Nigel Rayyan
I joined the Army at 17, before I had any real world experience. I had a very vague notion of what was going on in the world, but I knew I wanted to protect freedom and help America, and the Army seemed like the way to do that. I thought I'd be a hero.
In the beginning of my service, I had wanted to be the best soldier ever. I looked up to my drill sergeants in BCT, and my instructors in AIT who expressed seemingly earnest belief in the use of enhanced interrogation techniques, though obviously off the record. I looked up to my supervisors who had interrogated people before and proudly boasted about getting away with merciless beatings of detainees who they viewed as responsible. (whether they were or not will always be a mystery, of course) I believed that Bradley Manning was a traitor, and hated him because my sergeant major told me he was bad, and undermined everything we fought for.
It wasn't until I started having political discussions with people who had nuanced, deep, well-articulated points against against the war, and reading the actual reports that led to the invasion of Iraq (and actually watching some of the videos that Manning leaked, as well as others on SIPR and JWICS personally) that I realized I had been looking at things with a wrong, artificial framework of thought based primarily on emotional outrage, pride, and the presupposition that anything our government does is right, because its OUR government, and they wouldn't take advantage of the people or purposefully manipulate Americans to impose their will on people across the globe, or to look down on 'fat, lazy civvies back home'. "We're defending their right to sit on their fat asses and bitch about how we protect them" etc, etc, etc.
The worst part was that when I tried talking about the new subjects and things I learned, like the videos I saw, or the lack of reason or legitimacy (even by American standards) for the Iraq war, or why military service shouldn't be a requirement for the presidency, (that one was much more common than I'd like) I was met not only with opposition, but an unwillingness to further discuss issues, and warnings from my seniors that I was getting out of line, and "that's not the kind of talk that someone with a top secret clearance engages in".
I want a lot of things, but my number one priority is the stop the blatant propaganda and brainwashing that entices people to join the military based on false premises. The same brainwashing that causes service members to view themselves as a cut above those who have never served, for whatever reason, and Americans a cut above the rest of the world. I want the government (well, cease to exist ideally, but at least) to stop manipulating the people into hating and killing people we should have no problem with to turn a profit, or further their influence.
I am against the Iraq War as much as I am against all wars, for any reason. Disputes should be handled personally, not by sending countless to die for a cause that has nothing to do with them, their values, or their lives. And I thank God, the Universe, fate, the 'reality string' that I'm in, or whatever, that when I was finally deployed to Iraq, the drawdown was already underway. I didn't have to subject one person to interrogation directly.
I'll never know how much I actually contributed to the government's thug effort in Iraq, but I know it was too much. Regardless, I still have the ability (and possibly responsibility) to do all I can to end the force that the government is exercising on the world and the people that gave them authority in the first place.
Branch of Service:
United States Army
Unit(s):
III Corps
Military Occupation:
35M
Where Served:
Fort Hood, Texas and Camp Victory, Baghdad