Xera

Anyone who works close with death dehumanizes the people they see die. I personally, would be far more concerned about the person that can sit there and really consider the humanity of the person they are killing; or watching die, that can still do the job well, than I am the guy that MUST see the person he kills or watches die as just a duty of the job. Anyone that can really consider the implications of death, and can still do the job well, has something seriously wrong with them.

When civilians join the military they can then request the option of being considered "conscientious objectors" this would allow them, in some cases, to work in clerical or other non combatant positions. In times of drafts this has not allowed anyone to legally refuse to report, it has however allowed SOME to not fight. This is done when possible, but possible when talking about the government is a transient term. It does not always happen.

If a soldier were to refuse to go to Iraq after receiving the orders to go, s/he would likely go to jail. It is considered being AWOL. It is against the law to fail to report to the base/unit you are assigned to.

You can NOT refuse to follow a legal order. In much the same way that you might expect very bad things to happen to you if you refuse to follow a legal order given by a police officer, soldiers can NOT refuse to follow a legal order.

Some things are easy to see as being illegal, killing children, burning down civilian houses, raping women, etc. But, if the CO can later prove that there was in fact LEGAL reason for the order, the soldier that refused to follow will STILL be punished.

I've never been in the military. I was set to join right out of high school, but then I got pregnant instead. My ex was a soldier and we decided it would not be in the baby’s best interest for both of us to be in the military. They try, but sometimes married couples get sent to different bases. So I have not been in the military, but I have been closely associated with it.

While in Germany with my ex husband I once told his CO that I did not like something that he had said to me. I said it, my then husband did not, and he was still in trouble because he was failing to "control his wife."

Where the military is concerned, the UCMJ is more than sacred. It is the absolute of life. As much as I fought against it when it was ruling my life, it is necessary.

As for the idea that doing more than wishing our troops well is a waste of time, I would much rather waste my time doing what little I can than sit and do nothing to change conditions. I would much rather be accused of being ineffective than of being apathetic.

PS. I apologize for my last post. I got up and forgot I had already copied over my post. Sometimes I can't spell, and sometimes when I feel strongly on an issue I got to going so fast that I make many more typos than is at all acceptable, so I run everything trough a spell checker before posting, and still manage to screw up pretty well.

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~~^~<@Xera @>~^~~