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The Success of Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan

By Geoff Millard

There are many ways to mark the success of Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan—Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations. One could say that the largest gathering of IVAW members in history was a success. One could say that having forced the Pentagon to address WSIA was a success. Our membership increases, the stories in Stars & Stripes or all the military times publications, are sure signs that we made history at the National Labor College, just outside of our nation's capital.

All of these things show that Winter Soldier Iraq and Afghanistan: Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations was not only a greater success then any of us could imagine, but the best of what WSIA did for IVAW can not be seen unless you were one of the many organizers working behind the scenes. The true success of WSIA was that it turned our organization from a group of great speakers to a group of great organizers.

We have empowered not only ourselves, but other veterans to take charge and speak out. Even the pro-war group Veterans For Freedom has been empowered by WSIA to travel the country and tell their experiences from Iraq. Members of the US military and its subsequent veterans community have been empowered by our actions so much that we have heard from members serving in Baghdad as well as at bases all over the US.

Our membership made Winter Soldier Iraq and Afghanistan: Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations a success, because our membership organized and turned out in force. This is a sign of things to come with our declaration that we will no longer be bit players in the movement to end the occupations but we will be at the tip of its organizing spear.

Last year, when IVAW did Operation First Casualty, we took the reigns of the movement but Winter Soldier Iraq and Afghanistan: Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations marks the moving of directions from a movement involving veterans, to one that is lead by veterans!

Geoff Millard testifies at the Racism and War: the Dehumanization of the Enemy panel