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conscientious objectors need our support
USA: Prison for US Iraq war resisters
Two US conscientious objectors - Kevin Benderman (US14745) and Dale Bartlett (US14746) have been sentenced to imprisonment recently. At the same time, charges against Amy Bartlett, Dale Bartlett's wife, and her mother on "enticing/harboring a deserter" have been dropped on 27 July.
Sgt Kevin Benderman was deployed to Iraq from March to September 2003. In retrospect he writes about his tour of duty in Iraq: "I have been to the war zone and I have seen the devastation it causes." Why can't everyone agree that war is the most repugnant of all human endeavors? Why is it considered noble to be able to look through the sights of a rifle and kill another human being from 300 meters away? Why are you a hero if you can throw a hand grenade farther than the next guy in the foxhole? Shouldn't these young men and women that are in the army be throwing footballs or baseballs or softballs instead? It would impress me a lot more to see someone make the winning free throw at the basketball game or kick the winning extra point at the football game, or knock in the winning run at the World Series than to see them be able to shoot more humans from 300 hundred meters." I would rather they spend their time at the golf course or the tennis courts or in college, any where but in the war zone trying to survive and having to kill to do it. It just doesn't make sense to me."
When ordered to deploy to Iraq again in January 2005, Kevin Benderman refused." 'I have both a professional and a moral obligation to call into question why we are still in Iraq after accomplishing the mission ' in President Bush's words ' of deposing Saddam, and why U.S. military personnel are increasingly killing non-combatants. On my last deployment in Iraq elements of my unit were instructed by a Captain to fire on children throwing rocks at us', he said. Already on 28 December 2004 he had applied for a discharge as conscientious objector. When his unit deployed to Iraq on 8 January 2005, Kevin Benderman refused to deploy with his unit.
The Army charged him with desertion and a lesser charge of "intentionally missing movement" for not being on the plane when the 3rd Infantry Division deployed to Iraq.
On 28 July 2005, a court martial at Ft Stewart acquitted Kevin Benderman of desertion, but found him guilty of the charge of "missing movement". For this charge, he received an unexpectedly high sentence of 15 month in prison, was reduced in rank to private, and will receive a dishonorable discharge. Military police immediately took Kevin Benderman into custody.
Dave Bartell enlisted in the US Army almost three years ago, and he too had served a tour in Iraq. After joining the Mennonites, he turned into conscientious objector. While his unit was preparing to deploy to Iraq again, Dave Bartell prepared his application for conscientious objection. Bartell went AWOL from 7 March to 8 April 2005, and again on 17 April, the day he thought his unit would be shipped out to Iraq. He met a military defense attorney and turned himself in on 12 May 2005.
Bartell was charged with "intent to avoid hazardous duty", which would amount to desertion. On 12 July, he was sentenced to four month in prison, and a dishonorable discharge. He had plead guilty to being AWOL, but said in his testimony that it had been his intent to protect his conscientious objection claim from being compromised.
In early May 2005, military police served his wife Amy Bartell with a charge of "enticing/harboring a deserter". This charge was finally dropped on 27 July 2005.
War Resisters' International calls for the immediate release of Kevin Benderman and Dave Bartell, and their recognition as conscientious objectors.
War Resisters' International calls for letters of protest to the US authorities, or US embassies abroad. A protest email to US President George W. Bush can be sent at http://wri-irg.org/co/alerts/20050729a.html.
Andreas Speck
War Resisters' International
wri-irg.org