When young American men and women sign up to serve in the US military, our government makes a basic promise to them: that if they are wounded in the line of duty they will get the care they need. Unfortunately, for tens of thousands of veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, that's a promise that only exists on paper.
Specialist Joshua Casteel: Abu Ghraib Interrogator Meets With the Pope
Lance Corporal Jeff Key: Gay Marine Comes Out on CNN
Sergeant Todd Bowers: While I Was in Iraq, My Student Loans Were Sent to Collection
Sergeant James Dean: Afghan Vet Shot by Maryland State Troopers
Podcast URL:
http://warcomeshome.org/podcast
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This panel will examine the government’s use of private contractors to replace soldiers in U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Testimonies will include the role of corporations in the management of the occupations, and instances of waste, fraud and abuse involving private corporations. The panel will also examine the implications of U.S. tax dollars supporting private security forces, which are not bound by the rules of engagement.
Jeremy Scahill is an American investigative journalist. He serves as a correspondent for the U.S. radio and TV program Democracy Now! He is a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute, and a frequent contributor to The Nation magazine.
Antonia Juhasz is a Tarbell Fellow, Oil Change International and a
Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies. She is author of
The Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time
Former US Army Captain Luis Montalvan served two tours in Iraq. Before joining the officer corps in 2003, Montalván spent over a decade as a communications specialist, military policeman and infantryman in the enlisted ranks, having joined the U.S. Army on his 17th birthday in 1990. He personally witnessed the September 11th attacks in New York. He currently lives in Brooklyn.
Kelly Doughrety is Executive Director of Iraq Veterans Against the War. An eight-year veteran of the Colorado Nat. Guard, she served as both a medic and in the military police. She was deployed both to the Balkans and to Iraq.
