Aug 13 2009
One More US Soldier Refuses to Fight Afghan War
An infusion of thousands of additional ground troops into Southern Afghanistan this July has resulted in the US experiencing its bloodiest month since the start of the war in 2001. General Stanley McChrystal who heads up the US military effort warned earlier this week that the Taliban was winning. It seems likely that the surge in troops and the news of a strengthening Taliban will lead to greater numbers of US troops refusing to serve in Afghanistan as they did in the Iraq war. Victor Agosto, the 24 year old US soldier from Fort Hood, Texas, who refused deployment to Afghanistan is now serving a one-month jail term and has been demoted to a Private by a military court. We spoke with Agosto this past May after he first announced his intention to refuse service in Afghanistan. Agosto spent 13 months in Iraq as a computer specialist. When he returned to the US he was stop-lossed and required to report for a tour of duty in Afghanistan. Now, another soldier from Fort Hood, Sgt. Travis Bishop, is facing Court Martial this Friday for also refusing to serve in Afghanistan. Bishop served 14 months in Baghdad with the 3rd Signal Brigade.
Independent journalist and writer Dahr Jamail has been following the stories of Victor Agosto and Travis Bishop in Texas.
GUEST: Dahr Jamail, author of the Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan
Read Dahr Jamail’s article here: http://www.truthout.org/081209A.
2 Responses to “One More US Soldier Refuses to Fight Afghan War”
I wouldn’t push that lenient a sentence as being typical. By the way, how can the U.S. be “losing?”
Well, it takes a tremendous effort to take over a country like Afghanistan. We are given to wars that are profit-effective. Afghanistan is no threat; Mexico is no threat; a military that can’t protect the Pentagon….You decide what’s a threat.
Just as long as you’re not against war in general, you’ll do all right.