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NARR: A recent survey of US troops in Iraq found almost three-quarters wanted America out within the year. The group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, or IAVA, has produced a television commercial that reflects the increasingly critical views of many vets.
SOT: (advertisement) With two-thousand troops dead, and more dying every day, we desperately need a change of course in Iraq, and an exit strategy that honors their sacrifice. Because Mr. President, there has to be a better way to bring our troops home.
NARR: IAVA was formed two years ago under the name Operation Truth. It's director is Paul Reickhoff.
SOT: You can call it an exit strategy, a redeployment plan, it's really the same thing. The bottom line is, we need to know when we're getting out of Iraq. And if it's going to be five years, then fine, say five years and let the people know.
NARR: Reickhoff was a Platoon Leader in the Third Infantry in Iraq. He says he's speaking up for veterans who feel let down by Washington. And he's following in a long tradition of veteran organizing. Soldiers returning from the Spanish American war more than a hundred years ago fought for veteran rights and organized themselves into what became The Veterans of Foreign Wars. The VFW now has 2.4 million members. IAVA has a membership of about a thousand vets and 50 thousand supporters. But Reickhoff claims his group represents the views of most veterans of the Gulf wars.
SOT: Things like the expansion of VA care, holding politicians accountable, creating greater transitional care for PTSD and other mental health issues. These are almost no brainers for veterans.
NARR: Veterans do seem to be united on these issues, and Rieckhoff's group is one of a number that are fighting for more Veterans Administration funding to better care for injured and traumatized vets returning from the Gulf. One way IAVA promotes this cause is through TV ads. This one featuring returning vet Herold Noel talking about his PTSD, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
SOT: (advertisement) I was scared. Having nightmares and shaking in my sleep, waking up with cold sweats. I got out of one war, just to end up in another war. It got so bad where I put a gun to my head, almost took my life.
NARR: Among IAVA's goals is getting the voices of veterans heard. Rieckhoff complains that the war is like a reality TV show for most Americans, and the politicians and pundits who dominate the debate haven't had any real experience with it.
SOT: So, you know, let's have an informed dialogue, let's have a conversation that represents lots of different viewpoints, but the veterans should be at the core of that. Because they've been at the tip of the spear, fighting this war and trying to interpret this policy at the end of an M-16. So they know what works and they know what doesn't.
NARR: Yet there's plenty of disagreement among vets. In January, the VFW was joined by a new group, Vets for Freedom, in supporting the President's resolve to stay in Iraq as long as needed. But Zogby Interntional's survey found that only 23% of troops deployed in Iraq held that view. At the other extreme, 29% of the troops wanted an immediate withdrawal. That's the position of Iraq Veterans Against the War. Jose Vasquez is one of a dozen member of its New York Chapter.
SOT: Iraq Veterans Against the War stands for the immediate withdrawal of the troops, that the troops are taken care of when they get home, and reparations for the Iraqi people.
NARR: Iraq Vets against the War was formed two years ago at a Veterans for Peace meeting. Vasquez says the group has about 250 members nationwide, but he expects that number to grow.
SOT: There are a lot of people who are against the war but are not necessarily ready to take the next step to speak out against it. The majority of the people that I've talked to, they think that the war is wrong, that we shouldn't be there, they're not clear on what the mission is.
NARR: That may be true of the vets Vasquez talks to, but the Zogby poll shows that America's soldiers do not speak with one voice on the Iraq War. All these Iraq vet groups are trying to get the rest of the country to listen to what vets have to say about the war. And as the debate over the war continues, each group will be working to promote their version of what that is. I'm Matt Hirshberg, Columbia Radio News.