http://www.boston.com/news/politics/conventions/articles/2004/09/02/veterans_of_iraq_war_join_forces_to_protest_us_invasion?mode=PFVeterans of Iraq war join forces to protest US invasion
By Marcella Bombardieri, Globe Staff | September 2, 2004
NEW YORK -- A year and a half ago, Robert Sarra was a Marine sergeant in Iraq, where, he says, he once fired his M-16 at a black-cloaked old woman who failed to stop when she was told. Instead of a suicide bomb, the bundle she carried to her death held only bread, tea, and a white flag.
From that day in a tiny town called Ash Shatra, Sarra says, he journeyed through dark territory -- heavy drinking, violent outbursts, therapy -- and finally from his temporary job in Chicago to the Republican National Convention this week. It is in New York that he embraced his new role -- peace activist. "I became opposed to the war when I saw we had no point in what was going on over there," said Sarra, 32, who spent nine years in the Marines and left in April. "We are all trying to make sure that the next time the US goes to war, it's for a good reason."
The massive protest in Manhattan on Sunday marked one of the first public appearances of a new group called Iraq Veterans Against the War. Though it is still small, numbering about 40, its members are taking tips from more established veterans groups, and because of their war experience, they seem likely to take a prominent role in debate about the Iraq war.
Almost unheard of before they caught the cameras' gaze Sunday, the Iraq veterans are now juggling interview requests from Fox News and MSNBC and GQ and Maxim magazines.
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