Coming up Wednesday
J.R. Martinez on Iraq War anniversary: Helped us to think we there for the Iraqi people, not necessarily because of WMDs
Today marks 10 years since the U.S. invasion of Iraq which led to the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. And it's been more than a year since the last company of troops left that country. Approximately 32,000 American servicemen and women suffered injuries in the war.
J.R. Martinez served in the U.S. Army, and while in Iraq he was severely injured in the first weeks of the war when the humvee he was riding in hit a roadside bomb. He has since gone on to become a motivational speaker and an actor and of course a "Dancing with the Stars" champion. He's also an author, out with a new memoir "Full of Heart."
J.R. Martinez talks with Soledad on "Starting Point" this morning to talk about what his time serving in Iraq was like and his reflections on the war.
Latest Videos
GWB lied to the American people, betrayed our troops and misled the UN and the world community. Recently, Dick Cheyney said he has "no regrets whatsoever." I believe those are his exact words to CNN's Candy Crawley a year ago. Yes, the heartless Dick Cheyney. And to add insult to injury, he even went on to say that if he could do it all over again, he wouldn't change a thing. I still wonder what's the purpose of the ICC??? Isn't it to prosecute and bring to justice, perpetrators of war crimes against humanity??? Or did they miss something along the way??? A once sovereign and stable Iraq has now been destabilized and tranformed into war zone and a death trap with civil and tribal warfare. The daily lives of the average Iraqi citizen is now plaugued and traumatized by daily roadside and martket place bombings and widespread violence everywhere, far from the so-called democracy we were supposed to bring them AFTER we did NOT find any WMDs. Just last night I was watching a military show on the Discovery Channel called "Combat Rescue" with very graphic images of U.S. medical teams flying into the combat zone in Afghanistan and rescuing the injured and performing all sorts of life saving operations on board a chupper. I even saw seens where some of our soldiers they called KIAs or killed in action expired. And there was blood everywhere and soldiers with missing limbs. It was so graphic and heartwrenching. It also made me appreciate MORE what our soldiers have to deal with on a daily basis. And yes, as a concerned American, as I watched that show, I could not forget how the Afghan war was deliberately and recklessly abandoned and prolonged by the Bush administration to invade Iraq. Yet, the heartless and cold blooded Dick Cheyney says he has no regrets??? Again, I ask what is the role and purpose of the ICC???