An interview with Tyler Gilbert, who recently went through basic training in the US military;
“They Called Iraqis ‘Ragheads'”
The guy who carried my tray was the nicest guy I met there. He was Islamic. His name was Thomas. He decided that he couldn’t kill people. He stopped eating because he had a dream one night that told him he was wrong for the military. They tried to force-feed him. They pulled him out of class, accusing him and another Muslim of being terrorists, just because they were Muslim. Eventually, the drill sergeant told me he went AWOL. I had never met anyone who was Muslim before, but he was the nicest guy I met there. In the platoon, they called Iraqis “ragheads,” and all sorts of racist shit. I was prejudiced too until I met these Muslim guys. My views of Muslims have totally changed.
One drill instructor said, “We’re in Iraq for a good reason. The news isn’t reporting the good stuff we’re doing there. The news is bullshit, they’re lying because they’re only saying the bad stuff about the Army.” They said we should all support George Bush. They were trying to brainwash us. One of the drill sergeants came back from Iraq training Iraqis. He was less gung-ho. He told us, “We’re stupid. We’re training them and then they turn around and fight us instead.”
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