AWOL State of MIND: Calls From Desperate Soldiers

[G_j]

This may add some perspective to the story of the soldiers who "missed their flights". Also consider the phone call from Afghanistan posted by BeHereNow, the Scoop interview with the soldier "USA", the Stars And Stripes poll where 1/2 of the soldiers interviewed in Iraq said their morale was terrible and they would not re-enlist and many other examples of how the troops are experiencing Bush's neocon wetdream. Also visit www.bringthemhomenow.org and Military Families Speak Out, www.mfso.org to read more.


http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/7316.htm>

AWOL STATE OF MIND: CALLS FROM SOLDIERS DESPERATE TO LEAVE IRAQ FLOOD HOTLINE

By LEONARD GREENE

October 5, 2003 -- EXCLUSIVE

Morale among some war-weary GIs in Iraq is so low that a growing number of soldiers - including some now home on R&R - are researching the consequences of going AWOL, according to a leading support group.

The GI Rights Hotline, a national soldiers' support service, has logged a 75 percent increase in calls in the last 12 weeks, with more than 100 of those calls from soldiers, or people on their behalf, asking about the penalties associated with going AWOL - "absent without leave" - according to volunteers and staffers who man the service.

Many of the calls have come from soldiers who are among those now on the first wave of 15-day authorized leaves that began almost two weeks ago. Some hotline callers have indicated they may not return, staffers said.

"What would happen if I just don't go back" to Iraq, one soldier asked a worker at a GI support-line center.

"I'm going to shoot myself in the foot," said another, referring to his solution for getting home.

..more..

--------
Soldiers Miss Flights Back to Iraq
Few of More Than 30 Absent Troops Offer Explanation

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A56494-2003Oct20?language=printer
 

[Yavin4]

1. I Would Go AWOL In A NY Minute

Hell yeah I would. I would not die just so that Dick Cheaney could get another $50 million from Halliburton. The first law of nature is survival, not blind loyalty to a court-appointed monkey.

[Girlfriday]

2. The way I see it,....

....most of them have already been there longer than they should have been; they've done their time in hell. It's time for the neocons to suit up and ride out.

[htuttle]

3. I wonder if they'll start adding KGB-like 'political officers' to units?

Or create a division to keep the others in line, as the SS did on the Russian front?

I have to imagine that the military has thought about desertion issues since Vietnam. Then again, the 'all volunteer' army was supposed to be a solution for that.

on edit:

Didn't it stop being 'all volunteer' once the stop-loss order came down?

[BrotherBuzz]

9. 'all volunteer'

Didn't it stop being 'all volunteer' once the stop-loss order came down?

Interesting, I hadn't thought of it that way.

[peace4all]

11. as Mari333 can attest,

A Mother's Rage

http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/102103C.shtml

[G_j]

13. I've passed this story on

it has recieved a strong and sympathetic response. It really hits home for many. It's great that Truthout carried it!

[JNelson6563]

12. Better yet, Rome!!

When something went awry in the Legion, if I remember correctly, I think they'd line up the men, pull out every tenth or so and execute him. That seemed pretty effective in keeping them in line.

Julie

[lovedems]

4. I feel so bad for those soldiers

as I sit here in the comfort of my own home. What a terrible choice they have to face. Go back to Iraq and face daily attacks or look at possible jail time for going AWOL. Does anyone know exactly what happens to a person for going AWOL? Oh yeah, they get appointed to the presidency! Really, what is the punishment?

[grasswire]

5. I always said....

....that Bush has no moral authority to command troops to battle, considering his own desertion during wartime.

[G_j]

6. Soldiers Ripe to Resist?

Soldiers Ripe to Resist?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/102203D.shtml

<snip>
This time, the anti-war movement started before the invasion of Iraq. It may not be long before GIs refuse to follow orders or ask for discharges based on their conscientious objection to the occupation.

  Many groups are supporting such dissatisfaction among the troops, including Veterans for Peace and Veterans for Common Sense. Some of the most anguished opposition appears on Web sites created by "Military Families Speak Out" and "Bring Them Home Now."

  Also drawing attention is an "Open Letter to Soldiers Who are Involved in the Occupation of Iraq" posted Sept. 19 on the Internet by two men who know about refusing military orders.
 
 James Skelly, now a senior fellow at the Baker Institute for Peace Conflict Studies at Juniata College in Pennsylvania, was a lieutenant in the Navy during the '60s. Rather than serve in Vietnam, he applied for a discharge based on his conscientious objection to the war. When the Pentagon refused his application, he sued Defense Secretary Melvin Laird for being illegally held by the military and became a West Coast founder of the Concerned Officer Movement.
<snip>

[G_j]

7. Stars & Stripes poll

..if this is what soldiers told the Pentagon-funded newspaper, imagine what they are really thinking and feeling.

Many Troops Dissatisfied, Iraq Poll Finds (washingtonpost.com)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32521-2003Oct15.html
 
A broad survey of U.S. troops in Iraq by a Pentagon-funded newspaper found that half of those questioned described their unit's morale as low and their training as insufficient, and said they do not plan to reenlist.

The survey, conducted by the Stars and Stripes newspaper, also recorded about a third of the respondents complaining that their mission lacks clear definition and characterizing the war in Iraq as of little or no value. Fully 40 percent said the jobs they were doing had little or nothing to do with their training.

The findings, drawn from 1,935 questionnaires presented to U.S. service members throughout Iraq, conflict with statements by military commanders and Bush administration officials that portray the deployed troops as high-spirited and generally well-prepared. Though not obtained through scientific methods, the survey results suggest that a combination of difficult conditions, complex missions and prolonged tours in Iraq is wearing down a significant portion of the U.S. force and threatening to provoke a sizable exodus from military service.

In the first of a week-long series of articles, Stars and Stripes said yesterday that it undertook the survey in August after receiving scores of letters from troops who were upset with one aspect or another of the Iraq operation. The newspaper, which receives some funding from the Defense Department but functions without editorial control by the Pentagon, prepared 17 questions and sent three teams of reporters to Iraq to conduct the survey and related interviews at nearly 50 camps.
...more..

[cliss]

8. I've read a variety of opinions here...

to go or not to go. My opinion is, and I've gone into detail about the legitimacy of this war: This is not a legitimate war. The administration hijacked our troops, our sense of patriotism, our entire country, for a different reason altogether than they led us to believe.

There is NO reason to fight or to die for a company's bottom line.

[peace4all]

10. no one signed up to be mercinaries

for a cabal of chicken-hawk war profiteers. We should do all we can to support those who resist. Tell their stories across America.

[Ilsa]

14. And if you haven't visited

www.BringThemHomeNow.org recently, you might be amazed at the letters of support in Sound Off! for the organization and dissing the US occupation of Iraq.

One letter mentioned the oath of commitment and whether our soldiers should consider if their enemies are foreign or domestic, and that came from an ex-military writer!

Another letter urges us to write Washington State Rep. George Nethercutt, Jr, who in the NY Times was quoted as saying, "The story of what we've done in the postwar period is remarkable. It is a better and more important story than losing a couple of soldiers every day."

[G_j]

15. one of the letters

you mentioned,

October 17, 2003

Quoting Washington State Rep. George Nethercutt, Jr on Monday from Maureen Dowd's column in the NY Times yesterday, "The story of what we've done in the postwar period is remarkable. It is a better and more important story than losing a couple of soldiers every day."

That is the most callous, insensitive thing I've heard to date. I wrote to him and asked that he apologize to every family of every soldier who has had to fight in Iraq and to the families of those who have been wounded or killed.

I hope more people will write to him and let him know how they feel about a remark like that coming from a government official.

Sincerely,
The Mother of a Soldier
High Falls, New York

[Ilsa]

17. Thanks.

I don't think I stated that case very well without posting the entire letter.

[G_j]

19. you stated it clearly

I also used the letter as a way to kick the thread. :-)

Thanks for bringing our attention to it!

[Bandit]

16. Canada is a very nice country

After a few years I'm sure a president will come along and offer amnesty to any soldiers who found it unconscionable to go back to that war and chose Canada instead. :shrug: I would recommend they save their lives and enjoy a country that actually cares for it's citizens.

[sangh0]

18. NY Times reports 28 going AWOL after leave

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/22/national/22AWOL.html

Army Reports Some Absences From a Trial Leave Program

Pentagon officials disclosed on Tuesday that 28 soldiers who were granted a 15-day leave from the war in Iraq as part of an experimental program had not reported back to duty.

More than 2,300 soldiers in the program have returned without problems. But at least one stated that he was tired of combat and was not returning to Iraq, Army officials said. Several others skipped their flights, apparently without contacting superiors