conscientious objector status because he is from the Middle East and is being used for his ability to translate.
Very sad story. It ends in a letter from his wife which explains that he was given medical orders not to deploy and his commanders ordered him to be on the plane anyway.
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/userletter/?letter_id=367944521&content_dir=yLetters To Leaders
All messages are published with permission of the sender. The general topic of this message is Defense/Military:
Subject:
Military wrong doings
To:
Sen. Pat Roberts
June 23, 2005
My name is Ali Abukhdair and I was wondering if you could help me out in my situation. I am currently in the military and have been since 1994. I have been deployed to Kosovo and Iraq. I have applied for conscientious objector status and to serve the rest of my term as a noncombatant. The Military is pressing hard to deploy me despite my beliefs because of the simple fact of my native tongue. I am of Middle Eastern descent so I speak Arabic. My job in the Military is a mechanic not a translator. I don't recieve any special incentives or pay and do not wish to for using my language skills. The Military is being biased in my situation because of that sole reason. Can you please offer me some advise? Here is what I have wrote to my commanders:
Letter of Conscience
18 February 2005
To whom it may concern,
I, Ali Ibrahim Abukhdair Jr. would like to declare my request to obtain a status of conscientious objector.
My first experiences with conscious objection were when the United States invaded Afghanistan. I was training in Cybowbow, Poland with my unit when I heard we were going to invade Afghanistan. I quickly found my unit’s chaplain, Captain Thompson who was a former Navy Seal and informed him of my objection to the invasion. He replied and told me that sometimes we have to perform missions that we don’t agree with. He already knew I was Muslim due to our previous encounters and gave me a decision to make. "You have to choose which is more important to you." I couldn’t believe my ears. He was actually telling me to choose between my duties in Islam and defending so called "Freedom." I walked away and never discussed any more of my feelings with him due to his insensitiveness.
The next experiences with conscious objections I had were when the United States started talking about invading Iraq. I just permanently change of station to Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. I had requested that assignment so I could be close to my family since I had been away from them for four years. As soon as I finished in processed, my unit informed me that we are going to get deployed any day now. So I went to see the Muslim chaplain, Captain Khan on our "Jumma" prayer session. He told me that someone like Saddam Hussein has to be taken out of control. Chaplain Khan told me that Allah would be watching over us.
As I consulted with my family, we came to a final resolution of my departure to the Middle East rather than face prison time and a dishonorable discharge. Despite our beliefs to our religion of being forbidden to kill a fellow Muslim, I packed my gear and begin my journey to an unlawful war.
Once on ground in Kuwait, I kept telling myself "Please Allah let this only be a training plan or let my biological government work out a peace plan." Then I heard about a fellow Muslim soldier by the name of Sgt. Akbar, who threw a grenade in a tent, which had some soldiers in it. I was devastated. I did not see how his actions justified what he did. Examples such as these are what gives Islam radical and fanatic look. I would question what Sgt. Akbar did with Chaplain Khan and he replied that Sgt. Akbar had some deep ethical questions that he could not control. Chaplain Khan would say "Allah Sam-heh," which meant: "May god forgive him."
My supervisors and soldiers did not notice any troubles in me because I kept to myself. I was still new to the unit so they did not fully know my personality yet to see that something was troubling me. I would still not show my soldiers any discrepancies in my work due to the fact that they are about to fight a war and I had to lead them into it. I did not want to put my soldiers lives at stake because of my objections to the war.
Since I speak my native tongue, my commanders used me for countless missions to talk to the locals or POWs’, which was not my MOS. Every single person or family that I talked to except for two POWs’ asked me why I have come here to fight him or her with the Americans. They would say that Palestinians are their brothers. The feel that now they have a similar occupation of their land as do the Palestinians from Israel. There were times that made me feel so embarrassed that I was at a loss for explanations. "America is my country too" is what I would tell them. They would reply, "But you are a Muslim." In Baghdad, there was a neighbor who came to me and told me that he talked to the head Imam of his mosque about me. He had told him of my situation and the Imam replied back that I would never be forgiven for helping slaughter Iraqi civilians. I wanted to march back to my commander and hand in my weapon, but I actually believed somewhat in what we were doing back then of taken Saddam Hussein out of power.
Since I came back from deployment, I have been treated as a hero and as a traitor. Neighbors in the base community have welcomed us back with open arms and as heroes. Young soldiers feel like we really are heroes from that pitch, but they don’t understand most of the welcoming is for the reason of our revenues for the local businesses. I have been welcomed by family members but with little support. They are glad I am back home but yet don’t agree with why I left. I have been on chat rooms on the Internet and been basically attacked for being a soldier. Some of those attacks happen while in military chat rooms.
Many Iraqis’ have asked me why we are still there. They heard that we came there to take down a tyrant and leave. We have accomplished that goal, but why are we still there? I would have to come up with reasons all the time. I would tell them that a government has to be put in place. The Iraqis’ would reply, "Don’t you think that should be left for us to do?" I would also tell them that we couldn’t leave overnight. It takes a while to get this many troops out. They would reply with, "We see troops rotating fresh soldiers not plain leaving." Then towards the end of many conversations the Iraqis’ would tell me that we are just there to steal their oil. I always tell them that I pray to God that’s not the reason why we are there.
During the last quarter of my deployment, I found out that my dad had a heart attack and was placed in the hospital. When the first Red Cross message came in, I started to pack my gear because I knew they had to let me go home. My father was about to have triple-bypass open-heart surgery. There was a chance he wouldn’t make it out of that operation. When I went to ask my commander, Captain Fandrich about the procedures of emergency leave he told me that this does not qualify me to see my father if anything should happen. This was the same commander that asked me to go on dangerous convoys to speak with locals instead of stay back and work on vehicles which was my job. Despite objections from my supervisors in my platoon, I assured them that as soon as I return (if I return) that I would finish all my tasking. So I called my family and told them to ask the doctor to send another message. This time to explain what exactly was happening. The Red Cross message came in a day later and again I started to get ready. My commander again informed me that this does not meet the boundaries of emergency leave. I couldn’t believe my ears. So I told my family and they informed me that my father already postponed the surgery twice to wait for me. I tried to persuade him to go on with the surgery but it was no use. So a third Red Cross message came in and again my commander said it did not qualify me to go on emergency leave so I replied, "Would my father dying qualify me sir?" I asked to see the battalion commander, Lt. Colonel Barnes. Thoughts of my battalion commander refusing my request started forming in my head. I even was tempted to hand my weapon in to my commander and tell him I can’t do this any more. After our meeting he instantly approved my emergency leave. During the entire time I was on leave my commander would email every other day to make sure I was going to head back. I emailed him back to assure him of my obligation to return to duty as I did on 15 December 2004.
In the past during former president Bill Clinton years, I was so proud of our military and happy to be a part of it. When I came home from the Kosovo crisis I actually felt like a hero. I felt like we actually did some good in the Balkan states. But ever since President George Bush took over it’s been totally the opposite for me. I am ashamed of our role in the world. Our foreign policy has been to hit anything in the Middle East. As I am proceeding with my conscientious claim, I can’t help but to notice that our military is gearing to hit another country. Whether it be Syria or Iran, our troops are too exhausted to take on another war and there is no way I can be a part of that.
In conclusion, I am against all types of war and violence. My first deployment to Albania in support of Task Force Hawk made me start feeling ethically wrong in what I was helping support. While our Air Force was bombing Belgrade from the air, I honestly felt sorry for those innocent Serbs that our bombs were killing and injuring. Nothing can be gained through violence but pain. I just want to live in peace.
Sincerely,
Ali Abukhdair
SSG, U.S. Army
I am the wife of the SSG Abukhdair, Ali. Under different circumstances he would be the one addressing this letter to you,
but due to the fact that he is in the military he has lost his freedom of speech and ordered not to talk to the media.My husband is currently an active member of the United States Military. He has been serving his country since June of 1994, He was deployed for 12 months to Iraq with the 101st Airborne (Air Assault) Division. He has also been deployed to a combat zone in Kosovo while he was stationed in Germany. He is a faithful Muslim and of Palestinian origin.
Currently he is assigned to the 28th Quartermaster 49th Group. They are to deploy sometime during the first days of June. He has filed for Conscientious Objector status under AR 600-43. Under regulations the process is supposed to take 90 days to reach the Headquarters of the Department of the Army.
Its been over 90 days since he applied in February. Regulation states that they are to place him in duties that conflict as minimal as possible with his beliefs, which his unit has not done at all. They have sent him to the range to qualify with a weapon, they have sent him to live-fire exercises , and given him a vehicle license for a which he has not been trained or qualified for.
When he we went to see his 1SG to apply for CO status, he was told that all he was doing is trying to get out of deployment, despite this deployment being his third major deployment, and the fact that he was a member of the 101st and being one of the first to enter Iraq.
He went to see the Chaplin and the he recommended a discharge which is not what my husband wants because he is applying for noncombatant duties to finish his obligations to the military. If the army wants to give him a discharge then he has no choice but to accept. He would rather accept this then violate his beliefs by being in any kind of violence.
The process for applying for CO status is: unit commander, post Chaplin, mental evaluation, and the investigating officer. His commander approved his application, the Chaplin believes my husband is sincere in his beliefs and request for CO status, mental evaluation’s report said my husband was sane, and the investigator officer which takes a major role in this investigation, also approved his claim and believes my husband’s sincerity. When my husband went to see the battalion commander about his situation, all the BC wanted to know is which dialect of Arabic my husband speaks and how he helped the 101st in Iraq translating for them. The BC is being biased towards my husband because of the mission.
About two months ago I was pregnant, I was about five months and my husband sent me to stay with a girlfriend of mine because I was stressed out from the situation he was in and he was worried about the baby. After a couple off weeks I had a miscarriage. My husband came and picked me up and his command did not want to give him any time off. We are trying to get some type of counseling, but are not having an easy time doing that. Since I am from Dominican Republic, I do not have a permanent resident status in this country and my visa is about to expire. My husband has told his command numerous times of our situation but is not getting much help or time off. I don’t have a driver’s license so it will be hard for me to go shopping or to the doctor. My military identification is about to expire and I cant get a new one until I complete my immigration paperwork . He also told his command about that and they basically told him that its his problem.
My husband joined the military to pay for school. He did his duty and risked his life numerous times. He is just tired of violating his religion and beliefs about war. He has tired to let the military know and sought counseling but the military is not helpful at all and they don’t care. His 1SG repeatedly puts out to his soldiers that all he cares about is making sure 145 bodies deploy and nobody is going to get out of deployment.
Here is a new update that has occurred today: My husband's docter has not cleared him to deploy due to the findings of internal bleeding. The docter has referred him to a specialist who has stated he can not see him before deployment date. So the docter has stopped his deployment. Today at 6:55pm, my husband's command calls him and gives him a direct order to be on that plane with his weapon despite his medical condition.If you have any questions you can email me or call xxx-xxx-xxxx
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