's stopping them

    • @almontherobaid6492
      @almontherobaid6492 9 месяцев назад

      @@j.a.3138Mabey cuz they don’t have the luxury to complain on tv they’re trying to survive day and night.

  • @ranwaabughoush9492
    @ranwaabughoush9492 Год назад +2

    Interviews with war criminals everywhere on the internet. I want to see these channels center the voice of Iraqis who lost their home and loved ones because of these invaders. American exceptionalism will be the end of us.

  • @javiereguia1195
    @javiereguia1195 Год назад +14

    After the murderous invasion and destruction the officer uniform still won't admit it was literally dead wrong.

  • @patrick4662
    @patrick4662 Год назад

    This is so beautiful… and so tragic

  • @mohammedashiq4749
    @mohammedashiq4749 Год назад +4

    the newyork times video of the same was more clear that this ...the soldiers here suffer not just from the war but they actually found out they hit the wrong houses and targets and eliminated them...because they did as they were told...Sad part is they only got the time to heal themselves and not the victims...i hope some of them were true soldiers who did/do someting for the victims.

  • @filthywings353
    @filthywings353 Год назад +7

    I’ve seen enough “soldiers reflect” videos for one lifetime.
    Where is the video “ ABC editors reflect on the Iraq War?”
    Where is the video “Phil Donahue reflects on his firing from MSNBC for criticizing Bush”?
    Where is the video “How Knight Ridder tried to war about Iraq”?

    • @zzulm
      @zzulm Год назад +1

      Yes they promoted this war they have to be held accountable too.

  • @vietimports
    @vietimports Год назад +42

    never forget these guys werent even drafted, they joined willingly lmao

    • @tundrawomansays694
      @tundrawomansays694 Год назад +17

      Defacto, they’re economic conscripts. When there are no jobs, no future where you live your options are severely limited. And the recruiters are relentless.

    • @raven4475
      @raven4475 Год назад +6

      As Mrs Reagan would say.....
      " Just say NO "

    • @HughJass-313
      @HughJass-313 Год назад +2

      @@raven4475
      HELL to the NAW!
      😜

    • @etheu9sby292
      @etheu9sby292 Год назад

      ​@@tundrawomansays694 most are working and middle class who join. I joined a decade after the fact and the vast majority of us joined because we wanted to fight.

    • @Dennis-nc3vw
      @Dennis-nc3vw Год назад

      @@tundrawomansays694 Right, it's not like anyone could think overthrowing the most brutal dictator of the 21st century so people could elect their own government or stopping the precursors of ISIS from car bombing public markets in Iraq was actually a noble cause. It's not like anyone could have joined out of patriotism after the Afghan War, a war which 85% of Americans approved of. They must have been doing it for the money.

  • @thebilldozer7970
    @thebilldozer7970 Год назад +1

    The loss of identity is real. Life ended for most of us when we finally got back "home."

  • @DerDudelino
    @DerDudelino Год назад +12

    It's important to reflect on the cruelty the west has done to those people for no reason and I hope we'll never do it again.
    Kinda interesting that even former President Bush just recently called Iraq an unjust invasion. All those lives lost just so some
    assholes could line their pockets. When we can save people - you know like in Africa, against warlords that's a reason to deploy
    soldiers. Not to raid what was basically just a poor country that was unfortunate enough to have oil...

  • @toomylight2311
    @toomylight2311 Год назад +2

    Imagine e what the people in Gaza are facing into down the road

  • @Senny_sen
    @Senny_sen Год назад +6

    I don't blame the marines because they were told the same lies we were, but they had the opportunity to change the reality of future wars.

    • @barkobummer
      @barkobummer Год назад

      really?? That was precisely what Nutzie officers said during Nuremberg Tr!al too, "we're simply following orders". Yeah right.
      ALL who partcipated and said nothing are GU!LTY and must be remembered as such.
      Amarikans must be reminded of their war crimes and atrocities in all the nations they have invaded and destroyed from here henceforth, so they are not to conveniently forget like they did in Irak, Afghanistan, Yemen and even now in Syria, the rap!ing of the the country is still going on.

    • @pocu321
      @pocu321 Год назад +1

      "Have"....

    • @fluxcapacitor1621
      @fluxcapacitor1621 Год назад +1

      Conservatives are to blame.

    • @earthandwind820
      @earthandwind820 Год назад

      @@fluxcapacitor1621 The Iraqi invasion happened with bipartisan support…Biden himself supported it….Madeline Albright said killing 500,000 Iraqi kids was “worth it”…”Liberals” have rehabilitated Bush…
      Many “liberals” now scream “Slava Ukrain”….while whitewashing or trying to erase our genocidal Iraqi invasion…..oh, then xenophobically attack ordinary Russians/everything Russian with no sense of irony.
      It was by no means exclusively the Republicans and I am no registered Republican..

  • @zaynabbashir7950
    @zaynabbashir7950 Год назад +2

    sorry but its really hard for me to have synpathy for these US vets. They CHOSE to go to Iraq and join that baseless war, killing and ruining the lives of millions. The innocent Iraqis didn't have a choice. They were killed and suffered at the hands of the US for reasons I will never understand

  • @zigniingiz
    @zigniingiz Год назад +7

    20 years later after sudamn hussan but he was eventually captured 9 months after the war was started no mass weapons of mass destruction . I do think that after all this we know and knew before that war isnt always the answer

  • @ciganyweaverandherperiwink6293
    @ciganyweaverandherperiwink6293 Год назад +2

    American military personnel have always spouted this line about 'fighting for my country and protecting my country and it's freedom'. Non-Americans living outside of The States are always wincing, baffled at this level of ignorance and indoctrination; they sound so childlike, gullible and dumb, do they REALLY believe that's what these wars are about?! Afghanistan and Iraq posed absolutely no direct threat to the United States and their 'freedoms' were never at risk, do me a favour.
    The invasion of Iraq with the 9/11 attacks being referred to as the impetus just baffled me: the 9/11 terrorists (and by extension, the country involved) were largely from Saudia Arabia. This sad dependency on Saudi Oil etc kept American politicians awfully quiet about criticising (or retaliating against) their horrible ally, the one who appeared to have put skin in the game. Instead the American military and government fooled hundreds of millions of halfwits, hypnotising them by repeating 'Iraq Iraq Iraq' over and over, tying that country to the horror of 9/11. They NEVER mentioned where the people involved were from, and journalists and newspaper editors seemed to play along with leaving that important detail out, peddling the State-ordered propaganda instead. Saudi Arabia didn't get so much as a slap on the wrists in the press, and so an entire Nation continues to be treated like the soft-headed lazy morons they are. No wonder so many people felt it was an inside job. The entire thing reeked, those wars all plain insanity.

  • @joelsolotv7960
    @joelsolotv7960 Год назад +3

    My hero is Spc. Clark Bco. 440th captains driver. We didn’t even get a chance to shoot back. He slowed down and drove near the shoulder of the road. Detonating a IED. December 5th 2003

  • @gailcarey3597
    @gailcarey3597 Год назад

    Thank you to all our veterans who left the comforts and support of home, missed birthdays, holidays, births and passings, and worked in intolerable situations under extraordinary stress; not the stress civilians claim to suffer.
    I apologize that when you returned we were oblivious to what the real world outside of our bubble is like.
    For those who make ignorant comments about your service you just have to consider the source.
    Maybe they will institute the Draft, again, and they’ll get it.
    All that aside, I pray for you and cannot imagine our country without you.
    We are far from what we could be as a nation, but it’s the one we have.

    • @Rarediel
      @Rarediel Год назад +1

      thanks for what? What did we gain?

  • @ahmedelnoshokaty4002
    @ahmedelnoshokaty4002 Год назад +6

    Proud of the resisting Iraqi people against the illegal invasion

    • @ReneMacias1978
      @ReneMacias1978 Год назад

      So you're proud of the insurgents who killed over 100 thousand Iraqi civilians with IED's and suicide bombs? 🖕

  • @Dennis-nc3vw
    @Dennis-nc3vw Год назад +2

    The Iraq War was a horrible mistake, but never, *never* forget who took the vast majority of innocent life in that country:
    "In total, over 150,000 people have been killed and 80 percent of them - more than 122,000 - were civilians, said the IBC. [...] According to a 2010 assessment by John Sloboda, director of Iraq Body Count, U.S. and Coalition forces had killed at least 22,668 insurgents as well as 13,807 civilians in the Iraq War, with the rest of the civilians killed by insurgents, militias, or terrorists."
    13,807 vs 122,000. It was the people these veterans were there to kill and capture.

  • @mthokozisimpanza34
    @mthokozisimpanza34 Год назад +10

    They went there armed with guns and bombs intending to kill strangers for a paycheck and medals and then they come back traumatized, injured and suicidal and we're supposed to show them love and appreciation ignoring the innocent bodies they've left piled up abroad??

    • @shaunlehman9158
      @shaunlehman9158 Год назад

      Save it lib. No one cares about your tears

    • @Foreign0817
      @Foreign0817 Год назад

      The vast majority of Iraqis were killed by other Iraqis. You know how strict it is for us over there. If an enemy combatant drops his weapon, you're not allowed to shoot him. He is a "non combatant" if he is out of uniform.
      Now you know why we're tense.

    • @mthokozisimpanza34
      @mthokozisimpanza34 Год назад +4

      @@Foreign0817 why the f are you there attacking people who are defending their own country. Stop being so naive

    • @Foreign0817
      @Foreign0817 Год назад

      @@mthokozisimpanza34 They're "defending" their own country by murdering their own people? Odd.

    • @shaunlehman9158
      @shaunlehman9158 Год назад

      @@mthokozisimpanza34 your belief is that the taliban and isis are there defending their country.. you sound like a real genius

  • @Mysiamesecatblue
    @Mysiamesecatblue Год назад +6

    You can tell the military guy is so political when he talks. 20 years of being around it

    • @tabo01
      @tabo01 Год назад

      he makes all the right noises for his career.

  • @greenbeanz5914
    @greenbeanz5914 Год назад +16

    How do you invade a country, murder hundreds of thousands of civilians and call yourself a hero? All of them are terrorists and all of them should be in prison.

    • @peaceonearth351
      @peaceonearth351 Год назад

      😀😀😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣😃😃

    • @fluxcapacitor1621
      @fluxcapacitor1621 Год назад +4

      They need to lie to themselves.
      Leaders are the criminals. Soldiers are the pawns.

    • @greenbeanz5914
      @greenbeanz5914 Год назад +4

      @@fluxcapacitor1621 soldiers are not braindead, they are all criminals.

    • @secrets.295
      @secrets.295 Год назад +1

      ​@@fluxcapacitor1621 Soldiers are criminals too. It takes 2 to tango

    • @Dennis-nc3vw
      @Dennis-nc3vw Год назад

      It was the insurgents you were rooting for who killed the vast majority of civilians. The US soldiers were trying to stem the tide.

  • @coachprescott72
    @coachprescott72 Год назад

    Powerful video

  • @nimoodukwu6506
    @nimoodukwu6506 Год назад +4

    Your father was killing innocent people, women and children and yet you want pity for his death

  • @jmanj3917
    @jmanj3917 Год назад +1

    10:00 It was in the high twenties per day when I was retired from the military in 2015.

  • @jtstacey83
    @jtstacey83 Год назад +9

    As someone who served, I feel it was a huge waste. Trillions spent, and the world isn't any safer. Now helping Ukraine fight Russia is something we should be doing 100%. F Putin!!!

    • @WJWeber
      @WJWeber Год назад +4

      I agree. Wasted. I don’t like we were lied to about wmd. Then a lot of mistakes made during the war. I def think the Ukraine thing is wayyy better

    • @BRAVESllllll1995
      @BRAVESllllll1995 Год назад +8

      You are literally falling for the same thing again

    • @jtstacey83
      @jtstacey83 Год назад

      @@BRAVESllllll1995 says the pro Russian plant. The stability of Europe has been a key point of the post WW2 and Cold War world and a major point in American power. Russia doing what it is screws all that up and risks the stability of Europe all because of the belief that Ukraine and its people belong to them. By that belief just wait till China invades Russia for Manchuria.

    • @fiv3passion968
      @fiv3passion968 Год назад

      Yup, must protect them blue eyes blonde hair christians instead of helping those brownies subhumans. 😂

    • @ELcinegatto87
      @ELcinegatto87 Год назад

      You're falling for the same lies and war propaganda just like back then. Media manipulation is a very powerful tool.