Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) hold press conference in Washington, DC

Friday March 14th, 2008

This month, for four days in Washington, DC, beginning on March 13, there will be a second Winter Soldier gathering – 37 years after the first. Organized by the protest group Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), US veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan since the 9/11 attack on New York will testify about their experiences.

They will present photographs and videos, recorded with mobile phones and digital cameras, to back up their allegations – of brutality, torture and murder.

The veterans are not against the military and seek not to indict it – instead they seek to shine a light on the bigger picture: that the Abu Ghraib prison regime and the Haditha massacre of innocent Iraqis are not isolated incidents perpetrated by “bad seeds” as the military suggests, but evidence of an endemic problem. They will say they were tasked to do terrible things and point the finger up the chain of command, which ignores, diminishes or covers up routine abuse and atrocities. (From the London Sunday Times, see full article in context link below)

Kelly Dougherty is the Executive Director of IVAW. She served as a Military Police Officer in Iraq, she will testify about her experiences working at check points in occupied Iraq. She will also discuss leading the IVAW organization through exponential growth in the last year.

Captain Luis Montalvan is the highest-ranking IVAW member. He served in the US Army for 17-years and will be testifying about accountability and corruption in the US military. CPT Montalvan is from Brooklyn, New York.

Jason Hurd was born in Kingsport, TN and enlisted in the US Army in 1997 at 17. In 2004 he deployed to central Baghdad with Bristol, Tennessee’s Troop F 2/278th Regimental Combat Team after a 5-month long train-up. He served as a medic in Baghdad. He will testify about the practice of shooting civilians from convoys, as well as the abduction of young male Iraqis. He is the president of IVAW’s Ashevile, NC chapter.

Selena Coppa is a Military Intelligence Sergeant in the US Army and a mother. She will be testifying at Winter Solider about the breakdown of the military in recent years due to mismanagement in Iraq and beyond. She is in charge of active duty outreach and blogs from Activedutypatriot.blogspot.com