Operation First Casualty
Occupies New York

By Madeline Gardner

ruth is the first casualty of war. We’re bringing the truth of the war home.”—Demond Mullins, 25, of Brooklyn, who served in Iraq as an infantryman with the Army National Guard in 2004 and 2005.

“By reenacting what we’ve been through in Iraq we hope to inspire more of our fellow Americans to act to end the war now,” said IVAW member Adam Kokesh, 25, of Washington, DC, who served in Fallujah with the Marine Corps in 2004.

On May 27 the streets of NYC were patrolled by a squad of Iraq war combat veterans. The soldiers, in full uniform and pointing imaginary assault rifles, encountered a group of civilians along the way. They threw the civilians to the ground, cuffed them and searched them. The soldiers shouted orders and put
bags on the heads of their captives. They lined subsequent groups of civilians (suspected enemy combatants) up against the wall, singling one person out for interrogation. These scenes unfolded against the backdrop of Times Square, Central Park, Union Square and Grand Army Plaza. On-lookers stopped dead in their tracks, staring. Supporters quickly passed out flyers explaining the action:

This is Operation First Casualty.
The first casualty in war is truth.
Right now somewhere in Iraq a scene like this is playing itself out, often with deadly results. Right now our troops are caught in the middle of violent occupation where they are unwanted by the majority of Iraqi people. …The truth is the occupation must end now and you can help us.

Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) orchestrated this street theater action, with support from the WRL and others. IVAW is made up of servicemembers who have been in the armed services since 9/11. They are young, dynamic, and either
fresh out of the military or still in it. IVAW’s New York chapter set up shop in WRL’s national office this spring. Our work on Operation First Casualty OFC was an important next step in our collaboration. WRL worked closely in a support role with IVAW during the planning stages of the action. IVAW guided the overall direction with WRL playing clearly defined support roles. Largely, WRL helped recruit and prepare the civilian volunteers and assisted in coordinating media.

Operation First Casualty was a tremendous success. Thousands of New Yorkers were able to witness the daily reality of occupation for soldiers and Iraqi civilians. The message that “a growing number of troops say end the war now” was indisputable. And that message was spread beyond just the New Yorkers who saw it firsthand; IVAW’s afternoon press conference was well attended and the media coverage extensive.

Groups like IVAW are playing a vital role in coordinating the growing number of troops who want to express their opposition to the war. During the prep training the day before the action, a man came over and introduced himself, saying that he was
just out of the military and frustrated with the war. He had seen everyone wearing IVAW t-shirts and wanted more information. This is a regular occurrence for IVAW members. Wherever they go, vets come up to them and ask how they can get involved.

Antiwar groups like WRL have an important opportunity to support groups like IVAW. We were overjoyed to work with IVAW on this action. Though the WRL played a meaningful and important role in the action, we took direction from IVAW. We all recognized the importance of amplifying the voices of veterans and GI resisters. All the theater, images, materials, spokespeople and press work served this end.

Highlighting vets and supporting veteran-led actions moves the whole antiwar movement closer to winning. Veterans are very effective messengers for the antiwar message. They know the reality of the war on the ground in Iraq. Their stories cannot be refuted. Their accounts are powerful, personal stories of why the war must end.

A strong, visible movement of troops who oppose the war exposes the false dichotomy that we have to choose between supporting the troops and ending the war. This gives the antiwar movement new legitimacy in mainstream America. If the
troops who are on the ground immersed in the daily activities of enforcing an occupation don’t support the war, who will? Supporting antiwar veteran-led events and actions also helps swell their numbers, evidenced by the increase in IVAW membership applications following each action they do.

Veteran groups speaking out against the war deserve the full support of the antiwar movement. Here at WRL we are looking forward to working further with IVAW. We are currently writing a manual for civilian volunteers who will be playing support roles in future IVAW actions. We also encourage local WRL chapters to look for ways to develop relationships with veterans and GI resisters in their areas.

IVAW is planning another Operation First Casualty for Chicago later this month. Check them out at www.ivaw.org.