Machines of War

September 20, 2007

“I had an opportunity to participate in civilian role-play training with an Army unit in Fort Hunter-Liggett, CA. I was one of forty volunteers who played the part of a townsperson in a mock Afghan village. This training was conducted to prepare a psychological operations unit that will be deploying to Afghanistan in late October. Each role player was assigned a character and placed in everyday scenarios experienced during wartime. My role was quite complicated: I was asked to play the part of an American spy disguised as a USAID worker. In the duration of 48 hours I had been “caught” in my profession by the local Afghan police of the village, captured, placed in prison, held hostage, rescued by military forces, and interrogated by military intelligence. Like I said, it was quite a bit more than I bargained for when I first volunteered for the training. The things I return home with from this experience are disturbing, and yet not surprising considering what our country is doing in Iraq.

It was shocking to see Military Police, Drill Sergeants, and Infantry soldiers adapt into the mindset of the local Afghan police, the defenders of the village that was being occupied. These huge men, literally I was the only female at the training, that make Veterans proud soaked into their roles as local Afghan villagers when the “Military forces” rolled into town. After each group of soldiers passed by they would shout, “This is our town, who the hell do they think they are to just come in here like that!” “If my home was being invaded I’d be pissed, I’d take my weapon and just shoot the hell out of them”! A couple of times I responded to their complaints, “Well how to you think the Iraqi’s felt when you were there doing the same thing?” Some of them accused me of just being a “military hippie”, others said that “I was on the wrong side of things.” My response was completely dismissed.

It hurt to see how poorly trained and young these soldiers are. They came in questioning us with guns in their hands. They never smiled, acted friendly as if to win hearts and minds, asked our names, or opened up with their own names- and our Government is sending these men and women over there next month. Each scenario escalated to the final raid at the end. The military wanted to rid our town of the “bad guys” that were causing so much trouble.

I was told to be in hiding during the raid, so I huddled up in a little ball, with my head against the backside of a table. I knew they were coming even before the sound of gunshots. Our little town took its place in preparation for the raid that was about to come through. After a heavy downpour of gunfire, a message came out on the hummer’s speakers. “The United States is evacuating American citizens and select nationals, for your safety, please stay away from U.S forces.” The message did not exactly fit the soldier’s purpose for invading the small village. They came to rid the town of enemy CLF and drug dealers, even at the expense of the lives of innocent local civilians.

I was never actually evacuated from that raid, either I was being a bad role player or I couldn’t open my mouth to the horror experienced in just a mock scenario of a being in an occupied village. Some of the soldiers laughed as blanks were being fired like crazy. When their weapons malfunctioned, soldiers would yell, “BAM I got you!” I understand this because I am a soldier and it is very easy to dismiss this training as just a game. When I was in my hiding place, I could barely understand the message on the speaker…and it was English! I remembered thinking, “Am I supposed to come out and approach the soldiers to ask for help, or will they shoot at me with blanks?”

Today is the last day and I thought I was done playing G.I Jane. We had a formation and an after action review to discuss how the training went this week. I took my computer bag with me since I knew we’d be dismissed afterwards. I came back to the barracks around noon to find my bed torn apart and sheets all over the place. I said, “Who did this to my bed?” “I did”, said an E-8 who claimed to be in charge of the females at the training since she was the highest ranking NCO. “You were supposed to make up your bed and be back here after formation to help us clean, but since you weren’t you need to clean the bathroom and laundry room in the hallway.” There was NO instruction by the commander to do any of this at all. I said, “OK, but why did you have to mess up my bed?” Before I could say anything else she interrupted me and yelled, “What’s your rank?” I reluctantly responded, “I’m a Sergeant (E-5).” She got right up in my face, still yelling, “You better not disrespect me or my rank, if there’s a problem I’m taking this to the Commander, do you understand?” “DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME SERGEANT?” I didn’t say anything the first time, and finally stammered out, “Yes.” Under my breath I uttered, “Now I understand how the military creates machines, not human beings.”

This was a rather long excerpt from my journal I wrote while training at Fort Hunter-Liggett, CA for a Civil Affairs course in September 2007. I have since, after being dismissed from the Army as a Conscientious Objector, wrestled with this degrading issue of humanity. When does a human being exist to be a human being and become a target, number, statistic…something expendable?

That following summer I attended another training in Camp Shelby, MI for a Basic Non-Commission Officer Course. I was absolutely horrified when the class instructor showed us this video during a block of training on Improvised Explosive Devices. This is graphic footage of three Iraqis who were shot to death by an Apache helicopter after being caught planting IED’s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAYc-wFV2cQ&feature=related

To me, the cost of war is not nearly as horrifying as the transformation of war into a game. The class instructor played the video four times, and after each sequence the mocking laughter and celebration of the “hajji’s” explosion escalated. Is it a joke to watch precious life slip away into an unknown existence? If we believe that all women and men are created equal, then how is the death of an Iraqi no less tragic than the death of an American Citizen? Our nation’s eyes have turned to Haiti as the death toll is exceeding well over 100,000 from an uncontrollable earthquake. The majority of our nation’s eyes are blinded to the Iraqi death toll, which has exceeded well over 1,000,000 because of a once controllable U.S lead invasion in March of 2003. When will we wake up and realize the sacredness and value of every human life?

In June of 2007 I filed to be honorably discharged from the U.S Army as a Conscientious Objector to War. I refused to be responsible for any death by the barrel of my weapon. After over a year of fighting through my chain of command to prove the sincerity of my beliefs, I was released from the Army in October of 2008. I have the utmost respect for our servicemen and women today, and I support them by exposing the lies of the Military-Industrial Complex they are enslaved to. With over 700 military bases in over 120 countries worldwide, the American “Empire” has an expanding agenda with little to no regard for human life. It is this machine that is responsible for the deaths of the innocent. It is this machine that strips mankind of its humanity, and it is, therefore, our patriotic duty to destroy this machine so that humanity can be restored.