Phony Soldier Charged With Making Up Claims of Atrocities in Iraq

"A man who tried to position himself as a leader of the anti-war movement by claiming to have participated in war crimes while serving in Iraq is facing federal charges of falsifying his record."

This man's claims were contradicted by his discharge papers, which read that he was actually discharged from Army for "entry level performance and conduct" after serving for 6 weeks in Georgia.

Despite being discharged in 2003, Jesse Macbeth filed a claim with the Veterans Association claiming Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. This claim included falsified dates, saying that Macbeth served in the Army from 2001 to 2004, that he had been shot while serving in Iraq, and was traumatized for having taken part in the slaughter and burning of people at a Mosque in Fallujah.

His interviews and claims spread over the Internet like wildfire as anti-war activists ate up his story. Some of these sites, such as the Iraq Veterans Against the War, posted videos of Macbeth dressed in camouflage describing this traumatic experience.

Now Macbeth is admitting to falsifying his documents because he was "homeless and wanted to 'sucker' anything he could out of the government".

This is a sad day, indeed. It's people like Macbeth that make everyone question the validity of government assistance programs and their effectiveness. Additionally, because of Macbeth and other soldiers before him, the people that are honest and do need the help are forced to wait longer for that help because of long screening procedures and more invasive monitoring procedures.