An Open Letter to the Iraqi People   

An Open Letter to the Iraqi People
From Soldiers in the Unit Depicted in the WikiLeaks Video

"We acknowledge our part in the deaths and injuries of your loved ones
as we tell Americans what we were trained to do and carried out in the
name of 'god and country.'"

By  Josh Stieber  and Ethan McCord

Peace be with you.

To all of those who were injured or lost loved ones during the July
2007 Baghdad shootings depicted in the "Collateral Murder" Wikileaks
video:

We write to you, your family, and your community with awareness that
our words and actions can never restore your losses.

We are both soldiers who occupied your neighborhood for 14 months.
Ethan McCord pulled your daughter and son from the van, and when
doing so, saw the faces of his own children back home. Josh Stieber
was in the same company but was not there that day, though he
contributed to the your pain, and the pain of your community on many
other occasions.

There is no bringing back all that was lost. What we seek is to learn
from our mistakes and do everything we can to tell others of our
experiences and how the people of the United States need to realize
what have done and are doing to you and the people of your country.
We humbly ask you what we can do to begin to repair the damage we
caused.

We have been speaking to whoever will listen, telling them that what
was shown in the Wikileaks video only begins to depict the suffering
we have created. From our own experiences, and the experiences of
other veterans we have talked to, we know that the acts depicted in this
video are everyday occurrences of this war: this is the nature of how
U.S.-led wars are carried out in this region.

We acknowledge our part in the deaths and injuries of your loved ones
as we tell Americans what we were trained to do and carried out in the
name of "god and country." The soldier in video said that your husband
shouldn't have brought your children to battle, but we are
acknowledging our responsibility for bringing the battle to your
neighborhood, and to your family. We did unto you what we would not
want done to us.

More and more Americans are taking responsibility for what was done
in our name. Though we have acted with cold hearts far too many
times, we have not forgotten our actions towards you. Our heavy hearts
still hold hope that we can restore inside our country the
acknowledgment of your humanity, that we were taught to deny.

Our government may ignore you, concerned more with its public image.
It has also ignored many veterans who have returned physically injured
or mentally troubled by what they saw and did in your country. But the
time is long overdue that we say that the value of our nation's leaders no
longer represent us. Our secretary of defense may say the U.S. won't
lose its reputation over this, but we stand and say that our reputation's
importance pales in comparison to our common humanity.

With such pain, friendship might be too much to ask. Please accept our
apology, our sorrow, our care, and our dedication to change from the
inside out. We are doing what we can to speak out against the wars and
military policies responsible for what happened to you and your loved
ones. Our hearts are open to hearing how we can take any steps to
support you through the pain that we have caused.

Solemnly and Sincerely,

Josh Stieber, former specialist, U.S. Army
Ethan McCord, former specialist, U.S. Army