He has started speaking out about his war experiences. Suffering from mental trauma, he now questions US tactics and advocates withdrawal:
“When I was in the service my opinion was whatever the Commander-in-Chief’s opinion was. But after I got out, I started to think about it. The biggest question I have now is how you can make a war on an entire country when a certain group from that country is practising terrorism against you. It’s as if a gang from New York went to Iraq and blew some stuff up and Iraq started a war against us because of that.”
The US federal Veterans Affairs department recently revealed that up to a third of US troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan – around 40,000 – suffer mental health issues. Red tape is also an issue for returned veterans. Supporters of war focus on “liberation” and rarely examine the long-term effects of those actually involved in the fighting. It is unsurprising, therefore, that many former soldiers end up questioning their original missions.