Posted on 03/31/2003 7:53:59 AM PST by areafiftyone
Two British soldiers have been sent home from the Gulf for refusing to fight in a war involving the deaths of civilians, according to a solicitor who advises troops.
Justin Hugheston-Roberts says the soldiers from 16 Air Assault Brigade, based in Colchester, Essex, told their commanding officers they would not take part in the military action.
Mr Hugheston-Roberts, chairman of Forces Law, said they could be thrown out of the Army or have to face a court martial. It is understood they are a private and an air technician.
Mr Hugheston-Roberts said his organisation, which links service personnel with specialist solicitors across the country, had been approached by a number of people serving in the current conflict.
He said: "We had a number of enquiries from services personnel saying we want to leave now. I am acting for a client who was returned from theatre a matter of a couple of weeks ago.
"In previous conflicts we have had all personnel from all aspects of the military contact the network and find out how they can get out of the services. Normally this is just prior to the conflict."
He said he could not comment further on his client who has been returned from the Gulf, but said the case was "completely dissimilar" to that of the two soldiers.
A spokeswoman from the Ministry of Defence said: "We have no evidence that anybody has been sent back for refusing to fight.
"We do get soldiers sent back all the time from theatre for various reasons such as medical, welfare and disciplinary things that need to be dealt with back in the units."
Personnel serving in the Gulf from 16 Air Assault Brigade include 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, 216 Signal Squadron and 16 Close Support Medical Regiment.
No choice here. If these yellow-belly poofs aren't court martialed, there will be a virtual chain reaction of copycats.
They'd like nothing better than to be "thrown out of the army".
Leni
How these cowards can't see how important this is for these poor people, leave them and scurry away is mind boggling.
Thank God these pukes represent a SMALL percentage of the brave British troops.(who have been AWSOME!) I'm sure there are cowards in our military also. We'll probably be hearing from them soon.
...Iraqi soldiers are using mosques, day-care centers and neighborhoods for cover. They have commandeered human shields to protect themselves, marching them toward British troops, then firing from behind them before retreating, according to a British spokesman. ...
Are soldiers supposed to be prepared to fight animals like this? I pray for them, the soldiers, that is.
I don't know if it is, but it sounds like it could be a line from a Monty Python sketch. I can just see John Cleese delivering it.
And very apropos.
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