Navy Officer condemns Bush re Iraq war

Friday, March 26th, 2004
Navy Public Affairs Officer Who Worked in Iraq Condemns President Bush & The U.S. Invasion
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A year ago Navy Lt. John Oliveira was appearing daily before television cameras defending the U.S. invasion. He was the top public affairs officer aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt. In a Democracy Now! exclusive he speaks today on a national program for the first time criticizing the invasion he was once paid to defend. [includes rush transcript]
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A year ago Saturday Lt. John Oliveira was aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Mediterranean Sea. He was serving as public affairs officer for the 5,000-troop aircraft carrier. He was overseeing embedded reporters. He was speaking to the national and international media defending the U.S. invasion.

To mark the first anniversary of the invasion, Oliveira was far from the battlefront -- he was taking part in his first peace rally. Two months after being honorably discharged, Oliveira decided to speak out against the invasion of Iraq for the first time. Today this decorated 16-year Navy veteran talks with Democracy Now! in his first national interview to criticize the U.S. invasion of Iraq and President Bush.
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Transcript of interview:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/26/1551246