Op-ed submission to my local paper, The Leader Telegram. They never published it...
In Saturday’s paper you ran an AP article saying that Army Reserve member Kristoffer Walker who went AWOL had “received his punishment” as though he was due punishment for following his conscience. This train of thought leads to people blindly following orders which we learned from the Nuremberg trials is not how military personnel should act. His punishment shows that the U.S. military condemns the act of not blindly following orders which is wrong. After his superiors failed to advance his request for a transfer out of Iraq, Kristoffer made the difficult choice to follow his conscience.
By doing so, Kristoffer showed that he had considered the actions he would be taking by redeploying in support an illegal and immoral war of aggression which has been condemned by just war theory. His act of conscience was not the first and will not be the last as the U.S. seems committed to occupy Iraq and deny the Iraqi people self-determination until 2012 if not longer. Kristoffer joins a group of military members and veterans who say that we must act as our conscience directs and not blindly commit acts.
As a former military member, whose conscience was deeply troubled when the invasion and occupation of Iraq began near the end of my military service, I support Kristoffer and others like Matthis Chiroux. When I was in the military there were no public refusals to deploy and I felt alone to be contemplating such issues. Kristoffer is not alone today as there are thousands who have gone AWOL, deserted, or otherwise followed their conscience in opposition to this illegal occupation. In support of Matthis, I am attending his court martial for refusing an Inactive Ready Reserve call-up from the Army last year in St. Louis on Tuesday and I urge others to support our military members who are strong enough to follow their conscience.
Todd E. Dennis
U.S. Navy 1997-2003
Eleva, WI
One month after it was submitted, the Leader Telegram published my op-ed with edits...
ReplyDeleteSupport resisters
Leader Telegram
Updated: 5/19/2009 5:12:02 PM
An April 18 Associated Press article said Army Reserve member Kristoffer Walker, who went AWOL, had "received his punishment," as though he was due punishment for following his conscience. This train of thought leads to people blindly following orders, which we learned from the Nuremberg Trials is not how military personnel should act. His punishment shows that the U.S. military condemns those who don't blindly follow orders, which is wrong. After his superiors failed to advance his request for a transfer out of Iraq, Kristoffer made the difficult choice to follow his conscience.
By doing so, Kristoffer showed he had considered the actions he would be taking by redeploying in support of an illegal and immoral war of aggression, which has been condemned by "just war" theory. His act of conscience was not the first and will not be the last as the U.S. seems committed to occupy Iraq and deny the Iraqi people self-determination until 2012, if not longer. Kristoffer joins a group of military members and veterans who say we must act as our consciences direct.
As a former military member whose conscience was deeply troubled when the invasion and occupation of Iraq began near the end of my service, I support Kristoffer and others such as Matthis Chiroux. When I was in the military there were no public refusals to deploy, and I felt alone to be contemplating such issues. Kristoffer is not alone today, as there are thousands who have gone AWOL, deserted or otherwise followed their conscience in opposition to this illegal occupation. I urge others to support our military members who are strong enough to follow their consciences.
TODD E. DENNIS
U.S. Navy 1997-2003
Eleva