Veterans Group Calls on Soldiers to Refuse Orders to Deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq
Johnny Asia
Afghanistan and Iraq
Monday 14 December 2009
by: Dahr Jamail, t r u t h o u t | Report
To read story with photo click here.
http://www.truthout.org/1214091
In response to President Barack Obama's announcement on December 1 to
deploy 30,000 additional troops to the occupation of Afghanistan, the
organization March Forward!, with comprising both veterans and
active-duty members of the US military, has called on all soldiers to
refuse their orders to deploy.
"March Forward! calls on all service members to refuse orders to
deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq," reads a press release from the group
from December 3. "We offer our unconditional support and solidarity.
Join us in the fight to ensure that no more soldiers or civilians lose
their lives in these criminal wars."
Michael Prysner, a former corporal in the Army who served from
2001-2005 and a veteran of the occupation of Iraq, co-founded the
group with another Iraq war veteran, James Circello.
Truthout asked Prysner how he responds to those who believe a soldier
should always follow orders, no matter what.
"In my experience the majority of people joining the military today
join out of necessity, like money, jobs, help for their family, etc.,
so most don't join for ideological or patriotic reasons. Most are
driven into the military by economic conditions. We see this playing
out now, as people are joining in droves because of the economy."
Prysner added, "Yes, people do sign a contract to follow orders, but
those orders are wrong and unlawful. We want to educate people to the
fact that these are immoral orders, and they [soldiers] are being used
as muscle for corporations, to colonize the developing world, and it's
not legitimate. People who join and take this oath seriously who think
they are in [the military] to defend the US, this is not what we are
being used for in the military today."
Prysner has written about his experience in Iraq, "... there was no
computer screen separating me from the suffering civilian population.
I spent 12 months in Iraq, doing everything from prisoner
interrogations, to ground surveillance missions, to home raids. It was
my firsthand experiences in Iraq that radicalized me. I believed I was
going to Iraq to help liberate and better the lives of an oppressed
people, but I soon realized that my purpose in Iraq was to be the
oppressor, and to clear the way for US corporations with no regard for
human life."
After he separated from the Army in 2005, Prysner "understood that the
occupation I was a part of was a crime against humanity. I understood
that illegal conquering of Iraq was for profit, carried out by a
system that serves a tiny class of super-rich whose endless drive for
wealth is at the expense of working people in the United States and
abroad."
According to Prysner, the lessons he learned from being part of the US
occupation of Iraq taught him that, "I still had the same drive to
fight for freedom, justice and equality as I did when I joined, and I
understood that fighting for those things meant fighting against the
US government, not on behalf of it."
To those who call him and his organization "anti-American" and/or
"unpatriotic," Prysner has this to say:
"I would say that I have more in common with my sisters and brothers
in Iraq and Afghanistan than I do with these people in DC who've sent
us to war. If that's unpatriotic, then yes, I am. But patriotism and
racism are the only things the military has to fall back on to
convince people to do the things we are being asked to do today."
March Forward! was founded in 2008, and the aim of the organization is
"to unite all those who have served and who currently serve in the US
military, and who want to stand up for our rights and for that which
is right."
"We are new and growing," Prysner explained. "We have seen somewhat
consistent growth, and we're expecting this to accelerate now."
The group's statement from December 3 adds, "On December 1, we got a
clear order from President Obama. For many more years, we will be sent
to kill, to die, to be maimed and wounded, in a war where 'victory' is
impossible, against a people who are not our enemies. For over eight
years, we have come home in coffins, in wheelchairs, with our skin
burned and with our days and nights haunted by the trauma of war. We
return home to a VA whose services are so inadequate that active duty
soldiers who succumb to suicide outnumber those killed in combat."
James Circello is a former Army sergeant and veteran of the US
occupation of Iraq. Circello, who joined the military in 2001,
describes his experience in Iraq as follows:
"During the occupation of Iraq, the truth about what the United States
government has done to the country of Iraq became more apparent. Open
wastewater flowed through neighborhood streets where children played
soccer. Families were thrown out of their homes with simple
accusations from others. Vehicles were taken on sight by the military
if individuals couldn't provide proper documents claiming they own the
vehicle. These events and others helped in strengthening my opposition
to the so-called 'War on Terror.'"
In April 2007, Circello left his base in Vicenza, Italy, and went
absent without leave (AWOL) in protest of US policy in the Middle
East. In November 2007, he turned himself in to the military at Fort
Knox and was discharged within three days.
Circello has remained very active with his work against US Foreign
Policy, having worked with Iraq Veterans Against the War and the group
Courage to Resist before joining March Forward!.
Circello's decision to go AWOL was his way of refusing to deploy to
Afghanistan.
I had been fighting myself internally after my time in Iraq, about
whether to deploy again," he explained to Truthout, "I ended up back
in my old unit that was preparing to deploy, so at that moment I took
it into my hands, and decided I wasn't going to go kill Afghans that
had done nothing to me, or the American people. It was a defining
moment for me."
According to Pentagon figures, since October 2001, more than 50,000
soldiers from all branches of the military have gone AWOL.
John Raughter is the communications director for the American Legion,
an organization that describes itself as "a patriotic, war-time
veterans organization, devoted to mutual helpfulness," according to
its web site.
Raughter is clear about his stance on the rights of soldiers. "We have
an all-volunteer force," he explained to Truthout, "These are not
draftees. They swore an oath to obey the orders of the Commander in
Chief."
According to Raughter, the American Legion does not, in any way,
support AWOL soldiers or those who refuse to deploy to Iraq or
Afghanistan. "Within reason, the military should be able to enforce
obedience. Obedience and order are critical for the military to do its
mission. People can't pick and choose which orders to obey and which
not to [obey]. If it's a lawful order, they are obliged to obey."
Yet the oath enlisted soldiers must take before being deployed, reads:
"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and
defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies,
foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to
the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the
United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me,
according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So
help me God."
Marjorie Cohn, president of the National Lawyers Guild, is the
co-author of "Rules of Disengagement: The Politics and Honor of
Military Dissent" with Kathleen Gilberd. In the book, they write,
"Rules of Engagement limit forms of combat, levels of force, and
legitimate enemy targets, defining what is legal in warfare and what
is not. (They're also) defined by an established body of international
(and US) law that leaves no ambiguity."
Cohn and Gilberd argue that every US war since WWII has been illegal.
Article 51 of the UN Charter only permits the "right of individual or
collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a Member ...
until the Security Council has taken measures to maintain
international peace and security."
In addition, Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 (the war powers clause)
of the US Constitution authorizes only both houses of Congress, not
the president, to declare war. Nonetheless, that process has been
followed only five times in our history and last used on December 8,
1941, after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.
Nevertheless, Raughter believes soldiers who are dissenting against
the occupations should have never joined the ranks. "If they are
ethically opposed to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, I would say that
most of these people have enlisted or reenlisted since the beginning
of the war. These wars were occurring when they made this oath of
enlistment. It should have come to their minds."
Circello's response to those who refer to their tactic of encouraging
soldiers to refuse deployment orders as being "unpatriotic or
un-American?
"This is a tactic of demonization and we reject it," he explained,
"The corporations profiting in these wars don't care about America or
the American people. Is providing mercenaries to kill innocent people
overseas, and bombs to kill innocent people, is that American and
patriotic? The people who use these terms are demagogues. We can't
forget that America was a land of institutionalized slavery, slavery
was American, and folks like Dr. Martin Luther King, when they stood
up to racism were called un-American ... so the same thing happens
today. When you protest war, or call on soldiers to desert based on
their own interest, you are called un-American."
Prysner and Circello's organization has stated, "March Forward!
supports the right of all service members to refuse illegal and
immoral orders. Orders to deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq are just
that: illegal and immoral. We have no reason to fight in these wars,
and we have every right to refuse to be a part of them."
+
Pucker your lips for the Apocalypse!
Johnny Asia, Guitarist from the Future
Smilin' Ed
permanently maimed U.S. troops return from IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN.
==========
"CAN'T WIN,
WHY GO IN?"
==========
------------
"A sharp turn toward another Vietnam"
By George McGovern
Sunday, December 13, 2009
As a U.S. senator during the 1960s, I agonized over the badly mistaken
war in Vietnam. After doing all I could to save our troops and the
Vietnamese people from a senseless conflict, I finally took my case to
the public in my presidential campaign in 1972. Speaking across the
nation, I told audiences that the only upside of the tragedy in
Vietnam was that its enormous cost in lives and dollars would keep any
future administration from going down that road again.
I was wrong. Today, I am astounded at the Obama administration's
decision to escalate the equally mistaken war in Afghanistan, and as I
listen to our talented young president explain why he is adding 30,000
troops -- beyond the 21,000 he had added already -- I can only think:
another Vietnam. I hope I am incorrect, but history tells me
otherwise.
Presidents John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon all believed
that the best way to save the government in Saigon and defeat Ho Chi
Minh and his Viet Cong insurgents was to send in U.S. troops. But the
insurgency only grew stronger, even after we had more than 500,000
troops fighting and dying in Vietnam.
We have had tens of thousands of troops in Afghanistan for several
years, and we have employed an even larger number of mercenaries (or
"contractors," as they're called these days). As in Vietnam, the
insurgent forces are stronger than ever, and the Afghan government is
as corrupt as the one we backed in Saigon.
Why do we send young Americans to risk life and limb on behalf of such
worthless regimes? The administration says we need to fight al-Qaeda
in Afghanistan. But the major al-Qaeda forces are in Pakistan.
The insurgency in Afghanistan is led by the Taliban. Its target is its
own government, not our government. Its only quarrel with us is that
its members see us using our troops and other resources to prop up a
government they despise. Adding more U.S. forces will fuel the Taliban
further.
Starting in 1979, the Soviets tried to control events in Afghanistan
for nearly a decade. They lost 15,000 troops, and an even larger
number of soldiers were crippled or wounded. Their treasury was
exhausted, and the Soviet Union collapsed. A similar fate has befallen
other powers that have tried to work their will on Afghanistan's
collection of mountain warlords and tribes.
We have the best officers and combat troops in the world, but they are
weary after nearly a decade of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Why
waste these fine soldiers any longer?
Even if we had a good case for a war in Afghanistan, we simply cannot
afford to wage it. With a $12 trillion debt and a serious economic
recession, this is not a time for unnecessary wars abroad. We should
bring our soldiers home before any more of them are killed or wounded
-- and before our national debt explodes.
In 1964, Johnson asked several senators who were not running for
reelection that year if we would campaign for him. He assured those of
us who were opposed to the war in Vietnam that he had no plans to
expand the U.S. presence. Johnson won the election in a landslide,
telling voters he sought no wider war. "We are not about to send
American boys nine or 10 thousand miles away from home to do what
Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves," he assured during his
campaign.
But once elected, Johnson began to pour in more troops until American
forces reached exceeded 500,000. All told, more than 58,000 Americans
died in Vietnam, and many more were crippled in mind and body. This is
to say nothing of the nearly 2 million Vietnamese who died under U.S.
bombardment.
Johnson had a brilliant record in domestic affairs, but Vietnam choked
his dream of a Great Society. The war had become unbearable to so many
Americans -- civilian and military -- that the landslide victor of
1964 did not seek reelection four years later.
Obama has the capacity to be a great president; I just hope that
Afghanistan will not tarnish his message of change. After half a
century of Cold War and hot wars, it is time to rebuild our great and
troubled land. By closing down the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan,
we can divert the vast sums being spent there to revitalizing our own
nation.
In 1972, I called on my fellow citizens to "Come home, America."
Today, I commend these words to our new president.
[George McGovern, a former senator from South Dakota and a decorated
World War II combat veteran, was the Democratic nominee for president
in 1972.]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/11/AR2009121102596.html
VFW
Johnny Asia <bayin...@mypacks.net> wrote:
> "This is a tactic of demonization and we reject it," he explained,
> "The corporations profiting in these wars don't care about America or
> the American people. Is providing mercenaries to kill innocent people
> overseas, and bombs to kill innocent people, is that American and
> patriotic? The people who use these terms are demagogues. We can't
> forget that America was a land of institutionalized slavery, slavery
> was American, and folks like Dr. Martin Luther King, when they stood
> up to racism were called un-American ... so the same thing happens
> today. When you protest war, or call on soldiers to desert based on
> their own interest, you are called un-American."
>
> Prysner and Circello's organization has stated, "March Forward!
> supports the right of all service members to refuse illegal and
> immoral orders. Orders to deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq are just
> that: illegal and immoral. We have no reason to fight in these wars,
> and we have every right to refuse to be a part of them."
>
>
>
> +
>
> Pucker your lips for the Apocalypse!
>
> Johnny Asia, Guitarist from the Future
>
>
> http://johnnyasia.com
>
Great Post. I'll share this.
--
money; what a concept!
P. U. Stinkly
Where was this group 6 years ago?
Phlip
> VFW wrote:
>>> "March Forward! calls on all service members to refuse orders to
>>> deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq," reads a press release from the group
>>> from December 3. "We offer our unconditional support and solidarity.
>>> Join us in the fight to ensure that no more soldiers or civilians lose
>>> their lives in these criminal wars."
> Where was this group 6 years ago?
Invading Afghanistan & Iraq.
VFW
better late, than never !
"In my experience the majority of people joining the military today
join out of necessity, like money, jobs, help for their family, etc.,
so most don't join for ideological or patriotic reasons. Most are
driven into the military by economic conditions. We see this playing
out now, as people are joining in droves because of the economy."
"March Forward! calls on all service members to refuse orders to
deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq," reads a press release from the group
from December 3. "We offer our unconditional support and solidarity.
Join us in the fight to ensure that no more soldiers or civilians lose
their lives in these criminal wars."
Frank Pittel
In alt.politics.usa.republican Johnny Asia <bayin...@mypacks.net> wrote:
: Veterans Group Calls on Soldiers to Refuse Orders to Deploy to
: Afghanistan and Iraq
: Monday 14 December 2009
:
: +
--
-------------------
Keep working dumbo needs the money
Lars Eighner
lovely and talented Frank Pittel broadcast on alt.politics.liberalism:
> Looks like dumbo is going to lose the war yet.
It was lost the day it was started.
--
Lars Eighner <http://larseighner.com/> Warbama's Afghaninam day: 13
319.2 hours since Warbama declared Viet Nam II.
Warbama: An LBJ for the Twenty-First century. No hope. No change.
Phlip
> join out of necessity, like money, jobs, help for their family, etc.,
After Obama got inaugurated, the Army started meeting its recruitment goals for
the first time in many years...
RichTravsky
>
> Looks like dumbo is going to lose the war yet.
Duhbya pretty much lost it. He had EIGHT years - and failed.
Frank Pittel
: Frank Pittel wrote:
: >
: > Looks like dumbo is going to lose the war yet.
: Duhbya pretty much lost it. He had EIGHT years - and failed.
Things were going good until dumbo took over. It's been in free fall ever since.
Phlip
> In alt.politics.usa.republican RichTravsky <traRvE...@hotmmoveail.com> wrote:: Frank Pittel wrote:
>
> : >
> : > Looks like dumbo is going to lose the war yet.
>
> : Duhbya pretty much lost it. He had EIGHT years - and failed.
>
> Things were going good until dumbo took over. It's been in free fall ever since.
We were winning in Afghanistan? After 8 years, we were jeeeeeest about
to win??
RichTravsky
LOL