More US troops questioning Iraq duty

Widespread desertion by U.S. military men and women could end American gung-ho actions around the world. How many enlist because they truly want to fight, and are willing to die, for their country? How many do it because they see few other options? How many do it because it’s a guaranteed income?

Among those for whom it is not a patriotic duty, it is not difficult to imagine they are capable of seeing what they are participating in as horrific.

The article notes that there are fewer desertions during this war than during Vietnam, but that is to be expected when you don’t have the draft. If the government implements the draft, I think desertions will sky-rocket.

Anti-war activists should be calling for mass desertions and doing everything we can to support those who do desert.

US army figures indicate that since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, about 5500 military personnel have absconded.

In 2003 an independent advisory service for US military personnel, the GI Rights Hotline, received 32,000 calls, twice as many as in 2001, from soldiers wanting to leave the military.

Some refuse to serve for political reasons, others are just unwilling to go to a country where 1500 US soldiers have been killed and more than 11,000 wounded.

Many soldiers who object have already spent time in Iraq and become disillusioned by their experiences.

Camilo Mejia is one of them. He spent six months in a combat unit in Iraq after the invasion, and upon returning to the US for a vacation decided he would not return for moral reasons.

He subsequently served a one year prison sentence for deserting.

Hard to justify

Mejia says his experiences in Iraq shocked him.

“The commanders wanted us to get into firefights because they wanted to put that on their resume to make them look better,” Mejia told Aljazeera.net. “Thirty people were killed by my unit. About three of those people had weapons.”

“Once you come home it’s really hard not to think about it. You start going back to…

Posted by troy
I'm a PhD student at York University in the Social and Political Thought program. After two degrees in Economics that failed to convince me that capitalism is a system that truly works for the benefit of all, I am trying to expand my knowledge. I hope to...