Breaking Ranks to Shun War -LAT

[Rose Siding]

HINESVILLE, Ga. — His sergeant called him a coward to his face. His chaplain sent him an e-mail saying he was ashamed of him. His commanders had him formally charged with desertion.

Sgt. Kevin Benderman, who has served one tour of duty in Iraq, is refusing to serve another. When his fellow soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division packed their gear and left nearby Ft. Stewart for Iraq last week, Benderman stayed home. He says he has chosen to follow his conscience — not his commanders.
...
In the six months he spent in combat in Iraq in 2003, Benderman said, he was badly shaken by what he witnessed. He saw a young Iraqi girl with her arm horribly burned and blackened, standing helplessly on a roadside as Benderman's convoy rushed past. He saw dogs feasting on civilian corpses that had been dumped into pits. He saw young U.S. soldiers treat war like a video game, he said, with few qualms about killing or the effects of the invasion on ordinary Iraqis.

Benderman said he begged an officer to stop and help the girl, but was told that the unit couldn't spare its limited medical supplies. "I had to look at that little girl, look into her eyes, and in her eyes I saw the TRUTH. I cannot kill," Benderman wrote in his application.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-na-objector7feb07,0,5251309.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[merwin]

1. More true patriots need to stand up against what is happening!

[Just Me]

19. It takes the courage of confronting the truth,...a unique courage.

It's much, much easier to just go with the flow, don't rock the boat, "get by" the best one can without greater suffering than is already being imposed,...than to follow a road less traveled.

On the other, it SEEMS easier to take the foregoing path,...

Both choices have their consequences: one choice leaves a person "whole".

It's not easy being a REAL self-made person, for better or for worse.

[pnutchuck]

2. Good for him! It's about time soldiers stopped following orders and

started following their conscience. I don't know how it's taken this long, with this many civilian deaths, most women and children, for the soldiers to start following their hearts.

[ablbodyed]

4. Few stand up because>>>>

few have that moral courage. With all the lessons learned in their vile xtian upbringing, that is one that is clearly ignored. Add that to the simplistic worldview that most of these folks are ENCOURAGED to have, and, of course, you get what we have.

[Ilsa]

3. How did that saying go?

"What if they had a war and nobody came?"

[ClayZ]

6. And remember that war in Russia....

Where the Mothers and Wives went to the front line and made them STOP FIGHTING?

[Ripley]

5. What kind of a chaplain says he is ashamed of a War Veteran?

Why isn't this Father Mulcahey (sp) wannabe over in Iraq right now? How dare he email a soldier and say such a thing!

[Kimber Scott]

12. That's what they're trained to do. Make the soldiers believe killing is

alright with and expected from God. The military psychiatrists do the same thing, but on a secular level.

[Ripley]

13. That's completely insane.

Chaplains are trained to tell soldiers that killing is alright with God?

What does the first commandment say?

[Kimber Scott]

15. Don't you know there are caveats to all the commandments, like

"Thou shalt not kill unless your president tells you to because he thinks somebody has weapons of mass destruction that could create a mushroom cloud in 45 minutes?" Book of George 9:11

[Ripley]

16. heh..Book of George 9:11 - don't you mean...

Book of Chimp 9:11? :7

[indigobusiness]

7. Breaking Ranks to Shun War

Breaking Ranks to Shun War

1 hour, 37 minutes ago Top Stories - Los Angeles Times


By David Zucchino Times Staff Writer

HINESVILLE, Ga. — His sergeant called him a coward to his face. His chaplain sent him an e-mail saying he was ashamed of him. His commanders had him formally charged with desertion.


Sgt. Kevin Benderman, who has served one tour of duty in Iraq (news - web sites), is refusing to serve another. When his fellow soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division packed their gear and left nearby Ft. Stewart for Iraq last week, Benderman stayed home. He says he has chosen to follow his conscience — not his commanders.


After 10 years in the Army, Benderman has applied for a discharge as a conscientious objector — a heresy to many in the military at a time when the country is fighting two wars overseas.


Today, Benderman, 40, will attend a military court hearing at Ft. Stewart that will determine whether he will face a court-martial for desertion and failure to report for a unit deployment. He could face up to seven years in prison if convicted.

snip

In the six months he spent in combat in Iraq in 2003, Benderman said, he was badly shaken by what he witnessed. He saw a young Iraqi girl with her arm horribly burned and blackened, standing helplessly on a roadside as Benderman's convoy rushed past. He saw dogs feasting on civilian corpses that had been dumped into pits. He saw young U.S. soldiers treat war like a video game, he said, with few qualms about killing or the effects of the invasion on ordinary Iraqis.

snip

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2026&e=2&u=/latimests/20050207/ts_latimes/breakingrankstoshunwar

[IrateCitizen]

8. Godspeed, SGT Benderman -- this CO supports you 110%

We need more instances of people like Kevin Benderman and Pablo Paredes who are willing to follow their conscience in the face of harsh consequences. I think we're only beginning to see the tip of the iceberg on this.

FWIW, I was a conscientious objector from December 2002. While I still feel anguish over my decision, I do not regret it for a single instant. Because of it, I know that when I have children I will be able to look them in the eye when I tell them how important it is for them to stand up for what they believe in life.

I would not have been able to do that had I not followed my conscience.

But my act of refusal and resistance pales in comparison to this. Benderman is a true hero, in my view.

[BOSSHOG]

9. I'd recommend that the young man

(younger than me) call george w. bush as a character witness to testify about how desertion does not necessarily result in punishment from the military DURING TIME OF WAR.

[pnutchuck]

10. We should DU the article.... It has a 3.7 rating now n/t

[indigobusiness]

17. Oops...I didn't see the other thread...sorry

for the dupe thread.

[Mari333]

11. a hero n/t

[alexisfree]

14. he is going to be tormented byt it...

... for the rest of he’s life...I can not put my self in he's shoes...

[struggle4progress]

18. kick

[BeFree]

20. I'd quit, too

He saw a young Iraqi girl with her arm horribly burned and blackened, standing helplessly on a roadside as Benderman's convoy rushed past. He saw dogs feasting on civilian corpses that had been dumped into pits. He saw young U.S. soldiers treat war like a video game, he said, with few qualms about killing or the effects of the invasion on ordinary Iraqis.