TOM H. HASTINGS – Hate only feeds more hate, more destruction, more violence, more useless continuation of wreckage. Unless some people simply stop, however unilaterally that might be, the hate will never vanish. It may go under some rock when social norms force it there, but it is like a peat bog fire just waiting under the surface, for years sometimes, before conditions allow it to erupt into a raging wildfire. How? How to drop the hate?
Tag: conscientious objector
Army Prisoners Isolated, Denied Right to Legal Counsel
DAHR JAMAIL: Afghanistan war resister Travis Bishop has been held largely “incommunicado†in the Northwest Joint Regional Correctional Facility at Fort Lewis, Washington. Bishop, who is being held by the military as a “prisoner of conscience,†according to Amnesty International, was transported to Fort Lewis on September 9 to serve a 12-month sentence in the Regional Correctional Facility. He had refused orders to deploy to Afghanistan based on his religious beliefs, and had filed for Conscientious Objector (CO) status.
Sgt. Kevin Benderman, An American Hero
CYNTHIA McKINNEY: On July 28, 2005, in a small nondescript courtroom at Ft. Stewart in Georgia, Sgt. Kevin Benderman was sentenced to 15 months for his refusal to deploy to Iraq. Benderman is just one of thousands of modern heroes who have followed their conscience and taken the difficult stand of resistance within the armed forces.
WWII Pacifists Served in Oregon
JEFFREY KOVAC: Largely overlooked and unmentioned in the discussion of America’s military entanglements in Iraq and Afghanistan is the story of some 12,000 conscientious objectors who refused to fight in World War II and instead performed free labor in Civilian Public Service camps across the United States.
U.S. Troops Hiding in Iraqi Homes
DAVID SWANSON: A few words from U.S. troops in Iraq, all quoted in Chapter 1 of Dahr Jamail’s brilliant new book, The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Israeli Teens Break Law, Refuse to Serve, Explain Why
PEACEWORK MAGAZINE: In the spring of 2008, a group of high school seniors followed in the tradition of earlier teenaged Israeli conscientious objectors (traditionally referred to as the shministim) and publicly declared their refusal to serve in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) as required by law. Four women COs, signatories of the 2008 high school seniors’ refusal letter, have been sentenced to brief prison terms this fall, and may face further punishment. Others will be sentenced soon. For updates, visit the campaign’s Facebook page (search for “shministim”) or visit www.gush-shalom.org.