Report Our Troops

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Although supporting U.S. soldiers has been a constant theme in American political rhetoric, their needs and rights when they return home and readjust to civilian life have gone largely ignored. Journalist Aaron Glantz is attempting to fill this gap with a new website, WarComesHome.org, which features first-person accounts of US veterans. Soldiers profiled include Corporal Phillipe Louis Jean, who was thrown into an immigration prison after serving a tour in Iraq; Sergeant Todd Bowers, who returned from a second tour in Iraq to find his student loans had been sent to collection; and Specialist Joshua Casteel, who became a conscientious objector after working as a US Army interrogator at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison. "Too often the American media covers the Iraq war like it's a political wrestling match between President Bush and Democratic leaders in Congress," says Glantz. "But those of us who've seen the violence up close know the focus ought to be on the war's human costs. The Iraq war is really a story about people. Understanding their stories is the only way to unlock the truth."