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The University of Iowa Anti-War Committee hosted a local version of the Winter Soldier hearings Wednesday.
More videos are below the fold.Four Iraq veterans discussed their opposition to the war in a panel at the University of Iowa before a crowd of more than 50, including some Vietnam veterans.
Tanya Austin was an Arab linguist in military intelligence serving with the U.S. Army. Describing the situation in Iraq, she said, “It’s not a war anymore; its an occupation.” She is a student at Illinois State University pursuing a degree in Middle Eastern studies.
After blowing out her knee, Austin described the treatment she was given from the Veterans Health Administration (also known as the VA). Because she was denied orthopedic care, she paid for knee surgery out of her own pocket and was eventually medically discharged.
Austin said she had thoughts of suicide during her subsequent treatment and said, “The VA way of dealing with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) is to drug you.”
She served from 2002-04 and testified at the recent Winter Soldier hearings in Silver Spring, Md.
Iowa City native and Iraq War veteran Andrew Duffy suffers from PTSD, but that didn’t stop him from founding the Iowa City chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War. Duffy is still serving in the Iowa Army National Guard and said he has taken some abuse for opposing the War in Iraq. He filed congressional complaints for harassment he said he has received.
Duffy served as a medic at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison from 2005-06. He listed many factors that have led to his opposition to the war,including improper equipment, insufficient training, bad intelligence, poor cultural training and overt anti-Iraqi racism.
In this video, he discusses the racist terminology and attitudes used by fellow soldiers stationed in Iraq:
The event was part of the University of Iowa Anti-War Committee’s “Peace Week,” which continues through Saturday.
Also on the panel were Navy vet Nathan Peld and Air Force vet Jason Munford, who raised a conscientious objection to military service and was discharged.
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