The Nation: Personal stories of Iraq war combat veterans

Recently published in The Nation is an exhaustive and extensive journey into the soldiers minds who witnessed the immoralities being carried out in Iraq. Beginning in July 2006, The Nation interviewed forty soldiers, eight marines and two sailors for seven months. - the resulting piece is entitled The Other War: Iraq Vets Bear Witness.

From The Nation: "American troops in Iraq lacked the training and support to communicate with or even understand Iraqi civilians, according to nineteen interviewees. Few spoke or read Arabic. They were offered little or no cultural or historical education about the country they controlled. Translators were either in short supply or unqualified. Any stereotypes about Islam and Arabs that soldiers and marines arrived with tended to solidify rapidly in the close confines of the military and the risky streets of Iraqi cities into a crude racism."

Above: Michael Harmon (Army Medic) recalls U.S. troops "using derogatory terms for Iraqis."