A very very young me with my interpreter out in Baghdad around 2010. pic.twitter.com/q21cQwETD0
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
Rolling Stone writer Corbin Reiff served as a Sergeant in the United States Army from 2006 to 2011. In 2009, he was deployed in Iraq to serve the Western Baghdad region as a Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge of Foreign Claims. In other words, he was a military-appointed claims adjuster. He was tasked with assessing damages to Iraqi citizens’ property and, if warranted, issuing financial compensation. Since Reiff writes primarily about music, his service isn’t something he typically talks about in his articles or on social media. However, after Donald Trump accused his fellow U.S. Army members of stealing millions from taxpayer funds he was entrusted with, Reiff aired his grievances on Twitter in a lengthy and damning screed against the presumptive Republican nominee.
After warning his followers that he was “about to go on a bit of a rant,” Reiff launched into a tweet-by-tweet explanation of what his particular gig in Iraq involved:
So if a helicopter dropped a flare and burned a kid, or an MRAP ran into a generator or someone's goat while on patrol…
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
Affected citizens would make the drive from as far as Lebanon on a weekly basis to see if their claims had been adjudicated.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
I basically spent a year of my life in an aluminum trailer, away from my friends and family enduring mortar attacks nearly every night.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
I had to look widows and orphans in the eye as tears ran down their cheeks telling me through an interpreter their heartbreaking stories.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
In the course of my job, I was entrusted with a lot of taxpayer money, all in American cash.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
It was this “American cash” that, during an eventful rally in Greensboro, North Carolina on Tuesday night, Trump was referring to when he accused the U.S. Army of theft. The moment in question was caught by MSNBC (and other news outlets the Donald hadn’t banned yet) during a 30-second spot in a much larger speech:
“Iraq, crooked as hell. How about bringing baskets of money — millions and millions of dollars — and handing it out?,” he shouted at the crowd, adding: “I want to know who were the soldiers that had that job, because I think they’re living very well right now, whoever they may be.”
Hence Reiff’s irritation:
“How about bringing baskets of money — millions and millions of dollars — and handing it out?”
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
The Iraq War veteran-turned-writer then turned the tables on Trump by way of an answer to his question about “the soldiers that had that job”:
In my time overseas, the procedures that were put in place to prevent that from happening were frustratingly thorough.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
Then he tossed off the gloves and delved into Trump himself:
Don’t believe him when he says he’s for Veterans. It's lip service entirely.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
Trump hasn’t responded on Twitter or in one of his many media interviews yet, but you know it’s coming.
(Via Corbin Reiff on Twitter, Politico)