Please join us at Friends Place on Capitol Hill or online via Zoom on Thursday, May 16 for a screening and discussion of What I Want You To Know—A documentary that spotlights US veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. With searing candor, veterans share personal stories from their deployments, and explore the tragedy of these wars.
After the film we will be joined by Director Catie Foertsch and Executive Producer and US Marine veteran Tommy Furlong for a Q&A. We will also have the opportunity to learn about advocacy opportunities related to the efforts to repeal the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq.
Film Synopsis
After the 9/11 attacks, the United States rallied a large coalition of allies and sent military forces into Afghanistan. One year later, President George W. Bush told the nation that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and had to be stopped. Then the US invaded Iraq.
For decades, the wars rolled on. The inescapable conclusion these veterans faced day after day was that they had been deeply misled and were perpetrating the very kind of violence they thought they were fighting against.
The veterans in this film, like so many other veterans of these wars, brought home physical and mental injuries that will be lifelong. They also suffered moral injuries from the terrible things they saw and did. Their suffering is compounded by questions they can’t stop asking themselves, even as people thank them for their service and call them heroes: What was it all for? Why were we lied to? What’s to stop it from happening again? What I Want You To Know is a courageous and unblinking look at the cost and consequences of war, and the moral tragedy of sending America’s young men and women to fight wars their country has no need to fight.
