"I want to let the American people understand what they are signing on for when they say they support the war in Iraq," Aidan Delgado, son of an RPCV says. In addition to the good work the American troops are doing in Iraq, Delgado said there is "a whole string of negative incidents."
Vet speaks to ugly face of war
New College student says he witnessed prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib
ROBERTA C. NELSON
Herald Staff Writer
SARASOTA - Army Reserve Spc. Aidan Delgado wasn't shocked by revelations in April about the abuse of Abu Ghraib prisoners by U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
The incidents are a "natural consequence" of U.S. military tolerance for a wide range of bad acts he witnessed during the year he served in Iraq, he said. Behavior included using racial slurs, casual violence and brute force against Iraqi citizens, Delgado said.
Dov Schwartz, a spokesman for the Army in Washington, D.C., said Friday that Delgado should have reported any wrongdoing to Army personnel.
"He should have reported first to his boss, his commander," Schwartz said. "That is the standard way the chain of command works."
Delgado, a 23-year-old New College student who was honorably discharged in June, speaks about his military experiences in Iraq at 7 p.m. Monday at the Sudakoff Conference Center. The program, Delgado's first public presentation on his war experience, will be followed by a panel discussion led by Patrick McDonald, who is Delgado's academic sponsor at New College. The free event is open to the public.
"I want to let the American people understand what they are signing on for when they say they support the war in Iraq," he said.
In addition to the good work the American troops are doing in Iraq, Delgado said there is "a whole string of negative incidents."
While serving as a vehicle mechanic at the Abu Ghraib prison from November 2003 to April 2004, Delgado said he saw prisoners "severely beaten with batons."
He also claims to have seen five Iraqis shot to death by U.S. soldiers after they threw rocks at the soldiers.
"I am not doing this to denigrate other soldiers, and am not naming names, or pressing for charges. I want the American people to understand the ugly aspect of war. It doesn't confront us, as the televised images of Vietnam did. There is a real human cost here," he said.
Delgado, whose father is a U.S. diplomat, lived for eight years in Cairo, Egypt, which he considers his hometown and where he graduated from high school.
"After Sept. 11, I think there was a lot of animosity displaced onto the Iraqi people, and innocent Arabs," he said. "Saddam Hussein was a bad guy, but his regime had nothing to do with Sept. 11. The war is rooted in fear, and there are racial undertones to it."
Delgado, who served in Nazarea in southern Iraq before going to Abu Ghraib, sought conscientious objector status soon after his arrival overseas. The process took approximately a year, the entire time he was in Iraq.
Delgado, who is a Buddhist, said he did not want to participate in the war.
New College is not an official sponsor of the program, but made the Sudakoff auditorium available to Delgado, as it does for all its students and faculty, said Jake Hartvigsen, spokesman for the college.
"New College is proud to be a place where all types of different viewpoints can be expressed," Hartvigsen said. "It is important for members of the community to be able to have a chance to hear about Aidan's experiences, and also to be able to engage in dialogue over a topic that is as controversial as the Iraq war."
IF YOU GO
• WHAT: Aidan Delgado, an Army Reserve veteran of the Iraq war, speaks about his experiences in Iraq, followed by a panel discussion of faculty and community members
• WHEN: 7 p.m. Monday
• WHERE: Sudakoff Conference Center, New College of Florida, 5700 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota
• INFORMATION: 359-4314
Roberta C. Nelson, staff writer, can be reached at 708-7918, or at bcnelson@bradentonherald.com.
