posted on January 20, 2005 06:52:08 PM new
I guess he doesn't support our troops.
SAVANNAH, Ga. - The Army has brought charges against a soldier who refused to return to Iraq for a second combat tour because he now objects to war, officials said Thursday.
Sgt. Kevin Benderman notified his commanders Dec. 28 that he was seeking a discharge as a conscientious objector. He then refused orders to deploy with his unit Jan. 8 while the Army processed his objector claim.
Benderman was charged with desertion and a second count that accuses him of intentionally skipping his deployment flight.
“My response to those charges is not guilty,” said Benderman, 40. “I am prepared to deal with whatever consequences my action brings.”
Benderman, an Army mechanic with 10 years in the military, spent eight months in Iraq in 2003 with the 4th Infantry Division from Fort Hood, Texas. He transferred to Fort Stewart after returning from the war.
Though he never fired a gun in combat, Benderman says the misery he saw firsthand — including a badly burned young girl and mass graves filled with men, women and children — led him to seek objector status.
Fort Stewart commanders contend Benderman still had an obligation to deploy with his unit while they considered his conscientious objector application.
“The people that it hurts the most are those people who are a close-knit part of his team,” Maj. Gen. William G. Webster, the 3rd Infantry commander, told reporters Thursday. “But if you talk to these soldiers here, it’s sort of below the noise level.”
Army investigators must now decide whether to prosecute Benderman in a court-martial or allow his case to be handled administratively, said Lt. Col. Robert Whetstone, a Fort Stewart spokesman.
If convicted by a court-martial, Benderman faces up to seven years in a military prison, reduction in rank and a dishonorable discharge, Whetstone said. Military courts can also opt for no punishment, even for defendants found guilty.
Benderman has since been assigned to a rear-detachment unit with no restrictions. He said he has even been granted two weeks of leave that he will use to prepare his case.
“We’re still going to treat him with honor and respect. He’s a soldier, he’s wearing the uniform and he’s a veteran,” Whetstone said. “But when regulations are broken and orders are disobeyed, we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do.”
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- "Give it up for George W. Bush, the best friend international jihad ever had."
posted on January 20, 2005 07:42:38 PM new
Psychological counseling may be more in line for this guy than jail time. He's probably got some kind of traumatic-syndrome, even though he wasn't actually in combat. We really only have half the story here.
If he really just decided out of the blue on day that "war is bad" then yeah, he needs to be prosecuted. If you sign up for the army, you kinda gotta expect to fight sooner or later. Especially if you've been in it for ten years.
War is nasty business. If you join the military you are IN that business. Don't like it, don't go. No one has been drafted.
Now that I mention it, isn't it funny that I haven't heard the word "draft" mentioned since the election ended?
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posted on January 21, 2005 06:45:29 AM new
Classic why don't you take the guy to San Francisco and show him how you picked up men?
Better yet you can teach him how you can paint a picture with your ass.
You must have an ass fetish since you like talking about men's butts all the time.
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- "Give it up for George W. Bush, the best friend international jihad ever had."
posted on January 21, 2005 06:48:05 AM new
Where is Linda? How come she is not giving us that "Anyone who speaks out against the war is Un-American" speech....
It Ok for the troops to do it, but when it is a civilian protesting and speaking their mind under the 1st Amendment it is wrong.
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- "Give it up for George W. Bush, the best friend international jihad ever had."
posted on January 22, 2005 11:27:04 AM new
I could never understand why men and women joined the National Guard. Yes, they help in time of hurricanes, tornadoes, city disasters but they also help in time of WAR.
Then when there is a war they don't want to go. Well, then they shouldn't have joined. Oh yes the extra paycheck looks good but when in war that paycheck becomes the only one they get and they should have thought about that when they joined. War has been since the beginning of time and will continue, why did those men and women think they wouldn't go to war?
Now, I have to say this even though some posters can't understand it,I hate war but if it means to keep the enemy from our shores that it has to be.
posted on January 22, 2005 11:42:04 AM new
Oh how nice....where's Linda. Missing me logansdad.
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Libra - I agree. And they all knew exactly what they were getting into when they signed up. This is separating the men from the boys. Maybe the libs from the patriotic....[not referring to this case].
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Four More Years....YES!!!
posted on January 22, 2005 12:04:39 PM newif it means to keep the enemy from our shores...
So then, this war is keeping all those Iraqi plane hijackers away from our shores, right? Not to mention all those Iraqi long range missiles, attack submarines and WMD's...ok. NOW I get it!!
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Dick Cheney: "I have not suggested there's a connection between Iraq and 9/11..."
