[Biofuel] Re article about deserters

Kirk McLoren Thu, 10 Aug 2006 13:41:59 -0700

Was given this as the original story. STill would like to see the actual numbers though.

Kirk

Oddly, the number has DROPPED since the Afghanistan War started. Here's
the original story:

July 05, 2006

*Thousands of troops say they wont fight*

*By Ana Radelat*
/Gannett News Service
http://www.airforcetimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1930387.php
/

Swept up by a wave of patriotism after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Chris
Magaoay joined the Marine Corps in November 2004.

The newly married Magaoay thought a military career would allow him to
continue his college education, help his country and set his life on the
right path.

Less than two years later, Magaoay became one of thousands of military
deserters who have chosen a lifetime of exile or possible court-martial
rather than fight in Iraq or Afghanistan.

It wasnt something I did on the spur of the moment, said Magaoay, a
native of Maui, Hawaii. It took me a long time to realize what was
going on. The war is illegal.

Magaoay said his disillusionment with the military began in boot camp in
Twentynine Palms, Calif., where a superior officer joked about killing
and mistreating Iraqis. When his unit was deployed to Iraq in March,
Magaoay and his wife drove to Canada, joining a small group of deserters
who are trying to win permission from the Canadian government to stay.

Were like a tight-knit family, Magaoay said.

The Pentagon says deserters like Magaoay represent a tiny fraction of
the nations fighting forces.

The vast majority of soldiers who desert do so for personal, family or
financial problems, not for political or conscientious objector
purposes, said Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, a spokesman for the Army.

Since 2000, about 40,000 troops from all branches of the military have
deserted, the Pentagon says. More than half served in the Army. But the
Army says numbers have decreased each year since the United States began
its war on terror in Afghanistan.

Those who help war resisters say desertion is more prevalent than the
military has admitted.

They lied in Vietnam with the amount of opposition to the war and
theyre lying now, said Eric Seitz, an attorney who represents Army Lt.
Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to refuse deployment to the
war in Iraq.

Watada is under military custody in Fort Lewis, Wash., because he
refused to join his Stryker brigade when it was sent to Iraq last month.

Watada said he doesnt object to war but considers the conflict in Iraq
illegal. The Army has turned down his request to resign and plans to
file charges against him.

Critics of the Iraq war have demonstrated on the lieutenants behalf.
Conservative bloggers call him a traitor and opportunist.

Joe Davis, spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said deserters
arent traitors because theyve done nothing to help Americas enemies.
But he rejects arguments that deserters have a moral right to refuse to
fight wars they consider unjust.

None of us can choose our wars. Theyre always a political decision,
Davis said. Theyre letting their buddies down and hurting morale - and
morale is everything on the battlefront.

Because todays military is an all-volunteer force, troops seeking
objector status must convince superior officers theyve had an honest
change of heart about the morality of war.

The last time the U.S. military executed a deserter was World War II.
But hundreds face court-martials and imprisonment every year.

Members of the armed forces are considered absent without leave when
they are unaccounted for. They become deserters after theyve been AWOL
for 30 days.

A 2002 Army report says desertion is fairly constant but tends to worsen
during wartime, when theres an increased need for troops and enlistment
standards are more lax. They also say deserters tend to be less educated
and more likely to have engaged in delinquent behavior than other troops.

Army spokesman Hilferty said the Army doesnt try to find deserters.
Instead, their names are given to civilian law enforcement officers who
often nab them during routine traffic stops and turn them over to the
military.

Commanders then decide whether to rehabilitate or court-martial the
alleged deserter. Theres an incentive to rehabilitate because it costs
the military an average of $38,000 to recruit and train a replacement.

Jeffry House, an attorney in Toronto who represents Magaoay and other
deserters, said there are about 200 deserters living in Canada. They
have decided not to seek refugee status but instead are leading
clandestine lives, he said.

Like many of the people helping todays war resisters, House fled to
Canada to avoid the Vietnam War. About 50,000 Americans sought legal
residency in Canada during the Vietnam era.

You would apply at the border and if you didnt have a criminal record,
you were in, House said.

He said changes in Canadian law make it harder for resisters to flee
north. Now, potential immigrants must apply for Canadian residency in
their home countries. Resisters say that exposes them to U.S. prosecution.

=============

Kirk McLoren wrote:
>
>
>
> I haven't checked the Pentagon site for this info. Maybe someone
> else would care to research it and verify. -- Mike
> http://english.people.com.cn//200608/09/eng20060809_291225.html
> 40,000 U.S. soldiers have deserted from military since 2000: report
> font size printResizeButton(); ZoomIn <_javascript_:void(0);>Web Bug
> from http://english.people.com.cn//200608/09/images/spacer.gif
> ZoomOut <_javascript_:void(0);>
>
> Some 40,000 personnel from all branches of the U.S. military have
> deserted since 2000, U.S. media quoted Pentagon sources as saying
> Tuesday.
> From the total, more than half had served in the U.S. Army,
> according to the report.
> Anti-war organizations said that the mass desertions were due to
> the strong resistance to war which is more prevalent than the
> military has openly admitted.
> "They (U.S. military) lied in Vietnam
> about the
> amount of opposition to the war and they're lying now," said Eric
> Seitz, an attorney who represents Army Lt. Ehren Watada, the first
> commissioned officer to refuse to join his brigade when it was
> sent to Iraq
> last month. He is now under military custody in Fort Lewis,
> Washington.
> A 2002 Army report said that desertion was fairly constant but
> "tends to worsen during wartime."
> /Source: Xinhua/
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Want to be your own boss? Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business.
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> Biofuel mailing list
> Biofuel@sustainablelists.org
> http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org
>
> Biofuel at Journey to Forever:
> http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html
>
> Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages):
> http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
>
>

Do you Yahoo!?
Get on board. You're invited to try the new Yahoo! Mail Beta.

_______________________________________________
Biofuel mailing list
Biofuel@sustainablelists.org
http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org


Biofuel at Journey to Forever:
http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html

Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages):
http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/

[Biofuel] Re article about deserters

Reply via email to