thedrifter
10-27-07, 06:18 AM
Iraq war marine speaks at school
October 27, 2007
By Susan Smallheer Herald Staff
SAXTONS RIVER — The debate was over before it began, when a Marine reservist's official permission to appear with a fellow Marine — one who was a co-founder of the anti-war Appeal for Redress — was revoked at the last minute.
Instead, the students at Vermont Academy, a private prep school, heard Friday from Liam Madden, who was recently talking about the move to end the war in Iraq by veterans. Madden, who grew up in Bellows Falls and graduated from Bellows Falls Union High School in 2002, has appeared on CNN, MSNBC and 60 Minutes
Now 24 and a college student studying foreign relations at Northeastern University in Boston, Madden served in the Marines for four years, including six months in Anbar province in Iraq. The experience changed him profoundly, he told the students.
Madden said the United States should be out of Iraq, that the Iraqi people don't want us there, and the only reason for the war was for American business to control Mid-East oil.
Madden, who joined the Marines shortly after graduating from BFUHS, said that Blackwater Enterprises, the private security firm that has come under scrutiny as of late, were mercenaries, plain and simple.
"Don't call them 'private security,'" he told the students and faculty gathered at the Choukas Theater. Madden, who said he had no personal experience with Blackwater employees, said that private contractors outnumber the U.S. troops in Iraq, and that of the 180,000 private contractors, 30,000 are mercenaries, including Blackwater. There are currently 160,000 troops in Iraq, he said.
Blackwater employees make five or six times what the average soldier makes, he said.
"They are not beholden to any laws and they are not held accountable by U.S. law or Iraqi law," Madden said. "They are cowboys, they cause mayhem."
In response to this question — if weren't a "moral obligation" for the military to stay in Iraq, even though U.S. and other troops destroyed the country's infrastructure, and set off what to all accounts is a civil war — Madden commented that Iraqis want the U.S. troops out of the country. He said the so-called "Pottery Barn Rule," — that what the military broke, it now owns or is responsible for — was a false argument and an excuse to stay in the country.
"Eighty to 90 percent of the Iraqis want us to leave," he said.
He said when the sacred Golden Mosque was destroyed, the U.S. military did nothing to control the violence and fighting. "The U.S. withdrew to its bases," he said, and watched the violence unfold.
It is in the military's interests that there be internal strife and fighting, he said. It's easier to rule a divided country than one that is united against American military, he said.
Madden urged the students to attend an anti-war rally in Boston on Saturday, saying that protest was the first step toward changing the country's policy.
"You have to get in the streets," Madden said.
B.T. Nance, a Vermont Academy graduate who also served in the Marines in Anbar province but is now in the Marine reserves, had originally received permission to appear at the all-school meeting alongside Madden, according to Susie Peters, community liaison for the school. But last night Peters said she got a call that permission had been pulled. She said the school hoped to have Nance talk at a later date, without Madden.
Contact Susan Smallheer at susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com.
Ellie
October 27, 2007
By Susan Smallheer Herald Staff
SAXTONS RIVER — The debate was over before it began, when a Marine reservist's official permission to appear with a fellow Marine — one who was a co-founder of the anti-war Appeal for Redress — was revoked at the last minute.
Instead, the students at Vermont Academy, a private prep school, heard Friday from Liam Madden, who was recently talking about the move to end the war in Iraq by veterans. Madden, who grew up in Bellows Falls and graduated from Bellows Falls Union High School in 2002, has appeared on CNN, MSNBC and 60 Minutes
Now 24 and a college student studying foreign relations at Northeastern University in Boston, Madden served in the Marines for four years, including six months in Anbar province in Iraq. The experience changed him profoundly, he told the students.
Madden said the United States should be out of Iraq, that the Iraqi people don't want us there, and the only reason for the war was for American business to control Mid-East oil.
Madden, who joined the Marines shortly after graduating from BFUHS, said that Blackwater Enterprises, the private security firm that has come under scrutiny as of late, were mercenaries, plain and simple.
"Don't call them 'private security,'" he told the students and faculty gathered at the Choukas Theater. Madden, who said he had no personal experience with Blackwater employees, said that private contractors outnumber the U.S. troops in Iraq, and that of the 180,000 private contractors, 30,000 are mercenaries, including Blackwater. There are currently 160,000 troops in Iraq, he said.
Blackwater employees make five or six times what the average soldier makes, he said.
"They are not beholden to any laws and they are not held accountable by U.S. law or Iraqi law," Madden said. "They are cowboys, they cause mayhem."
In response to this question — if weren't a "moral obligation" for the military to stay in Iraq, even though U.S. and other troops destroyed the country's infrastructure, and set off what to all accounts is a civil war — Madden commented that Iraqis want the U.S. troops out of the country. He said the so-called "Pottery Barn Rule," — that what the military broke, it now owns or is responsible for — was a false argument and an excuse to stay in the country.
"Eighty to 90 percent of the Iraqis want us to leave," he said.
He said when the sacred Golden Mosque was destroyed, the U.S. military did nothing to control the violence and fighting. "The U.S. withdrew to its bases," he said, and watched the violence unfold.
It is in the military's interests that there be internal strife and fighting, he said. It's easier to rule a divided country than one that is united against American military, he said.
Madden urged the students to attend an anti-war rally in Boston on Saturday, saying that protest was the first step toward changing the country's policy.
"You have to get in the streets," Madden said.
B.T. Nance, a Vermont Academy graduate who also served in the Marines in Anbar province but is now in the Marine reserves, had originally received permission to appear at the all-school meeting alongside Madden, according to Susie Peters, community liaison for the school. But last night Peters said she got a call that permission had been pulled. She said the school hoped to have Nance talk at a later date, without Madden.
Contact Susan Smallheer at susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com.
Ellie