http://www.truthout.org/dnc-pre.shtmlt r u t h o u t | Democratic Convention Coverage
By William Rivers Pitt
Saturday 24 July 2004
7:25PM
When I got to the Vets for Peace convention, there was a barrel-chested man absolutely collapsing with laughter in the lobby outside the speaking hall. "You won't believe it!" he shouted to a friend by the door. "I got promoted! I got a letter in the mail! I'm a corporal now!"
I didn't get the joke at the time, but that was because I had not yet been properly introduced to Michael Hoffman, the barrel-chested newly-minted corporal, who is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and now the founder of Iraq Veterans Against the War (www.ivaw.net). I was able to speak with Mr. Hoffman later in the afternoon.
PITT: First off, what is your name?
HOFFMAN: My name is Michael Hoffman.
PITT: You were involved in the most recent invasion of Iraq?
HOFFMAN: Yes. I crossed into Iraq in March 2003, when the invasion began, and left Iraq at the beginning of May.
PITT: What branch of the service were you in?
HOFFMAN: I served with the United States Marines, in the 1st Marine Division. I was part of an artillery battery.
PITT: And now you're a corporal.
HOFFMAN: (laughing) Yes. Surprise, surprise.
PITT: Tell me why you are here at the Veterans for Peace convention in Boston?
HOFFMAN: I'm here representing the Iraq war veterans. Myself and five other Iraq war veterans are here to represent to people what the war was about, to tell the truth about what was going on over there.
PITT: What is the truth, from your experience?
HOFFMAN: The truth, from my experience, is that the war was based on lies.
PITT: Did you know that when you were over there?
HOFFMAN: I did. I looked at the reasons for the war, I looked at the proof, and what was coming out in the press, and by that time I had educated myself about what was going on in the world. I didn't just look at the U.S. press, I looked at the international press, and I looked at the independent media. I felt the reasons for war weren't there.
PITT: Was it tough for you to go, knowing what you knew?
HOFFMAN: It was. It was really tough. And it wasn't just me. My own battery first sergeant - someone with 20 years experience in the Marine Corps - knew what this meant. He'd been in the first Gulf War also. Before we went to Iraq, he addressed all the enlisted men in the unit, about 100 of us. He said, "Don't think you're going to be heroes. You're not going over there because of weapons of mass destruction. You're not going there to get rid of Saddam Hussein, or to make Iraq safe for democracy. You're going there for one reason and one reason alone: Oil."
PITT: How did the men react?
HOFFMAN: It was interesting. The new guys kind of sat there slack-jawed, like "What did he just say?" Guys like me who have been around for a while...in the military, especially in the Marine Corps, you tend to get a strong sense of cynicism. We kind of nodded our heads like, "Yeah, that's right." What really hit me, and the reason I went over, was when my sergeant said, "But you're gonna go anyway. You signed a contract that said you would do as you're told. Even more importantly, you're friends are going over. Because they are going, you've got to go over and watch their backs and make sure they come home alive." That is the exact reason I am here now, because the only way to make sure these guys come home alive, to make any good out of what has happened, is to get our troops out of Iraq. They're not doing a bit of good over there. They're causing the problem, not solving it.
PITT: Tell me about Iraq Veterans Against the War.
HOFFMAN: Iraq Veterans Against the War is a group we just founded for exactly the same reasons. Just like I said, we've got to bring our troops home. We're here. All the guys who are here, we can speak and they can't. We've got to speak for them and tell their story, so the public really knows what's going on over there and what the troops over there are facing. No one can tell them that like the guys who are here right now. On top of that, the guys coming back need something to go to.
PITT: Are you working with Military Families Speak Out? (www.mfso.org)
HOFFMAN: Yes, very closely. They actually helped get the whole idea for this thing going. They're going to be the people who help tell the people serving in Iraq that we are here. Every single member of Military Families Speak Out is in contact with someone in the military.
PITT: Who else is here with you?
HOFFMAN: It's me and several others. Jimmy Massey is here, and he is just incredible. He was a staff sergeant with the 7th Marines, and served in the same areas I did during the initial invasion. He was part of a unit that killed civilians. Mistakes, miscues, itchy trigger fingers, he saw what was going on, what was really happening, and said "I am not doing this anymore." He told his officers that, and he was discharged. They put up a fight, tried to get him a BCD (Bad Conduct Discharge), but he wouldn't take it. He finally got a medical discharge, and he is fighting his own demons now, but he is doing the right thing.
PITT: Are you in a position where they can call you back?
HOFFMAN: Yes I am. I am currently designated Individual Ready Reserve, which is why I got promoted, because I'm still on the books. If they wanted to, they could call me back.
PITT: What are you going to do if that happens?
HOFFMAN: I don't like to say too much on the record about that, but I've still got my own free will.
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