Anti-War U.S. Marine Sentenced to Six Months in Jail

[villager]

Anti-War U.S. Marine Sentenced to Six Months in Jail

Sun Sep 7, 2:27 PM ET

NEW ORLEANS, La. (Reuters) - A military jury found an anti-war U.S. Marine reservist guilty of unauthorized absence and sentenced him to six months in jail for refusing to report to his unit during the Iraq war, his lawyer said on Sunday.


The verdict was less than the desertion charge the U.S. military had sought, which could have put Lance Cpl. Stephen Funk behind bars for a year, but defense attorney Stephen Collier said he would still appeal for a lighter sentence.


Funk, 21, has said he was the target of unfair prosecution because he was a conscientious objector who spoke at anti-war rallies. He was the only one of 28 Marine conscientious objectors to the Iraq war to face prosecution, but the military said that was because he was the only who did not report for duty.

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&ncid=564&e=11&u=/nm/20030907/ts_nm/crime_marine_dc_5

[NNN0LHI]

1. Sounds like a good deal to me. If it was my son I would be proud of him

Shit, he ain't my son, and I am still proud as hell of him.

Don

[IndianaGreen]

19. Better to serve six months in the stockade

than to come back home with life-long wounds, or in a bodybag.

[PartyPooper]

2. The U.S. military should have sought desertion charges against Junior.

This guy was a conscientious objector. Big difference. IMHO they targeted him because he is gay.

:-(

[demdave]

3. They "targeted" him because he was a paid soldier

that didn't report for duty. What part of the papers they make a recruit sign didn't he understand. Did he think he was joining the peace corp?

[NNN0LHI]

5. Probably the part that was not in the enlistment papers about...

...about going to war to protect Haliburton and the oil companies would be my guess?

Don

[demdave]

7. Would that be before or after the part about following orders

even if it results in your death? It is not an organization that allows you to pick and chose or even vote on a mission. Was he so mentally deficent that he didn't realize this?

If you don't like the military way, don't join it.

[villager]

8. actually, don't the Nuremburg laws...

require a soldier to , in essence "vote" on his or her mission if it violates his conscience?

[demdave]

10. He was ordered to report for duty loading cargo.....

not death ovens. I dont believe any people loading cargo, even human carge, were ever convicted in the Nuremburg trials.

Also where do you draw the line? Would you let someone pick which war they thought was just?

[villager]

11. but, demdave...

...if one thought that loading cargo abetted a mission that went counter to their conscience, then loading cargo would be tantamount to supporting it...

[demdave]

12. Then don't join the army.

How tough is that to understand. If you are a vegan, don't work in a slaughter house.

[Brucey]

27. But

can't people change; can't circumstances change? What kind of society do we want? One in which soldiers are told to forfeit their humanness, their rights, their citizenship, their consciences, and be robots or slaves? Or one in which following orders is only ONE or the values we uphold, and not the top one?

[NNN0LHI]

9. You must have misunderstood me? The part about protecting Haliburton...

...and oil companies is not, I repeat is not, in the enlistment papers. Hope that explains it a little clearer for you.

Don

[beanball]

39. Paid soldiers

I am sure Shrub was paid while he was AWOL from the Air Guard,but we must remember rich kids don't do hard time they either go to congress or the whitehouse.

[rocketdem]

4. sorry, but this is a voluntary military

If you refuse to show up for duty, then you have committed a crime. If you wish to avoid service in wartime, then don't volunteer for military service.

I'm glad that this young man did not get the maximum charge, but that he was guilty of something is undeniable.

(And I realize that not everyone here will agree with my opinion.)

[absolutezero]

14. i completely agree

If he was drafted into it I might support him, but he was a volunteer, no one made him join, when you enlist you agree to fight NO MATTER WHAT.

[NNN0LHI]

22. Thats the same excuse many Nazis used. I was only was following orders...

...they said. They joined up too. They were hung.

Don

[Brucey]

26. good for you,

you are exactly right!

[Brucey]

29. Wow,

you really need to rethink that "no matter what" part. You can't possibly want to live in a society in which soldiers must do absolutely everything... or else you're not a democrat. There are higher values than following orders, for christ's sake.

[demdave]

33. or else you're not a democrat??

Who put you in charge of deciding who is or is not a democrat?

[Brucey]

35. Okay

my mistake, perhaps I'm not a democrat... if the party believes that people should forsake their constitutional rights and consciences and obey all orders they are given, even illegal and immoral orders. Perhaps the Greens have a place for me. See ya!

[Noordam]

34. I agree 100%

He signed up and probaby voted for Bush.

[are_we_united_yet]

36. You're right about one thing...

Everone doesn't agree with you

[Brucey]

6. When he gets out...

we should give him a medal and a party. Not everyone has to be the same and not everyone who signs up under certain circumstances has to keep those same ideas. It's good that he has come to an ethical decision and recognizes the injustice of invading poor defenseless countries in order to steal their resources for wealthy Americans and get revenge for the Bushies. We should respect people who develop views of conscience, whether we agree with their views or not. It's the liars and manipulators and invaders that we should criticize.

[VolcanoJen]

13. Well, I agree with the soldier's decision, and I also agree with...

... the punishment.

You can't just walk away from the military. The government invests in a soldier's training and expects you to fulfill your commitment. They don't just say, "Sure, you can go! No harm, no foul!" It simply doesn't work that way.

Of course, in Smirky McAWOL's case, it appeared to work that way...

Look, according to the laws of the land, the soldier must do the time. It's not a bad trade-off for being alive, though.

[Brucey]

15. But

which is the higher good... following laws or human individual ethics?

[demdave]

16. Everyone following their own ethics and desires

and ignoring laws is chaos. That is why we have laws.

[Brucey]

20. But, but

would we have chaos? Do people act the way they do only because there are laws? Despite the laws against murder for thousands of years we still have a very high murder rate. And though there is no law against picking your nose in public, chaos has not yet resulted. Besides, isn't chaos preferable to everyone following orders? Especially the kind of orders your likely to get from the Bushcorp?

[teknomanzer]

37. Most laws are to protect property.

The more property you own the more you need law and government to protect you.

[demdave]

38. Good. I have property and I am glad there are laws to protect it.

The things I own are the fruits of my labor. I enjoy them and have chosen them as per my own desires. If laws safegaurd my property from thieves and fools that think I shouldn't have what I do have, I more than welcome having the laws.

[VolcanoJen]

17. It has little to do with higher good.

If you don't want to serve, don't join the military. If you changed your mind after the fact, fine, desert, but expect to be punished for it.

It's not like they've sentenced him to death, you know. Just a little down-time behind bars, a dishonorable discharge and he's on his way.

I just don't see the problem here. It's not a moral issue to me. He made a conscious decision to refuse his orders, and pursuant to military law, he's going to jail for it. No big deal.

[Brucey]

23. It is not a small deal,

because we have a system in which, purportedly, the punishment fits the crime. We have a voluntary military, so why can't a soldier voluntarily say that they have changed their mind and believe their orders are supporting an illegal and unethical action? Why should a person be punished for that?

[VolcanoJen]

24. Soldiers can't "voluntarily change their minds," Brucey.

It's not like the civilian world where you can just quit a job if it doesn't meet your expectations, or if you feel the job compromises your values.

When you sign on the dotted line and take the military oath, you're in. If you want out, you'll be punished. It's not that difficult to understand.

I think six months in the brig is small potatoes compared to the hell this soldier would have experienced in Iraq. He got a fair deal.

[Brucey]

25. Are you

really saying that soldiers lose their constitutional rights and become robots or slaves? But don't they swear an oath to uphold the constitution? Do you really want to live in a society in which a soldier must do everything they are told to do? Do they lose their humanity when they sign up? What is the higher value here?

[VolcanoJen]

28. I've made myself pretty clear where I stand on this subject.

I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't put words in my mouth, or reframe my argument.

I explained in my posts within this thread how I feel about the crime-and-punishment relationship here, and why, and I really feel that you're blowing it out of proportion.

[Brucey]

31. Okay,

I apologize, but I do feel strongly on this issue and am only trying to get people to think about it more deeply. Sorry.

[Cha]

18. "For being alive" and going with your conscience!

He doesn't have to kill anyone else either!

[Mari333]

21. I am always amazed at people who piss on CO's

The BFEE throws an illegal war and then people get pissed off when the soldiers wake up and say NO to it.
If every military man and woman told the BushCabal they will not go and fight their dirty little chickenhawk invasion theres not a damned thing the PNAC crowd can do. This young man is a hero, and should be considered one of the real heros .
www.bringthemhomenow.com

[Brucey]

32. Good for you,

the truth is there for us all.

[DemVet]

30. Agreed.

I'm a vet. I volunteered. I did my duty, under both repugnican and Democratic Presidents. He went against his oath.

[Darranar]

40. Good for him...

Let's hope that there are others like him who won't fight for Haliburton and Bechtel and oil companies.

[Brucey]

41. Agreed!

[loudnclear]

42. Why wasn't GW sent to prison for his AWOL?

Kind of a rhetorical question.

[PartyPooper]

43. Well, if you if you know the history of the Bu$hes...

http://www.awolbush.com

http://motherjones.com/news/outfront/2003/02/ma_217_01.html

http://mirrors.meepzorp.com/geocities.com/george-bush-antichrist/

:evilfrown:

[Sperk]

44. He'll have a lot of company if they reinstate the draft.

They'll have to build cells for all the 18-21 year olds who will not show up. My son will be one of them. I'd gladly join him before I'd let Smirky use my son's life to profit his rich friends!

[0rganism]

45. It must really suck to find out you're anti-war after joining the marines

The man has my sympathy.

[WhereIsMyFreedom]

46. He's a CO specifically for the war in Iraq

It's not like he's a Marine with an aversion to war. He signed up for honorable duty in the military and this particular conflict doesn't happen to be honorable. He objects to invading a sovereign nation solely for the profit of people who already have too much money. I applaud and respect him for his decision, though I don't entirely disagree with his punishment--the punishment is there to keep CO status from being abused. He knew jail time was possible and decided to stick with his moral beliefs. Personally, I think 3 months would have been more appropriate.

[TacticalPeek]

47. "He was the only one of 28 Marine conscientious objectors to the Iraq war

to face prosecution"

You got it, Where. Even the six may be ok, whatever. Short time in a brig is a cakewalk.

It almost sounds as if he just didn't get his paperwork squared away on time, which the other 27 did. Even then, he could have showed up and loaded while he finished the paper chase. Of course, if they start to put you on a boat pointed toward Baghdad, then you face some gut-check.

A better way to honor? Request transfer to the Stans. THAT is what we hired him for!

I do admire his nerve, though, and would buy him a round when he separates, if only because it makes the news focus on the illegal, aggressive war on Iraq, and starts a DU thread.
:toast: