Scott Horton Interviews Dahr Jamail
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Dahr Jamail, author of the article “Refusing to Comply: The Tactics of Resistance in an All-Volunteer Military,” discusses the increasing disillusionment among soldiers for Iraq and Afghanistan war justifications, the tactics of evading dangerous and pointless “IED lottery” patrols, Pentagon estimates of 25-40 thousand AWOL soldiers since 2003 and how the U.S. economic downturn is preventing a large organized war resistance from taking hold within the military.
MP3 here. (27:56)
Dahr Jamail is the author of The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan and Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq. He currently writes for Inter Press Service, Le Monde Diplomatique, and many other outlets. His stories have also been published with The Nation, The Sunday Herald in Scotland, Al-Jazeera, the Guardian, Foreign Policy in Focus, and the Independent. On radio as well as television, Dahr reports for Democracy Now! and has appeared on the BBC, NPR and numerous other stations around the globe.
Dahr’s reporting has earned him numerous awards, including the prestigious 2008 Martha Gellhorn Award for Journalism, The Lannan Foundation Writing Residency Fellowship, the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism, the Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage, and four Project Censored awards.
Don
July 4th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Scott,
Dahr is right on target with his report. I am a retired Marine Gunny, two tours in Nam and I was always amazed why these troops have served, knowing that these two wars are as phony as can be, and they still go. I guess that they are finally getting it together and are doing the right thing.
Thanks for the great interview and thanks to Dahr for his report. Semper Fi Don
Henry_Clemens
July 5th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
This interview was A+++. I'm proud of every American soldier who resists in whatever way he or she can to participate in the ruling establishment's unjustified and brutal wars of aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan. Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler – USMC (ret.) wrote the book on the subject of unjustified, immoral, corporate-sponsored wars of aggression. Read the book he authored entitled: War is a Racket. I urge every former and presently serving U.S. soldier to read this book. Then your eyes will be opened to the truth and you will begin to realize who America's true enemies really are.
James O'Neill
July 6th, 2009 at 1:34 am
The alleged justification for the war in Afghanistan is even worse than Dahr suggests. There is no evidence that the "attacks" of 9/11 had any origin in Afghanistan. The real motives become clear when one appreciates that the decision to attack was made in July 2001. As Dahr says, look at where the bases are located: right along the proposed pipeline.
Glenn
July 6th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Nice interview, Scott.
However, I do not hink it falls upon any of us opposed to these illegal conflicts to support the families of military personal who want to resist or have had a change of heart.
First, we were threatened if we didn't support the conflicts. Now, in order to bring them to an end we have to fork over more dollars. Sorry, my purse is closed. Decisions have consequences.
If there is a constitutional basis to resist orders, no money should be required.
Scott Horton Interviews Dahr Jamail on Military Resisters | Dahr Jamail - Independent Reporting from Iraq and the Middle East
July 7th, 2009 at 10:01 am
[...] From AntiWar.com Radio [...]
“Antiwar.com’s” Dahr Jamail… « Zionist Anti-Communist
July 7th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
[...] by mah29001 on July 8, 2009 …encouraging American troops to literally illegally leave a battlefield? It would seem that “Antiwar.com” would certainly agree with the Workers’ World [...]
Sally O'Boyle
July 24th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
Excellent interview, I learned a lot. I'm a new addict to AntiWar Radio, you do an important job. I'm spreading the word. Thank you.