March 16, 2004

Soldier Seeks Conscientious Objector Status

 A U.S. soldier, who refused to return to Iraq after he was shaken by a gunfight that killed innocent civilians, reported to his unit Tuesday in preparation for seeking conscientious objector  status.

Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia walked into the building housing his Florida National Guard unit at the North Miami Armory after repeating his determination not to return to the Middle East and fight.

"I'm prepared to go to prison," Mejia said.

That's nice. Prison is definitely where he should go while he waits to meet the firing squad...

Mejia, 28, of Miami Beach, was in Iraq for about five months last year until October, when he returned home on leave. He did not return to duty. He surrendered Monday at an Air Force base in Massachusetts and was ordered to return to Florida and report to his unit, the 1st Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment of the Florida National Guard.

"This is an oil-driven war, and I don't think any soldier signs up to fight for oil," Mejia said Monday after arriving at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
[Ooooh, this kind of idiocy, lying and BS-ing makes me see red!
Soldiers go where their Commander-in Chief tells them to, without questioning the "motives" for military action and Mejia knows it.
Insubordination straight up and refusing to obey orders.--Jen]

His attorney, Louis Font, said he believes Mejia is the first soldier to turn himself in after refusing to return to Iraq. Mejia said he would seek conscientious objector status. In Iraq on Tuesday, officials said two other soldiers were seeking objector status there.

Lt. Col. Ron Tittle, a Florida National Guard spokesman, said Mejia would likely be sent to Fort Stewart, Ga., to meet with a military legal services team.

Mejia said he was particularly upset over an incident in Iraq in which he and others were ambushed and innocent civilians were hit in the ensuing gunfire.

A native of Nicaragua, Mejia is a permanent resident of the United States who served in the Army for three years. He had served in the National Guard for five years when his unit was called to active duty. In civilian life, he was a psychology student at the University of Miami.

Mejia said he joined the military upon his arrival in the United States so he could work his way into American society. He could not say whether he might be deported because of his refusal to serve, but said "whatever sacrifice I have to make, I have to go there."

Meanwhile, in Iraq, a commander said two U.S. Army medics there have applied for conscientious objector status. Capt. Todd Grissom said said the two, both privates first class, notified the Army of their request on Feb. 9, the day before their Germany-based 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment deployed to Iraq.
[IOW, they're chicken.--J.T.]

The two want to be honorably discharged from the military because the idea of killing is "revolting" to them, Grissom said Tuesday.

This may sound cruel, but all 3 of these cowards should receive the harshest penalties possible for their military crimes of desertion, insubordination and refusal to obey orders.
We have a volunteer army: noone is forced to enlist and they received lots of benefits for doing so, too.
When one joins the armed forces, it should come as no shock when one is ordered into combat to kill people and break things.
Even with a language barrier, Mejia understands what an "army" is and does from growing up in war-torn Nicaragua.
As for the medics who were witnesses to a "incident" where Iraqi civilians were killed, war is terrible and as tragic and sad as it is, the fact is that civilians get killed; in fact, the U.S. is in Iraq and Afghanistan because 3,000 innocent American civilians were killed on 9/11.
None of these 3 spineless wonders' "reasons" for refusing to obey orders are valid.
Worse, they are "coming forward" for the sole purpose of being tools of the Lying Liberal Left and its partisan media.
Their mission is to discredit the President politically and to discredit the just, successful War on Terror as much as possible.
There have only been a handful of these stories, but I've heard enough.
If I have to hear any more, I hope it's about these 3 stooges going away for a long time.