NPR story this morning on desertion, perhaps as high as 5,000 last year

[Skidmore]

although the DoD has only been reporting 2,300. Heard on Morning Edition on the way in and I just wanted to get this out there for follow-up before I disappear into classes for the day.

[ShortnFiery]

1. Why isn't our illustrious Corporate M$M all over this story?!?

Oh Wait! They're part of the problem, i.e., spin, lies and propaganda for their corporate masters within the Military Industrial Complex. :eyes:

[whistle]

2. Humm, I was just reading this article on an interview with two

...career military persons who choose to defy their orders and not go fight in Iraq:


<snip>
Interview: Hell No, We Won't Go
Feature Article by Andrew Stone and Simon Assaf, February 2005

Carl Webb from the US and George Solomou from Britain explain to Andrew Stone and Simon Assaf why they refuse to go and fight in Iraq.

Socialist Review: Why are you accusing the US army of drafting you?


Carl Webb: I'm refusing to go to war because I do not believe the US is on the right track. I think this war is not about liberating people, it's about oppressing them. It's a war that's being fought for profit.


So what's your history with the army?


That goes way back. In 1982 I was 16 when I dropped out of high school and my mother said, 'Well, you have to find a job.' But it was very difficult to find one in those days. During that time I had been contacted by an army recruiter, who convinced me to join the army reserves.


In 2001 you re-enlisted in the National Guard. What was the reason for that?


Well, the situation in 2001 was similar to that in 1982. I didn't have a job, I was facing eviction from my home and I needed some extra cash. This was in August 2001 and I thought, 'We've invaded everyone we possibly can invade,' and it was relatively peaceful for the US. And there was a local medical unit close to my neighbourhood. So with the agreement that I would get an enlistment bonus - which wasn't much - I signed on for three years. The very next month 9/11 happened. In July 2004 my draft came through. I was getting ready to get out, because I only had one more month left to serve on my contract. That's when I got a phone call from my sergeant. She said she had bad news - I had been one of the soldiers selected to serve in Iraq. I was stunned and shocked. I had missed so many wars and I was thinking, 'Wow, I've done it again.' I thought I'd made it through a three-year contract without seeing any action.


So you're 38 years old. Isn't that a little bit old to be sent into combat?


I think when the US started to run out of regular army troops and started to use more of its reserves and National Guard the average age jumped up - particularly in Iraq. In the regular army most of the soldiers are around 21 or 22. In the reserves and the National Guard the force is a bit older because most of us are army veterans in our late twenties and early thirties.


Can you explain what the stop-loss programme is? It seems quite a lot of the reserves and National Guard are unhappy about it?


The stop-loss programme has been around since the year before the First Persian Gulf War. But this is the first time they've implemented it to such an extent across the services. It prevents any serviceman from leaving the service, even once their contract has finished. So it automatically extends your service beyond the contract which you enlisted for.
<more>

http://www.socialistreview.org.uk/article.php?articlenumber=9235

[madrchsod]

3. 5,000?

i think that would be a higher percentage than Vietnam

[SpiralHawk]

4. I urge our soldiers to follow my lead." - Commander AWOL

"Please note that I would find it highly unpleasant to hear any of you DU halfwits
saying 'monkey see, monkey do.""

- Commander AWOL