I would like to applaud Student Life for the recent series describing Washington University graduates’ experiences as active soldiers in Iraq. The soldiers are the people who know the most about military life, and it is important for anyone interested to get their perspectives.

I do think it is important to point out, however, that there are many limitations on what active soldiers are allowed to say about current wars. In addition to the fact that soldiers can be fined or demoted for criticizing commanders (including the president), the system places a huge amount of social pressure against speaking out that extends beyond active soldiers to veterans and military families. The result of this pressure is that it seems as though people related to the military are uniformly in favor of the war, when in fact the range of their opinions are much closer to those of the general public.

A few examples: capitalhillblue.com reports that Specialist Leonard Clark was fined $1,640 for posting statements critical of the war and his commanding officer on a blog. The same article cites another reservist who was told he could go home early if he did a good job promoting the war, and states that soldiers were encouraged to contact their local media outlets and give positive assessments of the war. In a separate article in the Roanoke Times, a soldier was asked how the interviewer could be sure that his superiors hadn’t sent him on leave early to give a positive account of Iraq. His response? “You don’t. I can tell you that the direction we’ve gotten from on high is that there is a concern about public opinion out there and they want to set the record straight.”

None of this is meant to suggest that soldiers who speak positively about the war are lying. There are many soldiers who still believe in the mission in Iraq and think that the positive developments outweigh the negatives. But even these assessments need to be taken in context.

There is a tremendous amount of social pressure that encourages military personell to support the president. When I interviewed Specialist Mark Wilkerson this past summer, he told me that his opposition to the war was met with scorn from most of the army personnel, including his chaplain. In fact, his chaplain told him that soldiers who opposed the war are worse than terrorists. Wilkerson said that soldiers were trained to follow orders and the army was designed to win wars, and that neither of these activities are conducive to an atmosphere of openly debating and discussing policy.

Furthermore, according to Vietnam veteran Chuc Smith, there are emotional issues that make it difficult for veterans to speak out against the war. Smith said that many soldiers don’t like to speak of their worst experiences because they feel that no one can really understand what they’ve been through. Also, soldiers are hesitant to say anything they think might discourage those still in the war zone.

Considering that so many Americans have risked so much, it is our duty to ensure that soldiers are not sent off to ill-conceived wars. Americans can only repay the sacrifice of soldiers if they critically evaluate the policies of the country and look beyond the testimony of the official line. It is difficult for soldiers to speak out against injustices in the military (including inadequate armoring of vehicles), so it is up to us to do so.

One way is to listen to soldiers or veterans who are speaking against the war. One such speaker that St. Louis is fortunate to have is Michael McPhearson. McPhearson is a veteran of the first Gulf War and is the executive director of Veterans for Peace. He spoke this past Sunday at the premiere of the movie “InformaNation,” a documentary shown by the Alternatives to Military Service Network and the WashU Peace and Justice Coalition. Both McPhearson and the movie offered the perspectives of veterans who are opposed to the Iraq war, and provided insight into why it is so hard for balanced information to be gleaned from our military.

Those who join the armed services are extremely brave, and so are the soldiers and veterans who are willing to criticize bad wars. We owe it to our soldiers to pay close attention to those who speak out and to think critically about what soldiers are allowed to say.

Adam is a graduate student in PNP.

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