Objecting Soldier Gets 15 Months in Prison

[soup]

By RUSS BYNUM, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 25 minutes ago

FORT STEWART, Ga. - Before being sentenced to 15 months for refusing to return to Iraq with his Army unit, Sgt. Kevin Benderman told a military judge that he acted with his conscience, not out of a disregard for duty.

"I am not against soldiers," Benderman said at his court-martial Thursday. "Though some might take my actions as being against soldiers, I want everyone to be home and safe and raising their families. I don't want anyone to be hurt in a combat zone."<

>Along with his prison sentence, Benderman will receive a dishonorable discharge and have his rank reduced to private.<

>Benderman's company commander in the division's 3rd Forward Support Battalion, Capt. Gary Rowley, said the verdict would send a message to other soldiers who may look for a way out of serving in Iraq.

"If they saw this and found out it works using smoke and mirrors to get by, we'll have other soldiers saying, `Well, I'm a conscientious objector,'" said Rowley, who returned to Fort Stewart from Iraq to testify at Benderman's court-martial. "They need to know there are consequences for not doing their duty."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050729/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/objecting_soldier;_ylt=AioqfoemwD8Sh2XxdahwQqis0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MjBwMWtkBHNlYwM3MTg-


on edit: my apologies. just jumped over to GD and found a thread already started on this yesterday evening:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4214180

[GreenArrow]

1. "there are consequences for not doing their duty."

And by the same token, there are consequences for doing it.

[Mairead]

3. And that's if we ignore the question: what *is* their duty?

Is it their duty to blindly follow orders? The judges at Nürnberg said No, it's exactly the opposite of that. Their duty is to do exactly what Benderman did.

His company CO and the court-martial board are the ones failing to do their duty, and I can only hope that one day they stand in the dock at the Hague because of it. After the main criminals do, of course.

[GreenArrow]

18. that's really the question, isn't it

What is their duty? And if one duty overrules another conflicting duty? Then one must make a choice. The man going to prison did his duty.

[saigon68]

37. Their duty is to kill "ragheads"

for the bush criminals

and to make Iraq-Nam safe for corporate exploitation.

[woodsprite]

4. 15 months in a prison is better than 1500 years in a grave for

a war built on lies.

[Mairead]

8. Yes. As the saying goes: better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6 (nt

[arwalden]

33. A Small Price To Pay... Considering.

[bribri16]

9. This is what happens when a "chickenhawk" party is in power! n/t

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

19. Yes there are consequences for having a conscience!!

[halobeam]

2. I don't know how to digest this.

The message I hope he sent the troops was to stand up for your soul. I wish Benderman and his wife all the peace they so very much deserve.

I don't know if this sentence was expected. If a harsher or lighter sentence was expected. Does anyone here know?

Benderman, I am proud of you for listening to your heart. So is God, btw.

[soup]

5. He was acquitted on the desertion charge.

That carried a 5 yrs. in prison penalty.

Looking for more articles about this decision-

>Updated: Judge Wright sentenced Sgt. Benderman to 15 months. Observers felt this was a harsher sentence than expected for the lesser charge. He also received a dishonorable discharge and a reduction in rank to E-1. This is believed to be the harshest sentence yet for an Iraq resister. Judge Wright threw out the bogus charge of larceny (for clerical error in receiving combat pay) earlier in the week.
http://www.antiwar.com/blog/index.php?id=P2249

--

>Kevin Benderman's opposition to war – all war – is based on his experience in Iraq. As Rep. Cynthia McKinney said on the floor of the House of Representatives on April 28:

"Sgt. Benderman's opposition is not the theoretical if sincere opposition of a student peace activist. Kevin Benderman has seen things that none of God's children should have to endure. He was present when his superior ordered his unit to open fire on small children who were throwing rocks at the soldiers of his unit. He chased the hungry dogs from an open mass grave filled with the bodies of young children, old men and women. Kevin saw the burned child, crying in pain, while all around her ignored her injuries."
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m13986&l=i&size=1&hd=0

--

>Benderman's company commander and direct supervisor in the division's 3rd Forward Support Battalion flew to Ft. Stewart from Iraq to testify Thursday that the soldier disobeyed orders to deploy and demoralized his fellow troops after they left without him.

"He got what he deserved," Capt. Gary Rowely said during a court-martial that lasted less than three hours. "He's doing 15 months. We're serving 12 months in Iraq."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0507290150jul29,1,3292860.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

[hippywife]

40. Fuck Gary Rowley

"He got what he deserved," Capt. Gary Rowely said during a court-martial that lasted less than three hours. "He's doing 15 months. We're serving 12 months in Iraq."


and fuck anyone below in this thread who says Benderman got what he deserved. He truly is a hero. He had the courage to see that the oath he took with the military wasn't nearly as important as the tragedy that is unfolding in Iraq.

So I say, FUCK YOU ALL WHO THINK DIFFERENTLY.

Oh, and I hope Rawley finds his sorry ass in Iraq for a much longer time than he THINKS he is currently deployed for.

I am so fucking pissed off!

[BikeWriter]

6. No mention has been made of their deserter and thief...

*, who swore and signed an oath to fly for five years and did not.

[saigon68]

41. Ah Yes the AWOL CHIMPANZEE

[gratuitous]

7. Definition of a hero

I know that Benderman has been quoted in other places as declining to think that he's done anything heroic, but I have a different opinion. When following your conscience isn't just inconvenient but puts you at risk of losing your life, liberty or property, you've done something heroic.

The judge and the military, heavily invested in the national myth of redemptive violence, the unsupported belief that violence and wrongdoing can only be overcome by greater violence and more wrongdoing, must at all costs slap down divergent thought. Though I have to say that a sentence of 15 months and busted two ranks makes it look like the judge is having some doubts, as well.

[Mairead]

10. Is a sergeant only at grade 3? I thought it was grade 5

I thought it went Recruit, Private, Private First Class, Corporal, Sergeant. No?

[gratuitous]

12. Oh boy, am I the wrong person to ask

I just know Private, Corporal, Sergeant, so I don't know if Benderman was busted four grades or a couple of ranks, or what. Hopefully one of our more knowledgeable DUers will weigh in on just what sort of demotion this entails.

[Squatch]

14. Army Sergeant = E-5

Staff Sergeant = E-6
Sergeant First Class = E-7
Master Sergeant/First Sergeant = E-8
Sergeant Major = E-9

So on...

[symbolman]

11. Should have used the Bush Defense..

I didn't want to go and you can't make me..

If this guy goes, then so should BUsh.

[Squatch]

13. He made his bed...

""I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." (Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962)."

A person who willfuly enlists in the Armed Services does not get to choose which orders he wants to obey, unless that order is unlawful.

[MadHound]

15. Actually, according to military code

A soldier is bound to disregard unlawful orders. Given that Bushco lied us into an illegal, immoral war, I think this soldier's actions are entirely consistent with military policy.

And for the poster upthread who was wondering about the severity of this sentence, from all reports I've heard, it is considered to be a harsh sentence. I think most people following this were expecting a six month sentence and dishonorable discharge.

[Squatch]

16. Actually, no...this war was entirely legal

although immoral.

[MadHound]

20. Legal in whose eyes? Certainly not mine,

Nor in the eyes of the rest of the world. If we were a two bit third world country instead of a nuke happy superpower, Bushboy would be up in the dock of the World Court for crimes against humanity even as we speak. And even under American jurisprudence, it is still a matter of debate that a war based on lies is legal.

This soldier obviously felt otherwise, and wanted no further part in it. That is why he filed for CO status, and fought returning to the front. I don't blame him, and probably would have done the same if I were in his position, and hope other soldiers follow his example. I applaud his actions, and wish him the best.

[Squatch]

21. Sadly, you don't get to determine the legality of this war

And though this war was an incredibly idiotic venture, it has not been deemed "illegal" by a world court.

[Mairead]

22. I believe that by the rules articulated at Nürnberg

the Iraq invasion-and-massacre was not legal.

Everything the Nazis did was completely legal under then-current German law, but that didn't save the higher-ups from being hanged as international criminals.

The UN Charter codifies the laws that were more or less pulled out of thin air at Nürnberg. Bush One figleafed the initial attack on Iraq by using Glaspie to suck Hussein into that attack on Kuwait. But Bush Two's 'figleaf' has been shown to have less substance than the figleaf concocted by the Nazis to justify the Blitzkrieg against Poland.

[Squatch]

24. This war is legal until determined otherwise by a world court.

[MadHound]

26. And don't you think it odd that one of the last things Bushco did

Before the invasion was to withdraw the US from the world court, under fear of either soldiers or politicians would be tried there for crimes of humanity. Rather telling, don't you think. Also, when other individuals have been put in the Court dock, the US had the military might to extract them. Sadly, there is nobody to do that for Bush, otherwise he might very well be there right now.

And then again, if you look at the UN Charter, and other UN regulations, we are in violation of them, including laws on unlawful treatment of prisoners, torture, attacks on civilians etc. etc.

Oh, one other thing. When a soldier decides to disobey an unlawful order, it doesn't mean that it has to have gone through a court and been decided on. It means that the order is unlawful in the eyes of the soldier. This is all resolved during a hearing/courtmartial after the fact.

[Squatch]

27. Exactly...

"This is all resolved during a hearing/courtmartial after the fact."

And that's why he's been sentenced. For disobeying a lawful order to return to an operational theater with his unit.

[Mairead]

28. Yes, as was true of Hitler's war, too. But that doesn't mean we can't

review the facts and come to our own conclusions.

[Squatch]

29. Knock yourself out...

but without the clout of a world court, your conclusions are just conjecture accessible only to the denizens of this forum.

This war was a stupid venture...we'll pay for it as Americans for a long time to come. However, no world court will ever convene to deem it illegal.

[Mairead]

31. We'll see. (nt)

[anarch]

30. only a matter of time.

There is a pretty wide consensus among the experts that this invasion and occupation is an act of aggression. So, while you are technically correct, it's like seeing a mugging clearly happen in front of you, and saying "well, that isn't a crime until that man is proven guilty in court." Good luck with that!

[TX-RAT]

17. Yep he sure did.

Some just don't realize the meaning of taking an Oath.

[mike_c]

23. "unless that order is unlawful...."

The invasion and occupation of Iraq is illegal, i.e. a war crime. Benderman did the right thing.

[Mairead]

25. If his sentence isn't struck down on appeal (if there's an appeal)

How many people would be willing to throw some money into a kitty for the family. I'm thinking it could serve as bread-and-butter support and, perhaps more important, an expression both of our approval of his principled act and our apology for what it cost him.

Show of hands?

[G_j]

32. to add your DU Thank You to the Bendermans

go here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4218586

[Disturbed]

34. PFC Harmon gets 4 months

for several charges for her Abu Grahib activity.

[Fire Walk With Me]

35. Beat me to it :-)

They protect their own and screw their (American) enemies. You are either with them or against them.

[saigon68]

39. Aah yes, The Remorseful PFC Sabrina Harmann (CAUTION GRAPHIC)

Pining away at the violence Iraq-Nam has wrought.

[G_j]

36. kick

[struggle4progress]

38. kick