An award-winning journalist tells the hidden story of American soldiers turning against an unjust war.'
Since 2006, a majority in the United States have opposed the continued occupation of Iraq, and increasing skepticism surrounds the escalation in Afghanistan. But how do the soldiers who carry out the American occupations see their missions?
Fragmented reports of battalions refusing orders, of individual soldiers refusing redeployment and taking a public stand against the occupations have trickled into the mainstream reportage over the last five years. But how deep does the current of resistance run? What makes soldiers decide to go AWOL, file for conscientious objector status, and even serve sentences in military prison for their acts of refusal?
Dahr Jamail's comprehensive study of the today's military resisters sheds new light on the contours of dissent within the ranks of the world's most powerful military.
What People Are Saying
About the Author
Chris Hedges (Foreword), whose column is published weekly on Truthdig, has written 11 books, including the New York Times best seller “Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt” (2012), which he co-authored with the cartoonist Joe Sacco. Some of his other books include “Death of the Liberal Class” (2010), “Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle” (2009), “I Don’t Believe in Atheists” (2008) and the best selling “American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America” (2008). His book “War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning” (2003) was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction.
Hedges previously spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. He has reported from more than 50 countries and has worked for The Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, The Dallas Morning News and The New York Times, for which he was a foreign correspondent for 15 years.