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<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2><BR><BR> <A
href="http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/10/13/iraq_vet_ad/print.html">http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/10/13/iraq_vet_ad/print.html</A><BR><BR>Featured
in a new ad by Operation Truth, former soldier Robert Acosta appears <BR>in the
video documentary "The Ground Truth."<BR><BR>Maimed but not mute<BR>A
politically diverse group of Iraq vets say itīs time for Americans to face
<BR>the ugly truths about the war.<BR>Salon.com<BR>- - - - - - - - - - - -<BR>By
Mary Jacoby<BR><BR>Oct. 13, 2004 | Itīs the obvious political ad that has just
been waiting to <BR>be made -- a young Iraq war veteran, missing a body part,
talking simply and <BR>directly to the camera about the sacrifice he made in the
service of official <BR>lies. The idea didnīt come from the Democratic Party, or
MoveOn.org, or the <BR>Kerry campaign. The new ad is the creation of a group of
some 20 Iraq war<BR>veterans <BR>operating on a shoestring budget. Their
organization, Operation Truth, ( <BR><A
href="http://www.optruth.org/main.cfm">http://www.optruth.org/main.cfm</A>) a
nonpartisan, nonprofit group of 150<BR>members, is <BR>dedicated to elevating
the perspective of soldiers and holding elected <BR>officials accountable for
their policy decisions.<BR><BR>"I was called to serve in Iraq because the
government said there were weapons <BR>of mass destruction -- but they werenīt
there," Spc. Robert Acosta, 21, who <BR>was an ammunitions specialist with the
1st Armored Division in Iraq, says in <BR>the thought-provoking ad. "They said
Iraq had something to do with 9/11 --<BR>but <BR>the connection wasnīt there ...
So when people ask me where my arm went, I<BR>try <BR>to find the words, but
theyīre not there." The ad ends with a shot of Acosta <BR>removing his
prosthesis, revealing a stub where his right hand should be.<BR><BR>In
Washington on Tuesday, Acosta, Operation Truth founder Paul Rieckhoff, 29,
<BR>and Operation Truth board member David Chasteen, 25, made the media rounds
to <BR>promote the ad and their group. After a morning news conference at the
<BR>National Press Club, they were at CNNīs studios, talking on camera with Wolf
<BR>Blitzer, and then trucked back to the Press Club for more
interviews,<BR>including one <BR>with Salon.<BR><BR>The ad "is meant to wake
people up," Rieckhoff told me. "And if people are <BR>uncomfortable [with the
image of Acostaīs missing hand] for a few seconds,<BR>Iīm <BR>OK with that.
Because Robertīs going to be uncomfortable for the rest of his
<BR>life."<BR><BR>Rieckhoff declined to say how much money Operation Truth has
raised for the <BR>ad campaign but said it was less than $100,000. Most of the
donations come in <BR>amounts of $25 or less over the Internet, he said. The
major goal of<BR>Tuesdayīs <BR>publicity swing was to raise more money to
broadcast the ads, which the group <BR>plans to air on cable television in swing
states.<BR><BR>"We needed a splash. Thatīs the only way to get attention like
this," <BR>Rieckhoff said, citing as a kind of role model the Swift Boat
Veterans for<BR>Truth <BR>attacks on John Kerryīs record. "But we donīt have
millions of dollars,<BR>like they <BR>did," he said, laughing.<BR><BR>Rieckhoff,
a political independent, looks like the former football player <BR>that he is: 6
feet 2 inches, and 250 pounds. His head is shaved bald. At<BR>Amherst
<BR>College he played tight end, and after graduating in 1998, he enlisted in
the <BR>U.S. Army Reserves. Later, while working for J.P. Morgan, he transferred
to <BR>the New York Army National Guard. On Sept. 11, 2001, he was in his
Manhattan <BR>apartment when the first plane hit the World Trade Center; he
rushed to<BR>ground <BR>zero to join volunteer rescue efforts. His Guard unit
was formally activated <BR>that evening.<BR><BR>In January 2003, Rieckhoff went
to Iraq, where he was assigned to lead the <BR>3rd Platoon, B Company, 3/124th
INF (Air Assault) FLNG. For the next 10<BR>months, <BR>he conducted combat
operations in the Adamiyah section of Baghdad on the <BR>eastern bank of the
Tigris River. He was released from active duty in March. <BR>Returning to the
United States, he was struck by what he calls the<BR>"disconnect" <BR>between
how most Americans viewed Iraq and veterans issues and how the<BR>soldiers
<BR>felt.<BR><BR>"All you ever see on TV here is the burning Humvees. People
arenīt hearing <BR>about the [Department of Veterans Affairs funding] cuts, the
overextension of <BR>the military. They werenīt hearing soldiersī voices, or
learning about the<BR>gray <BR>areas that we live in every day. Like what do you
do if you see a child in an <BR>alley and you think heīs armed? Now that weīre
off active duty, we can voice <BR>our opinions," Rieckhoff
said.<BR><BR>Operation Truthīs mission is to get that point of view out, but its
members <BR>span the spectrum politically. Acosta, a soft-spoken young man with
a goatee <BR>and a metal hook in place of his right hand, is so discouraged by
the<BR>political <BR>process that he doesnīt even plan to vote in November.
Rieckhoff, a political <BR>independent, believes the goal of overthrowing Saddam
Hussein was worthy, but <BR>he argues that the postwar planning was a disaster.
Operation Truth board <BR>member Chasteen, a financial advisor in Washington who
was a chemical weapons <BR>specialist in Iraq, is a registered Republican and
evangelical Christian<BR>who says <BR>he is "leaning" toward Kerry because he
believes George W. Bushīs policies <BR>have severely damaged national
security.<BR><BR>The issues upon which all Operation Truth members agree, the
three men said, <BR>are that the politicians in Washington should not send
troops to war without <BR>outlining a clear mission and equipping them properly.
And when soldiers come <BR>home, the politicians should adequately fund
veteransī services, they said. <BR>Rieckhoff was once asked in an interview if
it wasnīt just an "urban myth"<BR>that <BR>some troops didnīt have body armor.
"I can tell you itīs not. I was there." <BR>Acosta said he has been forced to
navigate a confusing bureaucracy to obtain <BR>healthcare services. And Chasteen
said he wants Americans to know that<BR>failure to <BR>plan for postwar Iraq has
brought such chaos that the effort to build a <BR>democracy may be beyond
salvation.<BR><BR>Before the invasion, Chasteen said, he reviewed a stack of
documents a foot <BR>thick describing the combat plan. "No part of the order
told us what to do <BR>afterward," he said. Troops kept asking about the
post-combat orders. "When<BR>they <BR>finally came, they were this thick," he
said, squishing his fingers<BR>together to <BR>indicate a thin stack of paper.
"I thought, Youīve got to be kidding."<BR><BR>Chasteenīs specialty is chemical
weapons, and he recalled the moment he <BR>realized that Saddam didnīt have any.
It was when he crossed the Euphrates<BR>River. <BR>He had his bubble suit on, to
protect against a chemical or biological<BR>attack. <BR>He held his
chemical-detecting instrument in the air, watching to see if <BR>anything
registered. "There was nothing. We knew that Saddam wanted more than
<BR>anything to hold on to power, and so if he had the weapons, he would
have<BR>used them <BR>then. But there was nothing." And yet, he noted, it was
only last week that <BR>Iraq weapons investigator Charles Duelfer officially
notified Congress that <BR>Saddam had no WMD.<BR><BR>Acosta is less steeped in
the policy nuances; his contribution to Operation <BR>Truth is sharing the
emotional and physical toll of combat. He was injured in <BR>July 2003, when an
insurgent tossed a grenade into the Humvee in which he<BR>was a <BR>passenger.
Acosta and the driver had left their base at Baghdad International <BR>Airport
to purchase ice from a roadside stand; Acosta saved the driverīs life <BR>by
grabbing the grenade and tossing it out of the vehicle. It exploded in his
<BR>hand.<BR><BR>The strange thing about getting your hand blown off, Acosta
said, was that it <BR>doesnīt hurt. "As soon as the grenade flew, the adrenaline
started pumping, <BR>and it was like that adrenaline took over. Then there was
just like a tingly <BR>feeling, like my hand had fallen asleep. But I knew it
was gone right away. I <BR>saw my hand gone, I saw my bones coming out. I looked
down at my foot, and my <BR>foot was turned completely backwards. I knew my legs
were hurt. I didnīt<BR>know if <BR>I was going to keep my leg. I knew my hand
was gone, no matter what. And I <BR>said to myself, īOK, my handīs gone. What
next?ī I tried to grab my rifle,<BR>but <BR>it fell apart."<BR><BR>Acosta added,
"So Iīm sitting there thinking, My handīs gone. My leg -- I <BR>donīt know. And
Iīm looking down at the ground, at asphalt, because thereīs<BR>no <BR>more
bottom to the Humvee. I was thinking, Weīre not going to make it, and I <BR>told
my buddy, īJust tell my parents that I love them.ī And he cussed me out,
<BR>telling me I was going to be OK. He was saying, īDonīt worry, Iīm going
to<BR>get <BR>you back.ī And he got me back. I donīt know how, but he did. He
just drove."<BR><BR>A few months ago, Acosta heard Rieckhoff interviewed on a
California radio <BR>station, and he contacted Operation Truth. He said he
agreed to appear in<BR>the ad <BR>"to raise awareness, to let people know whatīs
really going on. You see on <BR>the news that one solider got injured, two
soldiers got injured, and you<BR>think, <BR>OK, it will be all right. But the
reality is they come back missing limbs or <BR>their eyesight, and theyīve got
families and their parents, people that care <BR>about them. People should know
how these soldiers are affected physically and <BR>mentally."<BR><BR>Operation
Truth has found that some conservative media outlets donīt <BR>appreciate its
point of view. Rieckhoff said he has appeared only once on<BR>Sean <BR>Hannityīs
Fox News show and only once on Laura Ingrahamīs talk radio show.<BR>"They were
<BR>happy to have us when they thought we were just some dumb soldiers,"
<BR>Rieckhoff said. "But when they realized that we could talk and we
were<BR>educated, that <BR>weīd been on the ground in Iraq, and that it was hard
to challenge us, they <BR>didnīt ask us back."
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