H13644
Headlines : "War on Terror"More U.S. Soldiers Deserting Than Reported
The Army has every reason to under-report the number of actual desertions they have been experiencing over the last five years or so during the bogus “war on terror.” The last thing they want is the soldiers realizing that they can just walk away. It really is that easy. Of course, there are potential consequences, but these must be weighed against the potential consequences of war and combat.
[Posted By ShiftShapers]Republished from The New York Times
The new calculations by the Army, which had about 500,000 active-duty troops at the end of 2006, significantly alter the annual desertion totals since the 2000 fiscal year.
In 2005, for example, the Army now says 2,543 soldiers deserted, not the 2,011 it had reported. For some earlier years, the desertion numbers were revised downward.
National Public Radio first reported on Tuesday that the Army had been inaccurately reporting desertion figures.
A soldier is considered a deserter if he leaves his post without permission, quits his unit or fails to report for duty with the intent of staying away permanently. Soldiers who are absent without leave — or AWOL, a designation that assumes a soldier still intends to return to duty — are automatically classified as deserters and are dropped from a unit’s rolls if they remain away for more than 30 days.
Posted by ShiftShapers
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Desertion – Its that easy – just walk away.
I would certainly hope so, it is the best hope the world has for avoiding a wider war, a world war – nobody shows up! They can use bombers and missles, but without “boots on the ground” the war monger-profitteers get nothing usefull from war. These are young men and women mostly, and have been fed a diet high in propaganda. They do not deserve to be used like disposable pawns in corporate-inspired wars of choice over oil. Deserters are welcomed in southern BC – Castlegaar was a favorite place for Vietnam War deserters and it held a reunion last summer. New deserters might want to come here, there will be some help but I cannot promise anything… In Nelson, nearby to Castelgaar, the USA tried to grab one deserter recently, with the help of local police but were unsuccessfull. Its not a certainty, but it is possible for deserters to thrive here.
Another Soldier AWOL Rather Than Deploying to Iraq: Sarah Olson reports: ‘‘Iraq Veterans Against the War’s Reppenhagen says, ‘There’s an unwritten social contract a service member makes with his nation.’ He added: ‘That contract says he will be sent to war only when peaceful solutions have been exhausted. When that service member comes home, the contract dictates that he is taken care of and given aid. The American people and US government officials are breaking that contract. In light of this, it’s very hard to judge harshly those who resist the Iraq war.’‘’