Politics Civil Disobedience or Betrayal?

[Ophelia]

I couldn't make it to Washington for the anti-war rally yesterday, but I did go to one here. One of the speakers was a Viet Nam vet and anti-war activist by the name of Carl Rising-Moore. He basically breaks federal law by helping AWOL soldiers who do not want to go back to Iraq to escape to Canada. Some are so distressed they are suicidal. Here are a couple of articles about him from an wonderful alternative weekly newsapaper around here called NUVO:

http://www.nuvo.net/archive/2003/11/05/a_n...d_railroad.html

http://www.nuvo.net/archive/2004/09/08/blu...or_protest.html

If you google his name, you'll find other articles as well.

Is he doing the right thing? Or is he betraying his country? What do you think?

 

[Jamison]

Eh...this is a toughie.

On one hand I can certainly see that what he's doing is good. These men face things that we can't even imagine. And many do end up depressed and/or suicidal. Some even commit suicide and murder because of their depression once they return home.

On the other hand, there have been instances of soliders going AWOL who have later popped up in terror networks. I'd hate to think that he's helping these guys escape, only to later find out that they ended up working for some terror organization.

Honestly, I think his heart is in the right place...but I don't know if it's the best solution. A better one would be more regular screenings of military personale to determine if they are depressed/suicidal, and then if determining that they are take the proper steps into sending them back home or to a clinic and having them seek treatment.

 

[the_alliance]

i think that if people dont want to be in the army anymore, they shouldn't be forced to. as for the terrorist thing, i think that it just shows how focused we are on immediate results rather than eliminating the problem. we shouldn't just discharge people without giving them psychiatric help. war is not pretty.

 

[xdancer]

this is a tough issue. on the one hand, i sympathize with the soldiers who don't want to go back to Iraq. i mean, god knows i would never want to go over there, but on the other hand, this is what thye signed up for, and the military has to maintain some sort of discipline if they want to remain strong. plus, i would think, that if a soldier was suicidal, the military would discharge him or her for psychological reasons. anyway, i really don't know what i think about this, but it is something to think about.