| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan |
| Ft. Hood Soldier Gets 30 Days For Wanting To Quit |
| 2009-08-07 |
| Victor Agosto, a 24-year-old soldier with the III Corps, found himself in military court on Wednesday for disobeying orders that would have sent him to Afghanistan. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and demoted to private. Rather than refusing to go overseas, Agosto just never went to the office that takes care of the deployment paperwork, which the Army only considers a minor offense. If he had directly refused an order to deploy the repercussions would have been much more severe. So what made this Army man have a change of heart regarding the war? A 13-month stint in Iraq, sitting behind a computer. “I realized that the war in Iraq had nothing to do with making Americans safer,” Agosto told The Associated Press “After I got back, I started feeling guilty about my part in the occupation.” When Agosto found out that he wasn’t being discharged in June as he had expected, but would be deployed to Afghanistan instead, he stopped obeying orders and became active in local antiwar protests. Agosto told the court that he believed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan violated international law. “He’s not opposed to all wars; he is opposed to this war, because it is not a war of self-defense,” his lawyer James M. Barnum told the NY Times. About 20 antiwar protesters that were present at the hearing cheered Agosto on as he was taken to jail. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #9 And Lord knows, we wouldn't want to do things using overt power upfront like a draft to meet staffing needs, so doing it sneakified style with the backdoor draft is SO much better. Because being dishonest sneaks is what our gummint is all about. yea, yea, I know theres a clause in the contract, youre protesting. Still, the stop loss justifies the indignity of calling on our boys and girls to give and give somemore while fat ass dems sit on their couch and complain. Draft for everyone under 30 I say, women included, gangsta style. Personally, I think at least the draft punished the anti military as well as pro military by making them all serve. The stoploss penalizes our boys and girls that were good enough to volunteer, and I dont like that. And just because they volunteered, doesn't mean that sacred service pact should be abused ad infinitum. |
| Posted by: GirlThursday 2009-08-07 23:41 |
| #8 Let's remember - Title X USC. Subtitle A > PART II > CHAPTER 39 > § 671a Unless terminated at an earlier date by the Secretary concerned, the period of active service of any member of an armed force is extended for the duration of any war in which the United States may be engaged and for six months thereafter. which was engaged by this. Note well Sec 2(b)(1) which invokes the War Powers Resolution. The fact that they're not fully exercising this capability says a lot on their part to address all needs, both of the government and the citizen. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-08-07 23:34 |
| #7 6 and a kick cheaper than 1500 per month for every soldier who has been stoplossed for months and years. If DoD ever to gets rid of stoploss, theres a good chance they'd reinstitute a draft. Bring it! I was kept 11 month extra. |
| Posted by: GirlThursday 2009-08-07 23:08 |
| #6 6 and a kick is enough. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2009-08-07 22:31 |
| #5 http://lautenberg.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=298364 Slavery to a contract. Land of the |
| Posted by: GirlThursday 2009-08-07 21:30 |
| #4 And that was in 2008, which I didn't attribute correctly in my comment. |
| Posted by: GirlThursday 2009-08-07 21:29 |
| #3 WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) introduced a bill to provide a monthly bonus to troops affected by “stop loss,” a Pentagon policy that involuntarily extends military service beyond an enlistment contract. The bill would require the Pentagon to pay $1,500 to each service member for each month he or she is kept beyond the end of their enlistment period. (www.http://lautenberg.senate.gov) Hmm. Guess. That. Didnt. Pass. Shame. |
| Posted by: GirlThursday 2009-08-07 21:28 |
| #2 "I realized that the war in Iraq had nothing to do with making Americans safer," Agosto told The Associated Press "After I got back, I started feeling guilty about my part in the occupation." Same could have been said about the invasion of (neutral) Vichy North Africa, to include the preservation of European colonial rule. However, the road to Berlin started there. Iraq was declared 'the battle' by Al Qaeda who this person forgot did this. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-08-07 19:32 |
| #1 I'm of mixed minds about this. He was smart enough to do it in the least offensive way. And being leash jerked when you are expecting to ETS bugs the hell out of soldiers. Give him his General Discharge. There are a lot more soldiers than him who are thinking about this right now. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2009-08-07 18:46 |