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There is a current story in the US press about a squad of Marines that are being investigated for "war crimes" after they murdered a whole Iraqi family one night a few months back. US officials are approaching this story as if this wasn't standard procedure, and are focusing on holding the individual Marines accountable.

Jessie Macbeth blows the lid off that story. Macbeth is a former US Army Ranger, who served in Iraq for 16 months before being wounded and ultimately discharged. His squad did night raids, using the same techniques the Marines are accused of, 4 or 5 times a night for many months. Macbeth, who is now a member of "Iraq Veterans Against the War," was interviewed for the public access TV show "Indymedia Presents." His story is available here: www.peacefilms.org. In this interview Jessie describes killing children to make the parents talk. He describes one episode where his squad responded to the much-reported incident in Falluja where 4 US mercenaries were killed and hung from a bridge. Shortly after Iraqis killed the mercenaries, according to Macbeth, his squad of Rangers gunned down Iraqis praying inside a mosque on a holy day, then hung some of the bodies from rafters, and defaced the mosque with graffiti. Macbeth's hand held the smoking gun, and his testimony in this interview shows clearly that the Marines who are now in trouble for very similar actions are not the exception to US tactics in Iraq, but represent only one in many incidents of war crimes.

During the US invasion and occupation of Viet Nam, testimony of returning soldiers helped turn the tide of public opinion. The gory details of US misbehavior in Viet Nam did not fit the American self image and the more people learned about what was really going on over there, the less they supported the war effort. Jessie Macbeth's story has the same compelling quality to alert the American people and turn the tide of public opinion.

Iraq Veterans Against the War is an organization of veterans opposed to the war, who, like Vietnam Vets Against the War before them, have bitter lessons--paid for in blood--to share with the public. Their website is: www.ivaw.net

The peacefilms.org website was set up especially to feature the interview with Jessie Macbeth. Feel free to link to the peacefilms.org site. Go to the "Do Something" page and click, "Have A Website?": www.peacefilms.org

"Indymedia Presents" is a weekly public access TV show produced by PepperSpray Productions for the Seattle Indymedia Center. The show is aired on 11 stations in cities ranging from Tucson, AZ to Fort Wayne, IN. The interview with Jessie Macbeth was originally included on show #193. PepperSpray Productions is an activist video collective in Seattle, WA. Their website is: www.peppersprayproductions.org