US Army medic from Guadalajara, Mexico found guilty of desertion
Spc. Agustin Aguayo now a "prisoner of conscience"
Aguayo realized after about one year of service in the military that his
beliefs had changed to the point that he could no longer in good conscience
be a part of the armed forces. He first applied for discharge as a
conscientious objector in February of 2004. While his application was being
processed, he was sent to Iraq as a medic, where he refused to load his
weapon even when put on guard duty. His application was denied by the Army
while he was still in Iraq, but because it had been seriously mishandled,
he had a chance to challenge the ruling by filing a habeas corpus in
federal court.
The habeas corpus was denied on August 24, 2006, and exactly one week
later, Aguayo's unit in the 1st Infantry Division was to deploy once again
to Iraq. He made it clear to his chain of command that as a conscientious
objector, it was against his beliefs to participate in war in any form and
he would not deploy.
So after nearly three years of struggling with the US Army to be recognized
as a conscientious objector, Agustin Aguayo went AWOL (absent without
leave) on Sept. 1, 2006 and missed his unit's deployment to Iraq. The
following day, September 2, 2006, he turned himself in to the MP station
where his wife filmed his statement before turning himself in.
However, instead of facing a court-martial, he was told by Army personnel
that he would be going to Iraq, even if they had to forcefully put him on
the plane i.e. shackle, handcuff, confine him until the deployment, and/or
carry him on the plane. Knowing of no other option, Aguayo fled the
military base in Germany and remained in hiding until September 26, 2006.
On September 26, 2006 he held a press conference in "La Placita Olivera"
Los Angeles, California. There he expressed his beliefs against killing and
war. In a bold move, he and a caravan of supporters drove up to Fort Irwin,
Barstow, California where he, again, turned himself in.
On October 3, 2006 personnel from the 1st Infantry Division came to get
Aguayo in California and took him back to Germany. Today Agustin Aguayo was
found guilty of desertion and faces up to
seven years in prison.
There is a heart wrenching appeal from Aguayo's wife and two daughters on a
video at:
http://www.youtube.com/v/M4HQoNB52Rc
---
Climb off of Clinton's penis, rightard.
.
|
