AWOL Op. Iraqi Freedom soldier to turn himself in today, where is Bush?

WAR WITH IRAQ: ONE YEAR LATER
GI to test morality of war

By Michael Martinez
Tribune national correspondent
Published March 15, 2004

NEW YORK -- In Iraq last April, freshly promoted Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia led squads of Florida National Guard soldiers in the fight against insurgents in the deadly Sunni triangle.

But Mejia became increasingly pained by his war experiences, and when he went on leave in the autumn, he decided not to come back. The staff sergeant--one of about 600 soldiers counted as AWOL by the Army during home leaves from Iraq--eventually was labeled a deserter.


Now, after five months in hiding, Mejia plans to surrender Monday in Boston on the eve of the war's first anniversary, and he aims to become the first Iraq war veteran to publicly challenge the morality and conduct of the conflict. At a time when polls indicate that Americans' support for the war is slipping, Mejia intends to seek conscientious-objector status to avoid a court-martial.
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http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=04/03/15/7534994

SSG Mejia, Godspeed. You've got a helluva tough row to hoe in front of you.

But each movement needs a start somewhere.

I attended a forum on military law about 1 month ago at the New York Law School. The keynote speaker is an attorney and former Army junior officer who has been practicing military law for 25 years now. He said that there is an significant undercurrent of dissent within the ranks right now -- and the military has been allowing it to vent off in order to avoid creating a "pressure cooker" scenario.

I can also attest to this due to my personal experience as a junior officer within the Army Reserves. There are a lot of people who are basically saying, "Fuck this shit, I'm done as soon as my time is up."

But it seems that SSG Mejia has gone that extra step, and decided that his conscience can no longer permit him to cooperate. For this, he will be certainly vilified and made an example of, and I hope that he has the fortitude to see it through to the other side. I also hope that his actions actually spur others feeling similar things to do the same, because it is only through massive non-cooperation that this current insanity will cease.

...that you want to stand behind?

From the article:
"Perhaps the turning point for Mejia was the day in Iraq he was ordered to shoot at Iraqis protesting and hurling grenades toward his position from about 75 yards away - what he considered too far a distance to be a real threat. Mejia and his men opened fire on one, and he fell, his blood pooling around him."

My comments and info gleaned from the web:

(6) Capabilities -- can be thrown 40 meters by average soldier. The effective killing radius is 5 meters and the effective casualty-producing radius is 15 meters. ALTHOUGH THE KILLING RADIUS IS 5 METERS AND THE CASUALTY PRODUCING RADIUS OF THIS GRENADE IS 15 METERS, FRAGMENTS CAN DISPERSE AS FAR AWAY AS 230 METERS.

That's a range of over 55 yards for the average soldier. Do you want to be that close to an exploding ordnance?

Quoting a real soldier:

"Look, I have NO PROBLEM with being a conscientious objector. A CO doesn't pick up a weapon.

But "I'll handle a weapon unless it gets unpleasant" is NOT CO.

If you feel the order is unlawful, protest the order. Refuse to obey the order. You can even shoot your officer if you feel it's a war crime. BUT! You WILL stand court martial and be judged on your actions. There's no good part about war.

But running away AFTER THE FACT and then trying to claim CO status is not going to work. That's deserting. Especially in a military where you can walk up to the pshrink and say, "I'm stressed and troubled and don't feel safe with a weapon." BAM! Rear duty AT ONCE. It's not like WWI where they shot you for cowardice.

No, this poor twit didn't think through what it means to be a soldier, then panicked, then ran, and now wants to walk away from his mistakes.

Not going to happen.

Now, if he pleads insanity from stress, he might pull it off."

Maybe the guy is just a coward.