I applaud his conviction to stand up for his beliefs, however dubious and misinformed they may be.
And I will also applaud his conviction at the court-martial....
And I will also applaud his conviction at the court-martial....
"Legally" is the difference between "Illegal combatant" and "Prisoner of War".Evil Tyrant said:@Cuivienen: Legally, you are right, it isn't a war. But practically speaking, it either is a war, or it isn't. All the words and jargon in the world cannot change it's nature.
Zamecnik said:What does "because of the duty of his position" mean exactly, I'm not following you here.
"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."
Padma said:I applaud his conviction to stand up for his beliefs, however dubious and misinformed they may be.
And I will also applaud his conviction at the court-martial....
Sidhe said:everyone has the right to refuse an order they think is against there better judgement or moral code.
Padma said:It is not up to the individual soldiers to determine the legality of the war. Their elected leaders (including their Command In Chief) do that. It is the soldiers' duty to deploy as ordered.
Now, if they are geven a patently illegal order such as "Murder that bunch of civilians!", then they have the obligation to refuse it, and also to report same up the chain of command.
I understand that's the military way.Padma said:It is not up to the individual soldiers to determine the legality of the war. Their elected leaders (including their Command In Chief) do that. It is the soldiers' duty to deploy as ordered.
Now, if they are geven a patently illegal order such as "Murder that bunch of civilians!", then they have the obligation to refuse it, and also to report same up the chain of command.
Zamecnik said:I guess his defense rests on trying to prove that its morally equivalent,no? That it is essentially an illegal order.
Rik Meleet said:Why on earth is it so hard to honor his beliefs, political point of view and morals and let him serve on Diego Garcia for instance ???
Nobody is helped by him courtmarshalled, jailed or killed. And nobody certainly is helped by him fleeing to Canada, cutting his finger off or going to Iraq where his inactivity or his turning of sides might actually be hurtful.
What is there to gain in not honoring his opinion?
Come on; it's the 21st century.
Rik Meleet said:Why on earth is it so hard to honor his beliefs,...
accepts an appointment in the same or another on of the armed forces without fully disclosing the fact that he has not been regularly separated
.or enters any foreign armed service..
A'AbarachAmadan said:Because when you volunteer to be a Soldier you don't get to pick and choose your jobs. It is certainly not fair to the Soldier who will have to replace him or the unit that will be left short a leader.
The right answer is, of course, to "Do a Jimi".Sidhe said:You should always be able to follow your conscience, even if it's misguided, legality and morallity aren't always such good bed fellows. As always though he's making the case that the war is illegal and therefore he can legaly refuse to fight.
By right I mean the basic human right. Not necessarily a military legal right, of course I wouldn't claim he should recieve punishment if I believed he was militarilly justified.
Zamecnik said:True enough, but don't we always admire that soldier who refuses immoral orders? Is it so hard to believe that this soldier might feel the same way about this particular war?