Iraq army veteran goes public about war
His speech at the Denver Forum is designed to show the complexities of carrying out U.S. wishes.
By Bruce Finley
Denver Post Staff Writer
Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Nathan Sassaman, a military star who fell from grace after fighting in Iraq, walked straight- faced into downtown Denver confident he did the right thing.
He planned to wake up today and put on his uniform - including the Bronze Star for valor he got for dragging a bleeding soldier to safety under fire and then chasing down and killing the attackers.
Some of Sassaman's soldiers based at Fort Carson later abused two Iraqi detainees, forcing them to jump into the Tigris River at gunpoint on Jan. 3, 2004. One may have drowned. Sassaman withheld details from superiors at first and received a reprimand, ending what had been a promising career. He retired quietly last July.
But now Sassaman, 42, will tell his story publicly today at a Denver Forum luncheon, saying Americans need to grasp the complexities of carrying out their nation's wishes in Iraq.
"Once you get in there, a lot of bad things happen," Sassaman said in an interview about his June 2003-April 2004 stint in a deadly area north of Baghdad.
Talking about what happened amid criticism over detainee abuse is hard, he said. Those judging him "never had an American soldier's blood on their hands, never had to fight, never had to kill folks that are trying to kill them. ... All I know is, I just gave it my absolute best."
He wanted to handle the river-abuse incident at unit level, without courts-martial, demoting the soldiers responsible, he said. After learning what happened, he withheld details. But a politically charged investigation had begun.
"As upset as I was about the soldiers pushing the detainees in the water, ... I just view that as a tactical mistake out on that bridge," Sassaman said. "... It's really hard for me to fault them based on the conditions."
Those soldiers had been under direct-fire and rocket-propelled grenade attack four or five times a day. In Samarra - where emboldened insurgents "were trying to kill as many American soldiers as they could" - patrols around a golden-domed Shiite shrine had everybody on edge. Bombers last month destroyed that dome, setting off Sunni-Shiite killings.
"I'd do it again, do it again in a second," he said. "... Judge me as you want to judge me. But I was the dude in the shoes."
Back when he first heard he'd be sent to Iraq, Sassaman accepted U.S. military action as necessary. He had just served a year in Korea, stopped home in Colorado Springs, saw his wife and two children, then headed for Iraq, where he and 800 troops were to control a 300-square-mile area.
Generals ordered his unit "to increase the lethality of our combat activities" and also win popular support.
"All I had been taught was how to win the fight," he said. "I was not over there to maintain the status quo."
At night he ran raids, and by day he encouraged Iraqis to establish rule of law and govern themselves. The goal was to leave. And today, he said, Americans must accept that Iraq may collapse into war as troops leave.
"It's OK if we leave and there's a civil war," he said. "... If it falls into civil war, then that is the natural process the country has to go through. ... Iraqis are getting a shot at being able to govern themselves. I cannot give them democracy on a piece of paper. They have got to step up and make it happen for themselves.
"When I think of Iraq now, I feel really bad. Really bad for the pain and suffering our families have to go through.... I just really hope Iraq makes the right call."
