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Agustín Aguayo released from brig! Marc Train marches on DC instead of
Iraq Sgt Clousing on resisting Iraq War
(audio) War resisters welcomed in Canada
Resistance then and now
Army Spc. Agustín Aguayo released from brig!
Courage to Resist. April 20, 2007 "My experiences in Iraq made my convictions stronger... In the end
I felt that I had to listen to my conscience." Agustín Aguayo, a 35-year-old Army medic and conscientious objector, was convicted of desertion and missing movement on March 6 in a U.S. military court in Germany. Although he faced a maximum of seven years, Agustín was sentenced to eight months in the brig for resisting redeployment to Iraq (see Courage to Resist's report from Germany). Since he had been imprisoned pending trial since September, he was released from the brig on April 18. Agustín is still in the Army for the time being, and he is still in Germany. We are expecting his unit give him leave during his transition out of the Army so that he can come home, hopefully within a couple of weeks. However, Agustin's wife Helga notes, "For now the sad truth is it seems that the unit's inefficiency will keep him in Germany a while longer—an undetermined amount of time." In a statement Helga wrote Wednesday, she added, "I am saddened that to date my husband has not been recognized as a conscientious objector (CO). I do not think the system has been fair to my husband, a man who served in Iraq and came back a decorated veteran. It saddens me that our daughters continue to live without their daddy and question why he is not back if he is supposedly, "free." "We are preparing for a "welcome back" for him as well as a "victory tour" [details coming soon]. Much work is still needed! We need to bring awareness to his case and advocate for any future COs. As a consequence we intend on fighting this to the end." > Read more about Agustín Aguayo
To make a financial contribution to help pay Augie's legal bills: www.CouragetoResist.org/donate
Army Pvt Marc Train marches on DC instead of Iraq
April 19, 2007 "Just because we volunteered, doesn't mean we volunteered to throw our lives away for nothing. You can only push human beings so far," says Marc Train, a 19-year old soldier from America's heartland. "Soldiers are going to Iraq multiple times. The reasons we're there are obviously lies. We're reaching a breaking point, and I believe you're going see a lot more resistance inside the military." By Sarah Olson, Truthout. April 19, 2007 Train's a private in the US Army, stationed at Fort Stewart in Georgia. But the last time anyone saw him on base was March 16, just before he headed to DC to protest the war he is expected to fight. Before leaving for DC, Train contacted Garett Reppenhagen, chairman of Iraq Veterans Against the War. He wanted to participate in the street theater protests Reppenhagen was organizing for Iraq veterans to mark the fourth anniversary of war. "When I learned he was coming from Fort Stewart where he was still an active duty soldier, my first thought was: Wow, the kid has guts," Reppenhagen said.
Army interrogator on resisting Iraq War April 18, 2007
Sgt Ricky Clousing did three months in an Army brig for refusing to return to Iraq. Now he's been out of the military for about as long. He spoke with independent journalist Sarah Olson about his experiences in Iraq that led him to find the courage to resist an illegal and unjust occupation war. “He was bleeding. I’m looking down at his eyes, and he looked up at me. It was an intense moment. I feel like this communication, questions he might have been feeling or asking. Like, “why did he get shot?” “Why does it hurt so much?” “Why are we there?” “What’s going on?” “Why is this happening to him?” I was asking these questions… I was on the same team of people that just took this person’s life so casually and unnecessarily...” “I knew that I could finish my time and realistically end up going back to Iraq at least once. Or I could go AWOL… I thought. "wow," I actually do have a choice.” > Listen to the 20 min. interview here
War resisters welcomed in Canada
Reuben Apple, Eye Weekly (Toronto, Canada). April 5, 2007 Americans, insurgents, militiamen and others fighting in Iraq have killed 30,000 Iraqis, if you believe US President George W. Bush, or over 600,000, according to researchers at John Hopkins University. There is near-unanimous agreement that the United States did not invade Iraq in self-defence, and the United Nations did not say America could attack. The new Iraqi oil law and Abu Ghraib are examples of systematic plunder and torture. The International Criminal Court has a statute that says soldiers must refuse to participate in this sort of behaviour. Now American war resisters who deserted their army and have come to Canada are asking our Federal Court of Appeal for the right to say six words before a court, one for every 100,000 dead: “We think this killing is unlawful.” News about US troops in Canada resisting the Iraq War:
One of the best kept secrets of our time is the ferocious GI resistance to the war in Vietnam. It covered the gamut from individual, passive, and unorganized to overtly active, collective, and organized. It sprouted in military barracks and on aircraft carriers. It flourished in army stockades, navy brigs, and in the dingy towns that surround military bases. It penetrated elite West Point, spread through Vietnam's battlefields and, according to a Vietnam-era military officer, by 1971 it had infested the entire armed services. Until the recent screening of the documentary, Sir, No Sir!, the American public knew little about the resistance to that war. Today, there is budding GI resistance to this war, the Global War on Terror (GWOT). So far, resistance has not blossomed into the near-epidemic of that time but the ground is fertile and thanks to Sir, No Sir! GIs are learning their history and emulating their forebears. |
