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On July 5, 2006, the Army brought three charges against an officer who refused to deploy to Iraq because he believes the war is illegal, according to officials at Fort Lewis, Wash. First Lt. Ehren Watada, of 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, at Fort Lewis was charged with missing movement, contempt toward officials and conduct unbecoming an officer. His unit deployed to Iraq on June 22. He has since been reassigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, I Corps. Eric Seitz, Watada’s attorney, said he’s not surprised that his client was charged with missing movement. The other two charges were unexpected,...

A Fort Lewis-based officer who declared that he would not accompany his unit to Iraq followed his promise this morning. Lt. Ehren Watada was not present when his battalion, part of the 3rd Brigade 2nd Infantry Division, gathered at 5:13 a.m. Instead, Watada remained within his headquarters building. Watada, who joined the Army in 2003, said he came believe the Iraq war was illegal and immoral, and he had a duty not to follow orders. No charges against Watada will be filed until the commander has had a chance to review all of the facts of the case and consult...

SEATTLE (AP) -- An Army lieutenant in Washington state is expected to go public Wednesday with his refusal to deploy to Iraq. Attorney Eric Seitz tells Seattle's K-O-M-O Radio that Lieutenant Ehren Watada (wah-TAH'-dah) opposes the war and first asked to be re-assigned and also asked to be allowed to resign his commission. Seitz says after both requests were denied, Watada told his superiors he wouldn't go to Iraq. Two anti-war groups say the soldier will announce his refusal at a news conference in Tacoma. A Fort Lewis spokeswoman had no comment.

John Murtha served his country well during the Vietnam era but today in the War on Terror John Murtha is AWOL.

ABU GHRAIB, Iraq -- U.S. and Iraqi commanders are increasingly critical of a policy that lets Iraqi soldiers leave their units virtually at will - essentially deserting with no punishment. They blame the lax rule for draining the Iraqi ranks to confront the insurgency - in some cases by 30 percent or even half. Iraqi officials, however, say they have no choice but to allow the policy, or they may gain virtually no volunteers.

Since third parties, specifically the Constitution Party, have become an issue Constitution Party on ImmigrationConstitution Party gains strength, could hurt Republicans I thought it might be helpful to look at issues other than immigration. The entire platform is in post 1, since there are issues other than the WOT and immigration. Terrorism and Personal Liberty America is engaged in an undeclared war with an ill-defined enemy (terrorism), a war which threatens to be never ending, and which is being used to vastly expand government power, particularly that of the executive branch, at the expense of the individual liberties of the...

The drink arrives, not in a glass, but in a puff of alcohol-laden vapor. Imbibers sit beside each other on bar stools, breathing deeply from plastic devices that resemble giant asthma inhalers. Even though the futuristic Alcohol Without Liquid machines have apparently not arrived in Massachusetts, some legislators and law enforcement officials are so fearful of their potency that the House will hear testimony today on a bill banning the machines, which are popular in Europe. Promoters say the devices deliver low-calorie, low-carb, hangover-free doses of booze.

Katherine Jashinski Statement read near Fort Benning gate November 17, 2005 My name is Katherine Jashinski. I am a SPC in the Texas Army National Guard. I was born in Milwaukee, WI and I am 22 years old. When I graduated high school I moved to Austin, TX to attend college. At age 19 I enlisted in the Guard as a cook because I wanted to experience military life. When I enlisted I believed that killing was immoral, but also that war was an inevitable part of life and therefore, an exception to the rule. After enlisting I began the...

The cost of the war can't be calculated in rising gas prices or soaring national debt. The real toll is being brought back from the Middle East by a generation of soldiers whose neglect is becoming a national shame -By Kathy Dobie - As I write this, it's a sunny summer day in America, the third summer of war, and one year, one month, and two days since Jeff Lucey, a Marine reservist came home from Iraq with a big smile on his face, hanged himself in his parents' basement.

I was listening to John Batchelor Show last evening(9/28/05) and a guest mentioned that he is hearing rumors that the 250 policemen that allegedly deserted from NO PD will never be prosecuted because they did not exist, and that is why police chief quit. Has anyone heard any rumors and do you have any links to them? By the way, John Batchelor Show is the most inciteful and entertaining show on the air today. It is streamed by radio station WMAL in D.C.

Ever notice when the going gets tough those that shout loudest during smooth sailing run for cover during the storm only to appear later to tell us what we did wrong...come on...now is the time for constuctive leadership NOT after the fact.

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The Iraq Army continues to be plagued by absenteeism and equipment shortages, but at a far lower level than that during 2004. A U.S. Defense Department report said Iraqi military and security forces have achieved significant progress over the last year. The report said this has included the easing of equipment shortages and absenteeism. "Although there is variance in the rate of absenteeism, AWOL [Absent-without-leave], attrition, and desertion among the Iraqi Army, rates have diminished significantly and are now around one percent for some divisions," the report said. "Still, unitsthat are conducting operations and units that relocate...

A recent high school graduate who alleged that she was recruited into the National Guard through deceptive practices did not appear for her entry training Wednesday and now is considered absent without leave, officials said. Faustner's mother, Joan Koberly, said her daughter had been attending the monthly drill weekends at the Allentown National Guard Armory but stopped in April on the advice of her lawyer, John Roberts. Roberts said Thursday that a recruiter had told Faustner that the Army National Guard would send her to nursing school after basic training, but instead her unit had been told it had a...

Kerry bolts D.C. and misses Bolton vote By Noelle Straub Thursday, June 23, 2005 - Updated: 10:38 AM EST WASHINGTON - Sen. John F. Kerry has been an outspoken critic of John Bolton's nomination as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, but the senator skipped a roll-call vote on the appointment Monday as he took a two-day leave from his Washington duties. Kerry missed four roll-call votes altogether on Monday and Tuesday, including one on an energy amendment he co-sponsored. Kerry spokesman David Wade refused to divulge where the Bay State senator had been, characterizing his absence only as a...

The Marine Corps' second-most wanted deserter was arrested Thursday in Chicago by the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force. Larry Patten, who was known as Lawrence Raggs after moving to the Chicago area, had been sentenced to confinement before escaping from Camp Pendleton, Calif., in 1988. He had been demoted and found guilty of bad conduct, a U.S. Marshals Service news release said. ... Through interviews and photos, local task force investigators confirmed that Patten and Raggs were the same person before making the arrest while Patten walked his dog Thursday morning, she said. ...

Drudge posted a link to an article from "The Independance" PAPER: AWOL crisis hits the U.S. forces... . Could not reference it here at Free Republic due to some dumb copywrite limits or something so referring to the Drudge reference. Well maybe I am reading more into this, it is about US Soldiers going AWOL, but the usual left wing idiots who join to make trouble, but noticed there are people mostly in this article with Jewish names, thought maybe this was another left wing attempt to pain all Jewish people with one leftwing brush as hating the military and...

FORT RUCKER, Ala. — An Army chaplain testified Tuesday that a former National Guard soldier from New Jersey who accused a fellow officer of raping her was viewed as "untruthful" by military colleagues. Maj. William Cruz also said he counseled the soldier charged with rape, 1st Lt. Mike Hall, and found him trustworthy. "He was truthful to a fault," said Cruz. The testimony by Cruz came in the court-martial of Hall, 35, of Nashville, Tenn. Former 1st Lt. Jennifer Dyer, 26, has alleged that Hall raped her twice in her barracks room after an evening at the officers club at...

John Kerry actually showed up for work That John Kerry actually showed up on the Senate floor today is news in and of itself. But what's really the point here is what he said (transcribed and posted on Hugh Hewitt's blog) -- "Forces outside the mainstream now seem to effortlessly push Republican leaders toward conduct that the American people really don't want in their elected leaders, inserting the government into our private lives, injecting religion into debates about public policy where it doesn't apply. Jumping through hoops to ingratiate themselves to their party's base while step-by-step and day-by-day real problems...

Canada should grant special protection to U.S. soldiers who desert from the war in Iraq, even if they do not qualify as refugees, U.S. activists said on Thursday. A Canadian refugee tribunal rejected the asylum claim of U.S. infantryman Jeremy Hinzman last month, dealing a blow to several other soldiers who have fled north of the border. The activists met with Canadian parliamentarians in Ottawa to ask that the soldiers be given legal status. Tom Hayden, a former 1960s antiwar leader, said that if the deserters are not allowed to stay legally they could potentially be extradited back to the...

ITHACA NY--The first soldier jailed for not returning to fight in Iraq discussed his struggle to participate in a war he did not believe in yesterday. Camilo Mejia spoke out against serving in a war he calls "a corporate war for oil." Mejia said it is extremely difficult for soldiers to say they disagree with war on moral grounds, as this is perceived as unpatriotic. "No one wants to make the unpopular decision and say 'This is not a good war'," he said. "Out of fear of challenging U.S. leadership, people just go along." A soldier's sense of right and...

New rule puts brakes on spending By W. Gardner Selby AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Tuesday, April 19, 2005 The Texas Democratic Party spent $400,000 more than it raised last year and has around $40,000 in the bank, leading party leaders to put a leash on future spending. "Kind of like living paycheck to paycheck," said Latrice Sellers of Corpus Christi, a member of the finance committee of the State Democratic Executive Committee. Party Chairman Charles Soechting of San Marcos told party leaders at a meeting Saturday that upcoming events will swell coffers. He's previously said that a fund-raising specialist will help raise...

George McGovern wrote an article entitled “Patriotism is Nonpartisan” in the current issue of Nation magazine. In it McGovern says, “There is a notion abroad in American politics, carefully crafted by its proponents, that is both disturbing and false…The notion is that my party, and especially its standard-bearer of '72, are not interested in the defense and security of America. Nor, according to this notion, do we care about marriage and the family, the sacredness of human life and the things of the spirit. Perhaps my views are outdated, but I have always assumed that every American cares about these...

Sen. Joseph Lieberman owes the people of Connecticut $38,828.23 for playing hooky while running for the Democratic presidential nomination. His is among the highest tabs rung up by senators and representatives as they pursued higher office during the 2004 election cycle, according to a study by the National Taxpayers Union. In all, 25 members took $550,000 in salary under false pretenses, missing an aggregate 891 days of work while on the campaign trail. Under federal law, congressional administrators are required to "deduct from the monthly payments (or other periodic payments authorized by law) of each Member or Delegate the amount...

Distilled Spirits Council Urges Ban of Alcohol Vapor Devices; Senate Committee on Regulated Industries Hears Bill Today Mon Mar 21,12:48 PM ET To: State Desk Contact: Sarah Rosen of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, 202-682-8840; Web: http://www.distilledspirits.org WASHINGTON, March 21, /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Distilled Spirits Council today urged swift passage of legislation introduced in Florida banning "alcohol without liquid" (AWOL) devices that allow consumers to inhale alcohol by mixing alcohol with pure oxygen. The bill, SB 794, sponsored by Senator Mike Haridopolos, would prohibit the sale or use of these devices and make its sale a...

The coming economic crisis. Unemployment. Health care for the poor. The almost 1,500 dead soldiers. The almost 100,000 dead Iraqis. Armstrong Williams and Maggie Gallagher. The Christian Conservative takeover of our nation. The missing 9 billion. The missing weapons of mass destruction. The impending invasion of Iran, and Syria. The total failure to protect us on 9-11.

This may be a repost but an important one.Alexandria, VA) – Even though President Bush took the oath of office last week, taxpayers still have one piece of unfinished business from the election: some federal lawmakers – including many seeking higher office – received thousands of dollars in salary overpayments for being away from their jobs during 2003 and 2004. According to a study released today by the 350,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU), an obscure federal statute still on the books requires Congressional absentees to forfeit their pay unless they or a family member are ill; but leaders have failed...

BOSTON, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- The National Taxpayers Union wants former Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry, D-Mass., to return $91,000 in Senate pay for days he missed votes. Citing an obscure law, NTU, a taxpayers' watchdog organization, said Kerry's pay should be docked for the 146 days of Senate votes missed between January 2003 and October 2004 while he was campaigning for president. While Kerry's absentees are above the normal level, they are typical of lawmakers running for elections. It is not unusual for lawmakers in both the House and Senate to miss votes. Kerry tops a list of...

WASHINGTON - A conservative watchdog group, upset that Sen. John F. Kerry [related, bio] kept his day job while running for president, wants him to return $91,000 in pay for days he missed votes.      Citing an obscure but still valid law, the National Taxpayers Union said Kerry should be docked pay for 146 days of Senate votes missed between January 2003 and October 2004.      Kerry tops a list of 25 senators and congressmen of both parties, most of whom were running for higher office or in tough re-election bids, listed as having missed more than 10 voting days in Congress...

AWOL sailor found in countyBy CALVIN ADKINS, STAFF WRITER A Norfolk Naval Base sailor's faking of his own kidnapping turned sour Friday after he was found in Edgecombe County. James Wesley Courter, 37, of Emporia, Va., allegedly set his car on fire in Macclesfield on Friday and was found lying in a ditch less than a mile away. Courter was taken to Heritage Hospital in Tarboro for observation. While there, a spokesman from Norfolk Naval Base told the Edgecombe County Sheriff''s Department that Courter was absent without leave, Knight said. "Courter called his wife (in Goldsboro) Jan. 16 and told...

A Marine engaged in his own private little war with two other Marines on Interstate 64 early yesterday, allegedly shooting an assault rifle at them in a high-speed case of road rage, authorities said. Later in the day, authorities discovered the victim and his companion, both military police, were absent without leave from their base at Quantico, Va. "A guy at the base said they've been gone for two weeks," Clark County Sheriff Ray Caudill said. Abraham Cerpa, 20, his wife, Catherine, and her 5- and 6-year-old children were en route from Camp Lejeune, N.C., to Chicago when the trouble...

Alleged US deserter Hassoun may be in Lebanon US Marine Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun, charged with desertion in a mysterious case in which he left his unit in Iraq and turned up in Lebanon, has again gone absent and appears to have returned to Lebanon.The US military has tracked records from bank machines indicating that Hassoun made his way to Canada and then back to Lebanon, the country of his birth, said a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity.The Marine Corps formally declared him a deserter on Wednesday.Major Matt Morgan, a Marine Corps spokesman at Camp Lejeune, said Hassoun...

As 2005 got underway and John Kerry missed yet another Senate vote, clear indications that he lacked the sensibility to be President of the United States of America also became quite apparent. Kerry missed the Senate vote since he is on a two week trip to the Middle East, in part because he holds a seat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Certainly it is also clear to me that the media coverage such a trip would offer him is vital for his ability to stay in the public spotlight and seem relevant. Unfortunately for the Senator, he chose to...

Breaking

Brethren Agree to Revive 'Alternative Service' Draft Programs By Kevin Eckstrom Religion News Service Leaders of the Church of the Brethren say they will follow through on a request from the Selective Service to have "alternative service" programs in place for conscientious objectors if a draft is reinstated. As one of the historic "peace churches" that shun military service, Brethren officials were "cautious" after an unannounced visit by a draft official to a church center in Maryland last October. Officials were worried that the visit signaled that a draft may be at hand. In follow-up meetings, draft officials urged the...

An Army reservist who checked himself into a civilian psychiatric hospital after being turned away from a military clinic should be court-martialed for being absent without leave, according to an Army report. First Lt. Jullian P. Goodrum, of Knoxville, Tenn., is a veteran of both U.S. wars in Iraq and is being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Goodrum was also suffering from the disorder last fall, the time of his alleged infraction. "Lt. Goodrum has been diagnosed with PTSD, though this should not be reason to not pursue court martial action," states the report...

The owner of Nonviolence.org, Martin Kelley, said he got an interesting phone call yesterday from a CBS News publicist for--you guessed it--Dan Rather's "60 Minutes Wednesday", the same program that carried the infamous bogus memos. "Yesterday I got a call from a publicist for CBS News's 60 Minutes. They're running a story tonight on 'Deserters,' U.S. military personnel who have fled to Canada rather than serve in Iraq. She was requesting that I talk up the program on Nonviolence. In nine years of publishing the peace site, I can't remember ever getting a call from a publicist before. I've talked...

Fugitive U.S. soldier Jeremy Hinzman is an unrepentant embarrassment to his country of birth. Last year, he deserted from the 82nd Airborne Division, fled to Canada and became the anti-war movement's sexiest man alive. Now, in a desperate bid for refugee status, this AWOL poster boy is collectively smearing our brave men and women in Iraq as war criminals to save his hide. Do our neighbors to the north really want to become a paradise for America's cut-and-run reprobates? Apparently so. At Hinzman's refugee hearing on Monday, the National Post reports, “demonstrators braved the morning snow and icy winds to...

Pablo Paredes is the Petty Officer 3rd Class who refused to board his Navy ship yesterday when it sailed for Iraq ... Tony is on him! Listen to the interview online!

Colorado peace-niks have found a new hero. The featured speaker this weekend will be Abdul Henderson, the Marine who appeared in Michael Moore's movie Fahrenheit 9/11, saying that he would not return to Iraq if ordered to do so.

United Press International November 19, 2004 WASHINGTON - The U.S. Marines have reopened their investigation in Cpl. Wassef Hassoun, who went missing in June in Fallujah and turned up in Lebanon, CNN reports. The move was sparked when troops recently discovered several of his personal items, including his passport, military ID and uniform in Fallujah. Hassoun vanished June 20 and was listed as a deserter. His status was changed to captured after the release of a videotape that showed him blindfolded with a sword suspended over his head. A few days later, a posting to three Islamist Web sites claimed...

The Army still wants 1st Lt. Jennifer Dyer to return to the military, but now it says it's willing to let her go to a base closer to her New Jersey home. The service has dropped its demand that she return to Camp Shelby, Miss., where she says she was raped by a fellow officer who remains on duty at the base. "The Army understands that 1st Lt. Dyer may feel threatened by her alleged assailant, so she does not have to return to Camp Shelby, Mississippi, at this time," the First U.S. Army's public affairs office said in a...

Alieutenant in the New Jersey Army National Guard who refused to return to a base in Mississippi where she said she had been raped does not have to report back to that camp, the Army said in a statement provided yesterday. Instead, the lieutenant, Jennifer Dyer, 26, a member of the 250th Signal Battalion, can report to any other military installation, the Army said. Lieutenant Dyer failed to report back to Camp Shelby, in Hattiesburg, Miss., two months ago after a two-week leave following the rape allegation. The lieutenant, whose unit had been training at the camp for deployment to...

CHERRY HILL, N.J. (AP) - A lieutenant in the New Jersey National Guard - sent home after she was allegedly raped on a Mississippi base - has been declared absent without leave in an attempt to force her to return to her old unit, her lawyer charged. Attorney Frederick Klepp said the Army has not responded to his proposal that the lieutenant be allowed to report to a New Jersey base to avoid prosecution. She would then begin the process of leaving the Guard, Klepp said. The woman told The Oregonian newspaper she met the alleged attacker Aug. 8 at...

What ever happened to the investigation on John Kerry's pay while he was ABSENT from the Senate???

Missed 38 of 49 public hearings in 8 years WASHINGTON – Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry missed most of the public hearings of the Senate Intelligence Committee during his eight years on the panel, according to his colleagues. During his tenure on the committee, which provides oversight of national intelligence agencies, Kerry was absent for 38 of 49 public hearings, according to Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga. "There's been a total avoidance of discussion of the voting record of John Kerry," said Chambliss last week, following Kerry's acceptance of the Democratic presidential nomination. "But that's not surprising. There's one area that...

I’ve had this question for quite a while. I remember when Bob Dole was running for the Presidency, the mainstream media harangued him about maintaining his seat in the Senate. “If you’re really serious about running for President, why don’t you prove it,” was the media meme. Eventually, and boldly, Dole did just that.Why haven’t I heard even ONE call for Kerry to follow suit? If he really believed he could win, this “burning the boats” action would enthuse his base and impress a few independents – might earn him an extra 1%.What are your theories on this? What is...

The Federal government is challenging an American soldier's bid for refugee status in Canada. A government official confirmed the feds will oppose arefugee application from Jeremy Hinzman because he "does not fit the criterion for status refugees." Refugee cases are heard by an independent tribunal and the federal government intervenes in hearings only when there's a novel legal argument or high public profile. Jeffry House, a Toronto lawyer representing three U.S. military deserters under the watchful eye of the U.S., said the Immigration and Refugee Board is expected to rule within weeks on whether his clients can base their claim...

<p>Wednesday night, John Kerry launched — to use President Bush's words — a "litany of complaints" against his opponent, alleging that the administration has failed in every way possible.</p>

If one goes to the http://www.senate.gov site, and looks at the Roll Call votes in the Senate, it is very difficult to: 1. Find when both Kerry and Edwards both voted on the same thing (not necessarily the same way). 2. Find when Kerry last voted. 3. Find when Edwards last voted. The Senate and House both had special sessions on the weekend, but if one goes further back, I really can not tell if it is 30 votes ago, 40 votes ago, or even 50 votes ago, in terms of answers to the (1), (2), and (3). VP Cheney...

Monday, October 11, 2004 Out Of Energy   OUT OF ENERGYKerry's Energy PlanIndependent Of Reality______________________________________________________KERRY'S OWN ADVISERS SCOFF AT KERRY'S IDEAS ON ENERGY INDEPENDENCEKerry Energy Advisers Believe Kerry's Energy Plan Is "Unrealistic And Misleading."  "The idea of a United States independent of Middle East oil is a touchstone of Senator John Kerry's campaign and a huge crowd pleaser, but has divided and exasperated many of his most experienced energy advisers.  Some advisers say they worry that Mr. Kerry's focus on freeing the United States from reliance on oil from the Persian Gulf, the linchpin of the energy plan he released...