Military Judge Convicts Anti-War Sailor

[RaRa]

SAN DIEGO - A sailor turned anti-war activist was convicted Wednesday in a special court-martial of refusing to board the USS Bonhomme Richard as it deployed to the Persian Gulf in December.
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A military judge found Petty Officer 3rd Class Pablo Paredes guilty of missing his ship's movement, but dismissed a second count of unauthorized absence, ruling it duplicative.

The proceeding then moved into the sentencing phase. The 23-year-old New Yorker could receive a year in jail, a forfeiture of pay, reduction in rank and a bad-conduct discharge.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iraq_sailor_s_protest

Wow, seems like a pretty impressive guy.

[mzmolly]

1. SUPPORT PABLO PAREDES HERE: I heard about him on AAR today.

He's amazing! :toast: to Mr. Paredes

Hey just found a website!
http://www.swiftsmartveterans.com/


For contributions to Pablo's cause kindly Click the support Pablo tab OR send check payable to:

Victor Paredes

Address:
P.O. Box 15307
San Diego, CA 92175
Fax [phone]

Support via online donation:
http://swiftsmartveterans.com/_wsn/page2.html

Sign a petition in support of Pablo here:

We urge the Department of the Navy to discharge FC3 Pablo Paredes as a conscientious objector on the basis of his beliefs, and further ask that the charges against him be set aside because his public statements and actions show that he is conscientiously opposed to participation in war in any form. They demonstrate that the acts with which he is charged arose entirely from sincere and deeply held beliefs.

http://www.npowebsite.net/dp/dp.asp?mode=OnlinePetition

[Benhurst]

2. So much for the American military's BS training about the

Nuremburg trials and the responsibility to refuse an illegal order.

Follow the Bush Crime Family into its illegal and immoral adventures or go to jail.

[Massacure]

3. How is boarding a ship an illegal order?

[mike_c]

6. same as boading a troop transport for Baghdad....

Any complicity in an illegal war is itself illegal, just like participation in any other crime.

[Benhurst]

10. ...

:thumbsup:

[Massacure]

12. But the Persian Gulf is international waters.

[mike_c]

13. sure-- and the mission probably had nothing to do with the war...

...against Iraq. It's called "aiding and abetting" in other circles.

[Massacure]

17. I'm confused. Are you agreeing with me or being sarcastic?

[mike_c]

19. see #18, below....

Sorry.

[Fire Walk With Me]

4. He should have tortured some prisoners, then he'd have got off scot free

Welcome to Bizarro world.

[mike_c]

18. mainly sarcasm-- I'm trying to make the point that the sailor...

...believed that the deployment was in support of the war against Iraq, and that I agree with that assessment. The ship's destination is not the issue. If its mission was to support the occupation of Iraq it was aiding and abetting a criminal enterprise. The sailor had a clear responsibility to refuse to participate, and he chose to do so by refusing to deploy. With regard to that responsibility, international law is quite specific (I believe it's the U.N. Charter in this case, modeled after the Nuremberg findings): if a moral choice to refuse exists, then failure to refuse to participate in an illegal war makes one culpable for war crimes. The wording is very specific-- the choice only needs to be a moral one, not a practical one or one with benign outcomes.

edit-- oops, this was supposed to be in reply to the question above it. Sorry.

[Massacure]

20. So the captain of a ship carrying food has the right to refuse to deploy

Carrying food for the forces in Iraq, and the Pentagon is supposed to accept the fact that 150,000 forces are going to starve?

Or what about a hospital ship?

[mike_c]

21. I'd suggest you do some research...

...and then arrive at your own conclusions, but if you're primarily interested in my opinions, then yes-- I think your first example is correct. Resupplying forces engaged in an illegal war is a war crime, so the hypothetical "captain" you proposed has a responsibility to refuse (we can both think of exceptions, like when troops are withdrawing, so let's not go there). The hospital ship is a different matter-- it is providing aid to the wounded. Note that a different set of regulations applies to the provision of aid, however, such as the responsibility to aid all parties rendered hors de combat, and to assist civilian populations.

edit-- note to I did not say the "right" to refuse-- I said the "responsibility" under the law, both U.S. and international. You and I do not have the "right" to decline participation in murder and theft for example-- that is our responsibility under the law. The military is equally bound to that responsibility.

[Cha]

5. Pablo Paredes'

potential penalty is nothing compared to going to an illegal war and killing and possibly dying all because of the bushcons.

[bluestateguy]

7. Seems like a price worth paying to live

He'll have to do a little time, but he'll be alive.

[mzmolly]

8. And, he'll have his dignity/sanity.

:hi:

[evlbstrd]

9. Yeah, but those BCDs hang on a long time.

[lenidog]

11. He was never in danger of dying he is a weapons tech on board a

Aegis class cruiser which may have never gotten any closer to Iraq than the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Even if his ship had entered the Gulf the only danger he would have faced was due to a ship board accident.

[ridgerunner]

22. Did you forget about the USS Cole?

There is no safe spot in a war zone.

[chlamor]

14. nominated-dissent

[HysteryDiagnosis]

15. Assert your belief system (as do the fundies) bad, shoot

downed Iraqis, good, place a leash on a prisoner, bad, shoot a carful of Iraqis, good, Expect the benefits the guard and the army promised you, bad, bomb a wedding party in the desert, good, be a whistleblower for reconstruction fraud, bad, shoot two unarmed Iraqis outside their car, good.

Welcome to wonderland, where anything is possible if you are on the right team. God help you if you aint.

[NNN0LHI]

16. THIS GUY IS NOT ANTI-WAR! He is anti-war crimes n/t

[DesEtoiles]

23. If he was a pharmacist, could he object on moral grounds?

[chlamor]

24. kick n/t

[Demeter]

25. Because Intelligence and Honesty Are Such Crimes

when one lives under the military/industrial complex in these complex times.