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I Was A Combat Soldier In Iraq. Here's The 1 Question Everyone Should Be Asking About ICE Right Now.
"When armed agents operate beyond the reach of law, they are no longer public servants. They are something else entirely."
By
Diana Oestreich
Jan 28, 2026, 11:36 AM EST
|Updated 9 hours ago
275 COMMENTS

We have to be clear about what we are witnessing from Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minnesota.
As a combat soldier, I recognize a mission when I see one — not because it’s announced, but because it’s being carried out. In the span of weeks, ICE and Border Patrol operations in Minneapolis have resulted in the deaths of two Minnesotans. In over a year of combat in Iraq, my battalion of 500 soldiers did not kill a single person.
That difference matters.
My unit spent 397 days on the battlefield. We were shot at. We feared for our lives. Snipers fired from crowds. Improvised explosive devices lined the roads we were ordered to clear. And still, we did not return fire unless strict conditions were met: The shooter had to be clearly identified, civilians could not be in the line of fire, and lethal force had to be the last resort.


Why? Because that was not our mission.
Our mission was to build bases, secure supply routes, and protect civilian life. We were governed by Rules of Engagement, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and the War Crimes Act. Violations were not brushed aside. Soldiers are criminally accountable when we break the law. That accountability is what separates professional soldiers from mercenaries.
This isn’t just my experience. It’s the standard.
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Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara stated publicly that, in 2025, the Minneapolis Police Department recovered roughly 900 guns from the street and arrested hundreds of violent offenders — and did not kill a single person.


Let that sit with you.
If the Minneapolis Police Department didn’t kill anyone in a year of active policing, and my combat unit didn’t kill anyone in over a year of war, Minnesotans — and all Americans — are right to ask why ICE and the Border Patrol have killed two people in my state in two weeks.
The answer is uncomfortable but unavoidable. Either this is their mission — or they are operating outside accountability.
Minnesota is demanding a full legal investigation into the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, including allegations that lifesaving medical care was delayed or denied. Refusing transparency or investigation is not partisan disagreement. It is a constitutional failure.
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The author in Nasiriyah, Iraq, in 2003. "I was deployed with the Army's 724 Engineer Battalion in the preemptive strike/invasion of the Iraq war," she writes.
The author in Nasiriyah, Iraq, in 2003. "I was deployed with the Army's 724 Engineer Battalion in the preemptive strike/invasion of the Iraq war," she writes.COURTESY OF DIANA OESTREICH
When armed agents operate beyond the reach of law, they are no longer public servants. They are something else entirely.
Mercenaries are defined not only by who pays them but by what restrains them. Mercenaries answer to orders, not to law, ethics or public accountability. That is precisely why soldiers and law enforcement officers hold codes of conduct so fiercely. Without those codes, uniforms become disguises instead of safeguards.
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As a veteran, I refuse to accept mercenary behavior hiding behind federal badges on Minnesota soil. This is my home. Minnesota stands for liberty, justice and due process — not secrecy, immunity or violence without consequence.
Staff changes are not legal accountability. Silence is not justice. Justice delayed is justice denied.
Minnesotans are demanding a full, independent investigation under state law into the agents involved in these deaths. No one — federal or otherwise — is above the law of this land.
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If ICE and the Border Patrol cannot operate within the Constitution, with restraint, transparency and accountability, then they are not fit to carry out their mission in Minnesota — or anywhere else.
Because when force is untethered from law, our freedom is already in danger.
Diana Oestreich is a combat veteran, founder of The Waging Peace Project, and author of “Waging Peace: One Soldier’s Story of Putting Love First.” As an author, activist and soldier-turned-peacemaker, she’s a nationally recognized speaker at the intersection of justice, nonviolence, faith and how everyday peacemakers are challenging and changing our world.”