ANTHONY AGUILAR: So, I would not refer to myself as a mercenary, nor would I refer to myself as a whistleblower. I’m a patriotic American who wants America to know the truth. When I took this contract to go on this mission, my motivations were clear. I wanted to use my years of expertise, my experience in planning, my experience in executing operations of a large-scale magnitude to contribute to this mission succeeding. That’s what I wanted.

I retired. I recently had retired, thoroughly enjoyed being a stay-at-home dad, watching The Golden Girls in the afternoon and enjoying my afternoon walks with my dog, enjoyed that. I didn’t take on this mission for personal gain or money. I took on this mission because I believed in it. I resigned my contract and left, walked away from the money — and they were paying us a lot of money — walked away from that money, because nothing is going to buy my soul. Nothing is going to pay for my values and my patriotism as an American.

I’m an American first. I’m not a contractor. I’m not a mercenary. I’m not a whistleblower. I’m a patriotic American that wants the American people to know the truth of what we are involved in, in a very complex and complicated environment that, quite frankly, right now we are on the wrong side of history.

ANTHONY AGUILAR: Thank you. It’s an honor to be here and to share this story. I do not call this my story. I call this the story of the oppressed, the story of the Palestinians in Gaza who are dying at the hands of starvation and violence.

What I witnessed in Gaza, I can only describe as a dystopian, post-apocalyptic wasteland. We — we, the United States — are complicit. We are involved, hand in hand, in the atrocities and the genocide that is currently undergoing in Gaza. For anyone who says that there is no starvation or mass hunger, or that not only are we at the precipice, but we have stepped over the line of wide-scale famine, to anyone who says that that’s not happening, shame on you. Shame on you. It’s inhumane.

What I witnessed in Gaza at all four distribution sites — I didn’t just go to one for a photo-op. I didn’t go to one to watch a distribution and then say, “Yes, this looks great.” I spent days on end in Gaza at all four distribution sites, at Kerem Shalom, where the aid is loaded for distribution, and at both operation centers that control the daily convoys, logistics operations and distribution for the four sites. What I saw on the sites, around the sites, to and from the sites, can be described as nothing but war crimes, crimes against humanity, violations of international law. This is not hyperbole. This is not platitudes or drama. This is the truth.

So, what I saw in Gaza, to me, concerns me as an American. What we are doing in Gaza, in being complicit with what the Israeli Defense Forces are doing, is un-American. I didn’t come forward to talk because I want to disregard the struggle and the fight. I stand with Israel against Hamas and their atrocities. The world stands with Israel against Hamas and their atrocities. No one would argue that October 7th wasn’t atrocious. But if we, as a nation, the United States, and Israel, our closest — one of our closest allies, if we go down the road of saying we’re doing what Hamas did, and saying that that’s OK, we are losing our humanity. And we cannot go down that road. It’s un-American. It’s not in line with our values.

Two months ago, I hung up my uniform after 25 years of service to this nation. I didn’t hang up my oath. I swore an oath to the Constitution. I didn’t swear an oath to the president, to the Congress, to a boss, to a contract, to a paycheck. I swore an oath to the Constitution of the United States of America. And that Constitution is underlined in American values, dignity, respect, respect for human life. Right now America is on a dangerous road. And if we don’t stop now, end this and back the humanitarian aid process that should be going into Gaza, shame on us, un-American. I’m going to make sure the truth is known.