[kj] GI DISSENT SHAKES UP THE PENTAGON

xps1 xps1 at quick.cz
Thu Dec 16 17:00:50 EST 2004


GI DISSENT SHAKES UP THE PENTAGON

By John Catalinotto New York
(off the global anti-war list - yaz)

A series of events in early December signaled a major shift in political
consciousness within the U.S. Armed Forces. Together they struck fear in the
hearts of the general staff.

A sailor, a soldier, a Marine, and two National Guard soldiers committed
acts of courage. They killed no Iraqis, nor did they rescue wounded comrades
under fire. This kind of courage took a different form for each GI, from
refusing to kill to confronting the unpopular secretary of defense.

JUST SAY 'NO'

Petty Officer Third Class Pablo Paredes had received orders to ship out on
the USS Bonhomme Richard and carry 3,000 Marines to Iraq. On a pier in San
Diego on Dec. 6, Paredes said "no" to these orders.

Paredes, who grew up in the Bronx borough of New York City, knew he would be
pretty safe stationed on the ship. He knew he would probably go to prison
for refusing. But he also knew at least 100 of the 3,000 Marines wouldn't
come back. And he objected to the unjustified loss of human life in Iraq.

In 2000, Paredes had signed up at age 17 for a six-year stint in the Navy.
Now, as he refused his orders, he said, "I'd rather do military prison time
than 6 months of dirty work for a war that I and many others do not support.
War should be an absolute last resort and even then must be considered
thoroughly."

His immigrant family and his wife are 100-percent behind him. Paredes has
his own web site where readers can find his position in full.
(SwiftSmartVeterans.com)

Three hundred people cheered and applauded Victor Paredes when he spoke of
his brother's determination to refuse to go to Iraq on Dec. 11 at an
anti-war meeting of veterans' groups and military families in New York.
The Navy backed off from arresting Paredes on Dec.6 with media present.
Now, charged with desertion, he is arranging his legal defense to prepare
for turning himself in.

ASYLUM IN CANADA

Army Pfc. Jeremy Hinzman faced Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board
(IRB) in Toronto for an asylum hearing the same week. He had left Ft.
Bragg, N.C., months before when his paratrooper unit in the 82nd Airborne
Division was ordered to Iraq. For Hinzman, the war in Iraq is illegal, and
if he participates he will be a war criminal.

The young paratrooper believes he deserves no punishment for taking this
stand. "Serving even one day in prison for refusing to comply with an
illegal order is too long."

Hinzman had said on CBS' "60 Minutes" program, "I was told in basic training
that if I'm given an illegal or immoral order, it is my duty to disobey it,
and I feel that invading and occupying Iraq is an illegal and immoral thing
to do."

Hinzman is in Toronto with his Vietnamese-born wife and 2-year-old son.
He is the first in court of three U.S. troops now in Canada who are publicly
appealing for official asylum. The Canadian government, which has refused to
join the "coalition of the willing" in Iraq, is under pressure from
Washington to reject U.S. military resisters.

Presiding IRB member Brian Goodman says the legality or illegality of the
war will not be an issue in his ruling, to be made by February 2005. It will
be based, said Goodman, only on whether Hinzman has a reasonable fear of
persecution for his religious or political beliefs, or faces the risk of
cruel and unusual punishment if he returns to the U.S.

CONFESSION OF WAR CRIMES

Despite Goodman's statement, Hinzman made a strong political case.
Marine Staff Sgt. Jimmy Massey, a 12-year veteran, was at the Toronto
hearing Dec. 8 testifying on Hinzman's behalf. Massey, who spent three
months in Iraq, told how his unit--the 7th Marines weapons company -- killed
more than 30 Iraqi civilians in one 48-hour period at a checkpoint in the
Rashid neighborhood in southern Baghdad.

"I know in my heart that these vehicles that came up, that they were
civilians," he said. "But I had to act on my orders. It's a struggle within
my heart." He said that Hinzman would likely be forced to commit atrocities
that violate the Geneva Conventions if he goes to Iraq.

A large majority of Canadians and Quebecois oppose the war on Iraq. In
addition, there are over 30,000 former U.S. citizens who took asylum in
Canada during the Vietnam War who side with Hinzman, including Hinzman's
attorney, Jeffry House. (SoldierSayNo.org)

'SHOCK AND AWE' FOR RUMSFELD

Spec. Thomas Wilson is with the 278th Regimental Combat Team, composed
mainly of members of the Tennessee Army National Guard. Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld spoke to 2,300 of these Guard members in a hangar in Kuwait
before television cameras.

Rumsfeld asked the troops to pose some "tough questions." He must have
expected them to remain humble before his authority. Instead of being held
in awe, Rumsfeld got shocked.

Wilson brought up the unarmored Humvees that the resistance regularly blows
up in Iraq. He asked Rumsfeld why do "we soldiers have to dig through local
landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to
up-armor our vehicles?"

The 2,300 troops applauded and cheered him. Rumsfeld looked stunned.
His quick answer failed to hide his indifference toward the fate of the
ordinary GIs: "You go to war with the Army you have," blustered the Pentagon
boss. "They're not the Army you might want or wish to have at a later time."

He looked like he wished he had an army of robots. Rumsfeld hustled off to
his armored car and left. His answer to the troops became the butt of
late-night comedy routines. It was another nail in the coffin of the
Rumsfeld Doctrine that planned for a cost-effective, high-tech world
conquest.

The defense secretary was the architect of the war. He had rushed into it
prepared only for a quick, brutal victory over Iraq. Along with the neocons
in the Bush administration and the bulk of the U.S. ruling class, Rumsfeld
had completely underestimated the courage and determination of the Iraqi
people to fight for their sovereignty.

The Bush administration tried to spin Rumsfeld's televised disaster to show
that the troops were pro-war but wanted the best weapons. Bush said he
agreed with the troops' desire for armor.

Yet the clash was in an imperialist army, not a debating society.
Troops are forbidden to sass their lieutenant, let alone embarrass the
Pentagon CEO. The Kuwait meeting with Rumsfeld was supposed to be a pro-war
public relations ploy. It turned instead into an exercise in insubordination
in a war zone.

SUE THE *#%@*&@$

National Guard Spec. David Qualls from Arkansas went beyond questioning the
Pentagon brass. On Dec. 6, Qualls and seven still unnamed U.S.
soldiers sued the government to challenge its "stop loss" policy that has
forced thousands of soldiers to remain in the military beyond their
scheduled retirement.

Qualls had been in Iraq since last March, in a combat zone north of Baghdad.
After five years of active duty, Qualls had signed up for a one-year stint
in the Guard. His year was up, but the military forced an extension on him.

The court ruled against Qualls' request for a restraining order to stop him
from being sent back. As of Dec. 14, Qualls was in a hospital in Arkansas,
suffering from distress. According to media reports, he fears retribution
from the military in Iraq.

The Pentagon generals can still intimidate the troops, but they have shown
signs of their own fear. They recently decided to use only non- judicial
Article 15s to punish the 23 members of the 343rd Quartermaster Company who
refused to drive their unarmored trucks on what they considered a "suicide
mission" across Iraq last October.

The punishments for Article 15s are loss of rank and pay, but no jail time
and no loss of honorable discharge. If the Pentagon brass wanted to avoid
court-martialing these troops, it's because they feared a massive rush of
support for what under different circumstances the officers might call
"mutiny."

SUPPORT FROM ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT

People active in GI organizing in 1968 would probably agree that the mood
among the troops now is even more anti-war than it was then. All the
symptoms of big problems in the military are there.

The Pentagon reports 5,500 deserters. Only 50 percent of troops are re-
enlisting. As many as one-third of the Inactive Reserve, called now to
unexpected duty, are failing to show up. Even the news that Iraqi war
veterans are already beginning to show up among the homeless, many suffering
from post-traumatic stress disorder, is a reminder of the Vietnam days.

The International Action Center (IAC), with the youth group FIST and the GI
support group SNAFU, on Dec. 4 devoted an afternoon session to GI organizing
and support work. The 300 mostly young people present were enthusiastic both
about stopping any draft and about supporting GIs and anti-war veterans.

On Dec. 11 a similar sized but somewhat older gathering pulled together by
Veterans for Peace, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Military Families
Speak Out and others spent over three hours on the problems and conflicts of
anti-war GIs and veterans during the current occupation of Iraq.

Master Sgt. Stan Goff, a Special Ops veteran and anti-war activist, told the
Dec. 11 crowd that it was time to "delegitimize, disobey and disrupt" the
military. (BringThemHomeNow.org)

Tom Barton, who has been publishing the web newsletter GI Special for over a
year, read aloud letters from troops in Iraq who have been pasting up
anti-war stickers on battle ruins. (militaryproject.org)

Dustin Langley of SNAFU reported his group's web site had recently doubled
its "hits," and repeated his message to resisting GIs and civilian
supporters: "We've got to show the troops we have their back."
(join-snafu.org)

<I>Catalinotto was an organizer with the American Servicemen's Union from
1967-1970. </I>

>From Workers World Dec. 23, 2004
Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and
distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed.
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