Lynn C. Woolsey: “just a few hours ago, I heard moving testimonials about the impact of the Iraq war on real people, real families and…”

“just a few hours ago, I heard moving testimonials about the impact of the Iraq war on real people, real families and real communities, both American and Iraqi. I organized a forum precisely to get beyond the statistics, the strategy, and the abstractions, to understand the devastating human cost of this war. We heard from Charlie Anderson, a former marine who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and now is a regional coordinator for Iraq Veterans Against the War. He spoke of the Government of the United States having failed the men and women it sent to war. He said, ``I was completely untrained and unprepared for what I experienced in Iraq.'' He told us, ``In the 7 years preceding my deployment to the Middle East . . . I had not set foot in the desert or had any training on how to fight or survive there. I had fired my 9-millimeter service pistol exactly once.'' And this is the part that blew my mind, Mr. Speaker: Mr. Anderson added that after firing his weapon during one ambush, he said, ``I was told I would not be issued replacement ammunition because there was none to be had. My platoon sergeant told me `do not shoot unless your death is imminent . . .' '' Can you imagine that? The mighty United States military, the greatest fighting force in the world, essentially rationing bullets? Dahlia Wasfi, a doctor who is half Jewish and half Iraqi, offered a powerful historical analogy.…”