Veterans reveal the truth about Iraq and Afghanistan in a six-part web series by

David Zeiger, Director of Sir! No Sir!, and Bestor Cram & Mike Majoros, Directors of

Unfinished Symphony.

Episode Three: Why We Fight

An Open Letter to Iraq Veterans Against the War Members and Supporters
From David Zeiger, Director of This is Where We Take Our Stand and Sir! No Sir!

Dear Friends,

As I write this, we are getting ready to post the fourth episode of This is Where We Take
Our Stand, our six-part web series about last year’s Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan
event. You can find the series at http://www.thisiswherewetakeourstand.com, and of
course on Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube.

It’s been a huge struggle, but this series is finally here–and I hope we created something
that will bring the truth you revealed at Winter Soldier to thousands, even millions. We
strove to make each episode a revelation and a punch in the gut, featuring some of the
most important and powerful testimony from Winter Soldier along with the battles so
many of you fought to make it happen. Boots Riley of The Coup wrote a killer theme
song, Sound Off, that can also be downloaded from the site.

Winter Soldier happened in the last year of the Bush administration, and it was the most
powerful condemnation of the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan that I have seen. Your
testimony laid bare the insane, relentless brutality of those wars and the hypocrisy of
Bush’s claims that you were there to bring “freedom and democracy” to the people of
Iraq and Afghanistan. You made it clear that it was the policy of the government and
military that was criminal. And you brought into the open the courageous, profound
opposition to the wars that exists within the military and veterans’ community.

But what about now? Millions of people expected the Obama administration to change
those policies and end the occupations. Well, where is that change? In Iraq, where we
have been promised there might be a withdrawal by 2011 leaving 50,000 troops there to
insure an “America friendly” government? Or how about Afghanistan, where a
thoroughly corrupt, Bush-installed government is now being propped up with the
additional 20,000 troops that were withdrawn from Iraq? What has changed?

What’s most horrifying for me is seeing the slaughter continue today with hardly a peep
from those who would have loudly objected when Bush was in charge. So, perhaps
ironically, Winter Soldier is today more relevant and urgent than ever. This is not about
the past, as Obama has often said, but about what is happening right now.

It is your voices that must be heard in this darkness. And it’s in that spirit that we have
made this series. It belongs to you, and we hope you will not only watch and show it to
others, but use it to spread the impact of Winter Soldier and build your movement. We
welcome your thoughts and comments, and urge you to add your own testimonials to the
web site. Along with posting the final three episodes through September, we will make
the whole series available on a DVD for you to use.

With love and solidarity,
David Zeiger

Episode Three Synopsis:

Flashback to January, three months before Winter Soldier. How do you bring hundreds of veterans to Washington DC, to tell their stories? An IVAW national planning meeting reveals sharp differences among the members. Is the point of Winter Soldier to show how these wars are hurting America, or the destruction America is bringing to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan? Is the goal to strengthen the military, or weaken it? Despite the differences, a deep unity is built because, as Geoff Millard declares, the bottom line is “No one can hear our stories and still support this shit.”

This is Where We Take Our Stand - The Series

Where’s the debate?

Are we watching passively while Barack Obama carries out the same policies as George W. Bush?

When an American bombing raid this May killed over two hundred civilians in a village in Afghanistan, it was met with a deafening silence. When Obama’s promised “withdrawal” from Iraq leaves 130,000 troops there for at least two more years and 50,000 permanently, it’s hailed as an end to the occupation. And who is demanding to know just what the mission really is when 30,000 more troops are sent to Afghanistan?

Where’s the debate?

In March of 2008, two hundred and fifty veterans and active duty soldiers marked the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by gathering in Washington, DC, to testify from their own experience about the nature of the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. It was chilling, horrifying, and challenging for all who witnessed it. Against tremendous odds, they brought the voices of the veterans themselves into the debate. That was then.

This is now.  Today, we present to you This is Where We Take Our Stand, the inside story of those three days and the courageous men and women who testified. And we present this story today, told in six episodes, because we believe it is as relevant now as it was one year ago. Maybe more.

Here is our challenge to you: Watch the series; spread it far and wide; and ask yourself is this about the past, or the present and future. Then add your voice.

If you are a veteran or active duty, present your own testimony. If you are not, but you are still a living, breathing member of the human race, then do whatever you can to join and fan the flames of debate.