They said over and over, that these were not isolated occurances, but normal daily abuse and killing of civilians, under constantly changing Rules of Engagement. They put the blame on the overt racism of their command, going all the way to the top of the chain of command, Gen Casey calling Iraqi people "Hajis". The soldiers consider their testimony the highest form of patriotism; and doing this took the most courage of anything they've done so far. In between the panels, there are also short video testimonies from Iraqis who were victims of US soldier violence.

Video Edits of Testimony: ivaw.org/
Video Edits: therealnews.com/web/index.php
Blog: ivaw.org/wintersoldier/blog
Video of Testimony from Iraqi people: www.aliveinbaghdad.org/

3/16 2:15pm: Camillo Mejia, IVAW summarizes the weekend of testimony by saying - "We are still soldiers. We are just not your soldiers. We are now Winter Soldiers." Kelly Dougherty, IVAW says that a sgt in Iraq sent a message saying that his squad in Iraq heard about Winter Soldier and they wanted to know what they could do to help. Also a group of soldiers were watching the Winter Soldier TV broadcast on their local PBS, until a CO came and turned it off.

3/15 4pm: Some of the Iraq vets giving testimony are breaking down as they speak. They talk about how their heads were full of racism, and how the people were not humans. Over this weekend, a few have apologized to the Iraqi and Afghanistan people for what they have done, and said they are ashamed. But we are watching a range of soldiers trying to deal with guilt and responsibility.

Over the weekend, Iraq vets are signing up to speak as they hear others speak. One officer listened and said there are a few "bad eggs" in command causing these crimes to happen. The GIs who were on the ground would not agree. Unembedded reporters who covered Iraq are happy that vets are backing up the stories that were not believed at the time.

3/15 2:45pm Silver Spring - Amidst the repeated detailed graphic descriptions and confessions, with date/time/place, of random killing of civilians, torture, and war crimes, Iraq vets in IVAW, remind us that these incidents were done under an "Occupation" of Iraq and Afghanistan, not a war. They said over and over, that these were not isolated occurances, but normal daily abuse and killing of civilians, under constantly changing Rules of Engagement. They put the blame on the overt racism of their command, going all the way to the top of the chain of command, Gen Casey calling Iraqi people "Hajis". The soldiers consider their testimony the highest form of patriotism; and doing this took the most courage of anything they've done so far. In between the panels, there are also short video testimonies from Iraqis who were victims of US soldier violence.

Much of the infrastructure of support for Winter Soldier, including PTSD support, is being done by Vietnam vets, Veterans for Peace, VVAW. The audience is overwhelmed with the details of these testimonies, but refusing to move or leave. There have been many standing ovations after a vet speaks.