Blake Ivey says "no" to Afghan deployment
"I believe war is the crime of our times,"
declares Blake Ivey, an Army Specialist
stationed at Fort Gordon, Ga. He is publicly refusing to deploy to
Afghanistan.
Judge bars retrial for Lt. Watada's refusal
Ruling confirms
that Lt. Erhen Watada cannot be retried on
the most serious charges against him
because he is protected by the
U.S. Constitution's ban on double jeopardy.
Marine "Benji" Lewis pledges
recall refusal
Marine Benjamin Lewis served two tours in Iraq and was
honorably discharged in 2007. Recently, he received notification that
he was a candidate to be recalled to active duty.
Winter Soldier: Iraq and
Afghanistan
New book
now available from Courage to Resist ($20 donation includes
shipping) by Aaron Glantz with forward by Anthony Swofford (paperback) from
Haymarket.
"Where we
are at. An appeal for support"
By Jeff Paterson, Courage to Resist Project Director. October 15, 2008
Blake Ivey says "no"
to Afghanistan deployment
By Sarah Lazare, Courage to Resist for AlterNet.
October 23, 2008
"I believe war is the crime of our times," Blake Ivey, a
specialist
in the U.S. Army, said over the phone in a slow, deliberate voice.
Ivey, currently stationed in Fort Gordon, Ga., is publicly refusing
to deploy to Afghanistan. The 21-year-old soldier filed for
conscientious objector status in July but was ordered to deploy while
his application was being processed. He is determined not to go, and as
of our last phone call, was still actively serving on his base,
weighing his options for refusal.
Ivey joins what appears to be a growing number of troops refusing to
fight in the so-called Global War on Terror. While there is no way to
tell the exact number of resisters, military statistics indicate that
resistance is on the rise. Since 2002, the Army has court-martialed
twice as many soldiers for desertion and other unauthorized absences
per year than for each year between 1997 and 2001. The Associated Press
reports AWOL rates in the Army at its highest since 1980, with the
desertion rate (defined as 30 or more days of unauthorized absence)
having jumped 80 percent since the start of the Iraq War. More than 150
soldiers have publicly refused to fight in the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan, and an estimated 200 war resisters are living in Canada.
Many war resisters are conscientious objectors (C.O.s) who were
deterred at early stages of the C.O. application process or ordered to
deploy before their C.O. paperwork went through. Just last week,
19-year-old conscientious objector Tony Anderson at Fort Carson, Colo.,
publicly shared his experience. Anderson had been discouraged by his
commanding officers from applying for C.O. status, and he disobeyed
orders to deploy to Iraq. He now faces steep punishment at the hands of
the military.
Read more...
Judge bars retrial for Lt.
Watada's refusal to deploy to Iraq
By Mark Jensen, UFPPC. October 22,
2008
A federal judge said Tuesday that Lt. Erhen Watada cannot be retried
on the most serious charges against him, because he is protected by the
U.S. Constitution's ban on double jeopardy, the Associated Press
reported.[1]
Lt. Watada refused to deploy to Iraq in June 2006 on the grounds
that the Iraq war is illegal, and his U.S. Army court-martial in
February 2007 ended in a mistrial.
Hal Bernton of the *Seattle Times* noted that Lt. Watada still works
at Fort Lewis and is stuck in a "legal limbo" that will
apparently
continue for some time, since "[t]he judge kicked back to the
military
trial court for further consideration two other conduct unbecoming an
officer charges against Watada, opening the door to further court
proceedings. Both of those charges involve public interviews Watada
gave to reporters, and were conditionally dismissed as part of a
pretrial agreement.
Settle said the military court should consider whether there are
'constitutional defects' to retrying Watada on those charges before a
civil court does."[2]
On Tuesday, one of Lt. Watada's attorney's, James Lobsenz, said:
"We're happy, but it's too early to know what else might happen. It's
highly likely (the Army) will appeal the judge's decision."[3]
The *Honolulu Advertiser* reported that Bob Watada, a former Hawaii
Campaign Spending Commission executive director who is Lt. Watada's
father, fears that the Army might appeal the case all the way to the
U.S. Supreme Court, but Eric Seitz, Watada's attorney in the February
2007 court-martial, told the paper that "theoretically,
hypothetically
[the other two charges] can be brought back, but I think there's going
to be lots of problems. I don't think they can bring those back,
either."[4]
Seitz told the *Honolulu Star-Bulletin*: "They ought to let him
resign. They aren't going to win this and they ought to acknowledge
that."[5]
Article with reference links...
Marine Benjamin Lewis pledges
recall refusal
Audio interview by
Courage to Resist. October 27, 2008
Marine Benjamin "Benji" Lewis served two tours in Iraq and
was
honorably discharged in 2007. Recently, he received notification that
he was a candidate to be recalled to active duty. Last week at a Winter
Soldier event in Portland, Oregon, Lewis publicly announced his
intention to refuse reactivation from the Inactive Ready Reserve (IRR).
Ten days before that event, Lewis spoke with Courage to Resist.
Listen to Benji's interview...
Winter Soldier: Iraq and
Afghanistan:
Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations
Available now from Courage to
Resist ($20 donation includes shipping) by Aaron Glantz with
forward by Anthony Swofford (paperback) from Haymarket.
“The only way this war is going to end is if the American people
truly understand what we have done in their name.”—Kelly
Dougherty,
executive director of Iraq Veterans Against the War
In spring 2008, inspired by the Vietnam-era Winter Soldier hearings,
Iraq Veterans Against the War gathered veterans to expose war crimes in
Afghanistan and Iraq. Here are the powerful words, images, and
documents of this historic gathering, which show the reality of life in
Afghanistan and Iraq.
Iraq Veterans Against the War argues that well-publicized incidents
of American brutality like the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and the
massacre of an entire family of Iraqis in the town of Haditha are not
the isolated incidents perpetrated by “a few bad apples,” as
many
politicians and military leaders have claimed. They are part of a
pattern, the group says, of “an increasingly bloody
occupation.”
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