U.S. Soldier Refuses to Report

[twpdyp]

US soldier refuses to report for active duty in Iraq

17 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) — A month after US army reservist Matthis Chiroux publicly refused to deploy to Iraq, the former sergeant on Sunday set himself up for possible prosecution by failing to report for active duty with his unit in South Carolina.

"Tonight at midnight, I may face further action from the army for refusing to reactivate to participate in the Iraq occupation," Chiroux told reporters in Washington.

"I stand here today in defense of those who have been stripped of their voices in this occupation, the warriors of this nation...", Chiroux read from a statement as his father Rob, who had travelled to Washington from Alabama to support his son on Father's Day, stood beside him.

Last month, Chiroux rejected an order calling him back to active duty in Iraq, saying he considers the war "illegal and unconstitutional."

Chiroux served five years in the army, with tours in Afghanistan, Japan, Germany and the Philippines.

He was honorably discharged last year and was placed in the Individual Ready Reserves (IRR), a pool of former soldiers who can be "reactivated" in a national emergency or war.

Prior to the Iraq war, IRR members were rarely recalled to active duty, according to the Military Times, an independent newspaper for members of the US armed forces and their families.

"Many believed they never would be called -- but when the army found itself stretched by unexpected combat demands in Iraq in the summer of 2004 it began issuing mobilization orders," Military Times wrote in an article published a year ago on Sunday.

According to the paper, hundreds of IRR members "refused to report or simply ignored their mailed mobilization orders."

Matthis' father Rob, a rocket scientist who lives in the army town of Huntsville, Alabama, said mobilizing IRR members was a form of back-door draft.

"If our country is in such a dire emergency that we need to conscript manpower, congress has to vote to reinstate the draft," the elder Chiroux told AFP.

"But they won't do that because if congress said we need to bring back the general draft, the war in Iraq would be resolved very quickly," he said.

"Moms and dads, who represent millions and millions of voters, would say: wait a minute -- you want to draft my kid? Iraq's got to stop."

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jlR6Ky...Mqzy4Ks9bk-PThw

I am not the least bit sorry for this guy, he signed the papers enlisting in the United States military. Therefore he is not only morally obligated but legally obligated to go where he is ordered to go and fight whom he is ordered to fight. Questioning his orders and refusing to comply with legal orders is an offense that can and should net him some jail time and a dishonorable discharge. I am the father of a United States Marine, my son signed up with full knowledge of his obligations to serve following his active duty time. He read the agreement and fully understood it. So what is this guys issue? He even has to get his father to stand up for his decision. He is a wimp and should go to jail.

[Mr Honeybadger]

I agree. We have a volunteer Army. I'm sure his signature is on the contract stating that he was fully aware that this could happen.

[Lt_Ripley]

I agree. We have a volunteer Army. I'm sure his signature is on the contract stating that he was fully aware that this could happen.

They lied to my niece's boyfriend during enlistment. I knew they would but he and she didn't believe me. He kept claiming " they told me they weren't going to send me to Iraq or Afghanistan. that they need soldiers here too." ahhh to be young and ignorant. ( he joined because there are no jobs around here)

....Now they go into the military in order to get the money to go to college, he said, or because low-wage jobs at places like Wal-Mart or McDonald's aren't enough to support their families......Without a draft, the number of Americans fleeing north is a fraction of what it was four decades ago. More than 30,000 fled to Canada during the late 1960s and early '70s. Only a few thousand have gone AWOL during the current war, and most of them have apparently remained in the United States. Still, as the war in Iraq drags on and disillusionment grows in the ranks of the military, the numbers are rising. While 3,101 soldiers went AWOL between October 2005 and October 2006, more than 1,700 soldiers deserted in the six months between October 2006 and early April, according to figures released recently by the Army. According to the War Resisters Support Campaign, the number of soldiers coming to Canada over the past six months has risen correspondingly.

Corey Glass, a former National Guardsman who worked in military intelligence in Iraq before deserting to Canada in 2006, says he once considered it his duty to serve. But he says that in Iraq, he was directed to "sanitize" intelligence reports. "I was told to pretty much go with the story you're given, take out the real details, and paint a picture for the commander," he told Salon. Eventually Glass came to believe that "they used lies and plays on words to get us over there, and ordered us to commit crimes, in my opinion, against another country." .........

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/05/...ada/index1.html

AWOL in America: Why Over 5,500 U.S. Soldiers Discharged Themselves

March 15, 2005

The Pentagon has estimated that since the start of the current conflict in Iraq, more than 5,500 U.S. military personnel have deserted. We speak with journalist Kathy Dobie who wrote the cover story for this month’s issue of Harper’s magazine titled “AWOL in America: When Desertion is the Only Option.” Dobie says, “Some of them leave because they’re unwilling to kill, some because of family and personal problems and some because of the unjust recruiting process.”

http://www.democracynow.org/2005/3/15/awol...rica_why_over_5

[AROCES]

They lied to my niece's boyfriend during enlistment. I knew they would but he and she didn't believe me. He kept claiming " they told me they weren't going to send me to Iraq or Afghanistan. that they need soldiers here too." ahhh to be young and ignorant. ( he joined because there are no jobs around here)

Let's say whoever he talked to lied to him.

Now what made him think that he would not be send to places he does not like and instead someone else, he ever thought what has he done so far for him to get such special treatment?