Resisting the illegal occupation of Iraq from the inside

author : Janet Blanding topic : Conscientious Objection | Iraq occupation | Military Recruiters

by Janet Blanding

War resisters Agustín Aguayo, Seth Manzel, and Aguayo's wife Helga spoke recently to a group of local peace activists gathered at Traditions Café on July 17. In defiance of the unspoken army policy of remaining silent after returning from war, they are speaking out about the injustices they have witnessed. Again and again the same themes emerged: a pattern of wartime abuses of civilians, tolerated and covered up by the military; deception and false promises used by recruiters to entice young people to enlist, followed by coercion and manipulation of enlisted men and women in order to retain personnel.

"Why keep a solider who's a malcontent?" asked Seth Manzel, recently returned from Iraq, as he shared his experiences with a capacity crowd at Traditions Café on July 18. According to Manzel, it's all about the numbers. Commanders are not measured by the cohesiveness of their unit, he explained. Instead, personnel stats are all-important; too many discharges look bad, and retention is becoming increasingly important for the army in these days of dwindling military recruitment.

As a consequence, conscientious objector (c.o.) claims are disregarded, as well as medical problems, drug use, and domestic violence problems. Army personnel trained as medics are forced to serve roles they shouldn't: Agustín Aguayo, as a medic, was put on guard duty for 12 months. Another medic he knew died checking a car bomb with his platoon leader. Yet another medic Aguayo knew was forced to serve as a gunner.

"You're going to be automatically disliked"

Aguayo applied for conscientious objector status but his application was denied by the military. When he originally applied for c.o. status, his sergeant told him that doing so would make his life harder. "He told me 'You're going to be automatically disliked,' and offered to let me throw away the paperwork." After taking his case to court, a judge who had been appointed during the first Bush regime, declared that because Aguayo wasn't religious, he couldn't be a conscientious objector -- in essence, if you're not involved with an organized religion, you're not entitled to moral values. This ruling disregarded precedents set during the American war in Vietnam, when agnostics and atheists were able to obtain conscientious objector status.

Helga Aguayo, Agustín Aguayo's wife, has been a tireless crusader for not only her husband's right to resist, but for war resisters and the peace movement in general. She explained how the army does everything within its power to brainwash not only soldiers, but their families as well. First, they seduce young men and women to enlist with promises that are rarely delivered. Once in, considerable effort is expended to retain soldiers, and that effort includes pressuring families. "The minute Augie joined the military," she said, "we literally lost our freedom and our identity because the military controlled every aspect of our lives."

As a military wife, she would receive letters from the army, exhorting her to encourage her soldier to stick with the program. "They usually send letters to mothers because most of the soldiers are really young," she said. "Now that you can enlist up to age 37, maybe they're sending more letters to wives." The letters would instruct family members to encourage the soldier to "be very proud," and to assure him or her that "you're doing the right thing."

Military brainwashing

The letters weren't the only way the military tried to manipulate military families; when the Aguayo family was stationed in Germany, pro-military messages were part of the soldiers' children's education at the army school. The army also controlled what military families saw on television, showing English-language programs on a channel that played only military commercials. Helga Aguayo reports that these commercials promote "military pride." Promoting pride involves showing video and film footage of previous wars, including films of bombers attacking cities. The military pride commercials are expensively produced, reported Helga, with powerful imagery as well as catchy songs and jingles.

Some of the more sinister military commercials seen frequently by families watching army-controlled television warn against going awol, and speaking against the war. One memorable anti-awol commercial warned that being absent without leave was punishable by death, with the word "death" posted on the screen in big black letters.

Other commercials attempt to entice army personnel to re-enlist. "They show all these commercials about services that they supposedly offer," said Helga Aguayo, "but they don't really exist when you try to get them." For example, Agustín Aguayo, who wears glasses, took notice when the army advertised that lasik eye surgery was available for military personnel. When Aguayo went to the clinic, however, he was told that since he had only one year remaining on his contract, he was ineligible for the surgery. Clinic personnel directed him to the re-enlistment office. "Everything they offer," explained Helga, "they don't tell you the details until you actually go and ask about it. Then they say you have to 're-up' before you can get it."

"Moral waivers"

As the popularity of the illegal occupation of Iraq diminishes, the military is working harder to recruit -- anyone. According to a recently published article in the Boston Globe, one out of every 8 soldiers who enlisted in the US army during 2007 received a "moral waiver," forgiveness for misdemeanor or felony charges that would previously have prohibited them from joining up. As Seth Manzel pointed out, typically after a domestic violation conviction, an individual is no longer allowed to purchase a firearm. In the army, however, former violent criminals are issued guns and set loose on the innocent civilian population of Iraq.

Agustín Aguayo, told the crowd at Traditions that the spirit of the US military in Iraq is becoming increasingly lawless, and people are looking the other way as soldiers steal items from Iraqi homes they are supposedly "securing," as well as abusing and harassing children and other noncombatants. He described an incident he observed in which soldiers offered a thirsty group of children a bottle of liquid to drink -- it was urine. After the soldiers had a chuckle over this, the commanding officer told the men that what happened would not be "leaving this vehicle."

"People are looking the other way when inappropriate things occur," said Agustín Aguayo. "There is a pattern of covering up by the powers that be that sends the message that it's okay to hurt these people."

Seth Manzel reported that during his recent tour of duty in Iraq, he came in contact with soldiers who were unstable, including former criminals and drug users who are retained by the army, given firearms, and not unsurprisingly, according to Manzel "often acted out violently." Manzel added that Iraq has become such a dismal place for soldiers that "even the most hawkish are counting the days until they can get out." He described how many soldiers, without resisting the occupation overtly, are no longer participating fully, relating that when his unit was supposed to go on patrol, they would sometimes "just go sit somewhere."

"Pissing hot"

Helga Aguayo, in a phone interview, revealed that not only is it becoming increasingly difficult to obtain c.o. status, the army is also refusing to discharge soldiers with medical, mental health, and drug problems. One soldier acquainted with the Aguayos also applied for conscientious objector status and, like Aguayo, was turned down. Desperate to avoid being returned to Iraq, this soldier deliberately used drugs in order to "piss hot," to fail a scheduled drug test. Helga Aguayo says that the first time he failed a drug test, he was merely warned, and the test results were not even recorded. Discharging soldiers for drug abuse is at the army's discretion; this particular man was not discharged until the fourth time he failed a drug test.

It is also becoming increasingly hard to receive a medical discharge. Agustín Aguayo knew of a soldier who had hernia surgery in Iraq, and was not allowed to return to the United States to recuperate before being returned to active duty. Another soldier had a hip replacement, and was redeployed when he wasn't yet even able to walk normally.

Agustín Aguayo eventually went awol, despite the army's warnings, and with Helga's support, fought the rejection of his c.o. claim legally. He was convicted of desertion and missing movement, and served eight months in the brig for these offenses. The legal fight to have these convictions overturned is ongoing; for more information, see http://www.aguayodefense.org .

Many other disaffected soldiers and families are trapped within a military machine that deceives them, controls them, and ultimately uses them for cannon fodder. Helga Aguayo describes how the process of fighting for her husband's freedom forced her "to become a powerful, assertive woman." One of her acts of resistance was to plaster an army base with stickers that read, "Wanna get out? Call us now," and gave contact info for a military counseling network run by German peace activists. The very next day, all the stickers she had put up had been removed by the military.

According to Agustín Aguayo, when you're in the army, "You feel that you're part of something bigger than yourself. You get the same feeling in the peace movement."

For more information about military resistance, see http://www.couragetoresist.org .

Janet Blanding is a volunteer for Works In Progress. She can be reached at jwblanding@earthlink.net.