Spc
Agustín Aguayo released from brig!
Although still in the Army and in Germany, he should be home
within a couple of weeks. Events featuring Agustín in the
works!
Marc Train marches on DC instead of
Iraq
"Just because we volunteered, doesn't mean we volunteered to throw
our lives away for nothing," says Army Pvt Marc Train. Instead of
deploying to Iraq, he marched on the Pentagon, been AWOL since.
Sgt Clousing on resisting Iraq War
(audio)
Ricky Clousing speaks with journalist Sarah Olson about what he
experienced as an Army interrogator in Iraq that led him to publicly
resist. 20 min. audio available at couragetoresist.org
War resisters welcomed in Canada
War Resisters Support Campaign is busy; Fighting in Canadian
courts to state, “We think this killing is unlawful” to
refugee boards.
Resistance then and now
Review of current military resistance, and a look back, by GI Right
counselor and Courage to Resist member Susan Galleymore.
Army Spc. Agustín
Aguayo released from brig!
Agustín arriving in Germany after briefly going AWOL in
order to resist redeployment to Iraq. Photo: Wolfgang Grauss |
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."
— Agustin Aguayo
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
Pvt Marc Train (center) holds 'Appeal' banner with Jonathan Hutto
(left) and Suzanne Swift (right) on stage at Pentagon anti-war rally
3/17/07. Photo: Jeff Paterson / Courage to Resist |
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.
> Read complete article here
Army interrogator on resisting
Iraq War
April 18, 2007
Ricky Clousing holds a press conference during Vets for Peace
convention in Seattle before returning to the military 8/11/06. Photo:
Jeff Paterson / Courage to Resist |
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
Joshua Key, US Army Iraq War resister walks with his wife and kids
in Toronto, Canada. Photo: Adam Nadel |
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.”
>Read complete article here
News about US troops in Canada resisting the Iraq War:
Resistance then and now
By Susan Galleymore. Published in Left Curve Journal
Spring 2007
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.
> Read complete article here
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