Katherine Jashinski - A First, But Not Last
FORT BENNING, GA - Army National Guard Specialist Katherine Jashinski, on active duty with the 111th ASG since January of this year, held a press conference earlier today to make a public statement against the Iraq war as a conscientious objector in the face of orders to participate in weapons training and deploy to the Middle East. She was joined by several members of Iraq Veterans Against the War and Veterans for Peace. Jashinski applied for a discharge as a conscientious objector in 2004. The Army recently denied her claim and ordered her to weapons training and deployment this week.
Katherine Jashinski’s Public Statement:
“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 slow transformation into adulthood. Like many teenagers who leave their home for the first time, I went through a period of growth and soul searching. I encountered many new people and ideas that broadly expanded my narrow experiences. After reading essays by Bertrand Russel and traveling to the South Pacific and talking to people from all over the world, my beliefs about humanity and its relation to war changed. I began to see a bigger picture of the world and I started to reevaluate everything that I had been taught about war as a child. I developed the belief that taking human life was wrong and war was no exception. I was then able to clarify who I am and what it is that I stand for.
The thing that I revere most in this world is life, and I will never take another person’s life.
Just as others have faith in God, I have faith in humanity.
I have a deeply held belief that people must solve all conflicts through peaceful diplomacy and without the use of violence. Violence only begets more violence.
Because I believe so strongly in non-violence, I cannot perform any role in the military. Any person doing any job in the Army, contributes in some way to the planning, preparation or implementation of war.
For eighteen months, while my CO status was pending, I have honored my commitment to the Army and done everything that they asked of me. However, I was ordered to Ft. Benning last Sunday to complete weapons training in preparation to deploy for war.
Now I have come to the point where I am forced to choose between my legal obligation to the Army and my deepest moral values. I want to make it clear that I will not compromise my beliefs for any reason. I have a moral obligation not only to myself but to the world as a whole, and this is more important than any contract.
I have come to my beliefs through personal, intense reflection and study. They are everything that I am and all that I stand for. After much thought and contemplation about the effect my decision will have on my future, my family, the possibility of prison, and the inevitable scorn and ridicule that I will face, I am completely resolute.
I will exercise my every legal right not pick up a weapon, and to participate in war effort. I am determined to be discharged as a CO, and while undergoing the appeals process; I will continue to follow orders that do not conflict with my conscience until my status has been resolved. I am prepared to accept the consequences of adhering to my beliefs.
What characterizes a conscientious objector is their willingness to face adversity and uphold their values at any cost. We do this not because it is easy or popular, but because we are unable to do otherwise. Thank You.”
- Katherine Jashinski, at the gates of Ft. Benning, GA, November 17, 2005.
CL:
Stan or anyone,
As an outsider not all that familiar with the whole CO issue in the US I’d like to know what value is served to the US military to keep someone that for any reason, no longer wishes to be there? Is it simply to disuade others from considering leaving? War-time?
If I recall properly in my brief experience in a non-US force, getting out was generally not a huge issue - even under contract it meant a bit more paper work and not much else. Some high-strung ultra-masculine young privates would think you were ‘weak’ or something for leaving but generally the process involved a meeting with an officer or two who’d try and talk you out of it, but ultimately if you really didn’t want to be there, you were free to go sometimes with grace period in case you reconsidered. Why so different in the US? Is it different in peacetime?
In Katherine’s case, I somewhat empirically (travel can change a person profoundly) understand her reasons and I can’t see it serving her, the army, or the human race to force her to deploy.
19 November 2005, 2:02 amStan:
You nailed it early.
If they let one, then the door is open for more. This is the essence of the postmodern war, where actual efficacy can be supplanted by the mandates of perception management.
It corresponds, paradoxically enough, to a crisis of hegemony… the breakdown of consensual domination.
19 November 2005, 8:13 amConsumer:
All the best to you, Ms. Jashinski. I hope you prevail.
19 November 2005, 3:07 pmCL:
Stan,
19 November 2005, 9:16 pmThanks. It’s essentially what I suspected but you have a very succint way of putting it in context.
I regret not thinking to add a “Best of Luck” with regards to KJ in my last comment. So, Best of Luck!
Belligerence:
So, she joined the military to fit her own needs, and when something else was required, she freaks? I mean, granted, taking a life is a big deal, and by no means am I harping on her for that. It just irks me that people join the military expecting a smooth, free ride, a scholarship, whatever else.
The military is and will always be a violent group setup to protect the nation that military is served under. No ifs/ands/buts, ESPECIALLY in war-time. She knew very well what she might be getting into when she joined, it comes with the territory of being in the service.
I’m sorry if her morals are being compromised here, I am. But, she knew from the get-go the military might expect her to pick up a weapon and go about killing people.
It’s true, if they let her go, it’ll open a floodgate. Then, people will be coming up with this excuse just to flop out because the service wasn’t all they expected to be.
Joining the military should not be something you take on just because you want a free scholarship, see the world, etc. It’s something people should think long and hard about. And, with any job, morals can be compromised. Deal with it.
She has it coming. I hope they keep her in it to smite her.
19 November 2005, 9:50 pmStan:
Dear Belligerent,
Since my own rules prohibit me from saying something like, “You are an arrogant, sanctimonious moron,” I’ll refrain from that and try to patiently explain how utterly simple-minded and easy it is to send shit like this through the mail without so much as identifying yourself.
I know your IP is IP: 4.227.133.59 , dialup-4.227.133.59.Dial1.Denver1.Level3.net, but of course, that isn’t the same as identifying yourself.
People change. People grow. People learn. People develop morally beyond where they started… well, some people do. She came to her position as a CO after she was in the military, after study and reflection (you should try that). She applied for her CO status, and the reason the military has rejected it has nothing to do with the qjuality of her application. it has to do with a retention crisis that has obliged all commanders under fear of their own commanders (you may not know the OPMS, but I know this forumla for ass-kissng and mediocrity very well) to reject ANY attempt by nearly anyone to get out.
While I’m no big fan of treating law like it’s a holy edict — not having mastered pure obedience and conformity as well as you, and that’s AFTER two decades in the military — the right to be a conscientious objector is inscribed in law, but this administration is about as lawless as any you might look up… and THAT’S saying something. They’ve got Reagan to follow, and they had to pardon each other out of the hoosegow.
I’m on the verge of telling soldiers to resist without the cover of a CO application, so you can see how much I give a flying fuck about the law when there are thousands of lives at stake. So the idea that a floodgate might be opened is actually appealing to me. If you can give me shred of credible evidence that the US military is “protecting” the nation by bombing and shooting Iraqis, I’ll gladly answer the letter I got from the army recently to sign back up at my old rank in my old MOS. I mean, defending our homes is important… that’s what Iraqis are doing.
My name is Stan Goff, for the record. You won’t need my IP to speculate who is writing this. Katherine is using her real name, too.
And your enlistment office is nearby if you’re so keen on all this. Get yourself a nice new uniform and your very own M-4 and head on over to Mesopotamia. The Denver recruiters are lonely and will be glad to see you… you big, brave white man, you. I know how disconcerting it is for a lot of men when a woman (espeically a young woman) shows more courage than they have, but you will be happier when you learn to deal with the insecurity that underwrites your aggression.
Sorry, but you had it coming.
19 November 2005, 10:11 pmCL:
Belligerence,
You sound at a lot like an 18 y/o ‘harder than thou’ infanteer just of his course waxing bullshit, only worse.
Tell me would you say the same thing when a top-tier SF assaulter decides to quite the army in war-time to join Blackwater because they pay more? Their loss is so much more serious than that of a cook, but you don’t see them getting press-ganged do you? They just offer them more cash!
Your last comment is vindictive and cruel. I wouldn’t hire you to mow my lawn, because you’d shit on my grass for being the wrong shade of green! How many other human beings do you wish to be smote because you disagree with their decisions?
19 November 2005, 10:45 pmEd:
Personally, I’d just as soon we let people like this go home if they want. We don’t need the hassle of dealing with people forced to stay involuntarily. There are plenty of people willing to join up, or stay in, and do the job. There might need to be some financial recoupment for college aid or specialized training received, if that is the case, but so be it.
We should do everything we can to prevent this young lady from having to take a life in her assigned MOS of food service specialist. I’d suggest she start by refusing to serve the individual meatloafs.
19 November 2005, 11:20 pmRandy Morris:
Ms. Jashinski, if you get to read this, please know that there are some big, burly ex-infantry veterans who applaud your choice. Take the armchair patriots’ words for what they are–total crap.
I don’t want anyone to have to kill or die anymore for this criminal system.
Cry “Hell no!”, and let loose the floodwaters of peace!
Thanks for your courage.
20 November 2005, 2:42 amTom in Sydney:
Oh, the magnificent irony. A poster named ‘Belligerence’ repeats the oft heard misnomer, nay, selfserving piece of outright fabrication, ‘The military is and will always be … setup to protect the nation’.
How I laughed when I read that staement. But then when I saw you nom-de-blog…positively Wildean.
‘We’re only defending ourselves. And we’ll kill anyone that says differently’.
The question is, are you belligerent because of the culture of violence you’ve been reared in? Or is it just how you handle the cognitive dissonance grinding on your brain by the conflict between your ‘freedom and democracy’ indoctrination and what you see in the real world?
See, for all the talk about Katherine growing and changing, I wonder how much of it is just a realisation of how she has been lied to, and not just by the military.
Then you said ‘Joining the military should not be something you take on just because you want a free scholarship, see the world’. Hmmm, the way recruiting has been going lately, maybe you’re right. The recruiters should give that line a run.
20 November 2005, 7:55 amStan:
I am herein apologizing for my outburst at Belligerence. It was over the top. I will not, however, bring him back on. The “hope they smite her” was the straw that broke that camel’s back. Katherine has visited the blog and this post, by the way, in case folks are interested.
Belligerence wrote back with a rage, talking about how I don’t allow anyone on who disagrees with me. That is, of course, not true. People who hang out at blogs tend to gravitate toward those with which they agree. Others troll with a flamethrower. The exceptions to both these rules are people like Ed (abve, and liberally represented elsewhere), who strongly disagree, and who are advancing a point of view that differs from the general trend. Belligerence was a troll. If I’m wrong about that, then I can be punished in the blogosphere afterlife. The only thing Ed and I agree on is that the weather was pretty harsh at West Point in the winter of 1987-8. But Ed and others are not flamethrowing. And anyone who looks the blogover will see various places where the disagreements are often powerful and even acrimonious.
So I will quit cracking on Belligerence, as can others. He will not be back. Watch for him at belligerence.com, his own blog. And I will try to do better at controlling my post-10 PM outbursts.
20 November 2005, 8:17 amEd:
I will attest to what Stan says about permitting full dissent. He has never once censored anything out of the dozens of posts that I’ve written on his blog, most of which aggressively disagree with his writing.
Not to defend Belligerence (whose name probably sums it up), but if you look closely at his usage of the word “smite”, he probably meant to write “spite” instead.
Speaking of the weather, do you remember the Blazer we got stuck in the snow out in the training area? As I recall, your solution was “we’ll get it in the spring.” LOL
20 November 2005, 10:46 amCurt (Kastens):
The US government has been breaking its treaties and contracts for more than 200 years. If it is good enough for them then it is good enough for us. Of course Katherine will probally have to spend some time in prison but then rather than being an asset for one of the worlds longest lasting criminal organizations she will be a liability for it. She will be a drain on its resources and yet contribute nothing in return.
20 November 2005, 11:48 amname:
@stan -
the treatment you’ve given “Belligerence” is exactly what i have been doing with people who write hatemails, death threats and so on because of the diary of my GF: i’ve published each one of them including full headers and email address. i can assure you that we do not have too many hatemails, and it has been a long time since we received any. it tends to scare off people to know they are liable to lose the very thin cover they are granted by webmasters if they step over the line of whatever the webmaster is willing to entertain. in my case, the server is under my desk, and death threats and calling my SO names are beyond the pale (general stupidity and aggressive rants are ignored). by your reaction to this person you have much less patience than me.
since you know my IP, you’ll see a sample of who visits us, and you’ll find out more if you run the server name given on the title thru google.
20 November 2005, 1:27 pmGracie:
Stan,
My first post. I don’t think it was necessary for you to apologize to Belligerence. You made an excellent argument by addressing the facts with thoughtful responses to a hateful, vindictive poster.
“She has it coming. I hope they keep her in it to smite her.” This was a cruel statement, pure and simple.
Ms. Jashinski,
20 November 2005, 4:49 pmI admire your courage and support your decision. It seems as if human dignity and compassion are viewed as a negative by some but please know many of us respect your brave actions. How can we help?
Stan:
Of all the things you could remember, Ed. Okay, I confess I lost a truck in the snow while risking the lives of West Point cadets in a blizzard.
To the best of my knowledge, they recovered the vehicle after the Spring thaw. We did finally manage to recover all the cadets that same night.
(-:
20 November 2005, 8:00 pmL Crow:
I can’t help to say that this last post reminded me of “Winter warefare training” in Wyoming.
HA!!!
20 November 2005, 9:25 pmBelligerence:
Ed - No, I meant “Smite”. Which means “afflict: cause pain or suffering in.” Also, he DELETED my post, which says enough about “Censoring”.
Hate to tell you guys, PROXY. I did nothing to deserve my IP being broadcasted. Nor did I do anything to make the Dot Commer become a target, which they are now, for some reason. Belligerence is a COMMON WORD and I’m sure I’m not the ONLY person in the world to have ever come up with it.
All I want is for the Dot Commer to be removed. The owner is NOT an associate of mine, nor are they me.
20 November 2005, 10:01 pmL Crow:
I have been having very heart wrenching conversations with my 19 yr. old daughter about this very subject.
She will be starting her second semester in college and, like most, is looking for funds. She has mentioned - “signing up” more than once. We have spent many drawn out hours and many tears discussing why she really shouldn’t.
I admire Ms. Jashinski for standing up for her beliefs. She was sucked into the “lies of recruitment”. I’m glad she realized what life is really about before she made a major mistake.
Paying for an education is one of the hardest facts of life that our teens must face. Our armed services try to make it easy when they “Show them the money”. It isn’t very often that these teens have the fortitude it takes to stand up and use their voices - when they find them.
I give my heart to Ms. Jashinski. As the mom of a 19 year old that is “finding her way” I know how hard it is. I would send her all of my strength if I could.
Linda
20 November 2005, 10:21 pmNeilcaff:
Well done Kathrine give ‘em hell.
21 November 2005, 8:45 amI can’t tell you how encouraging it is for leftists abroad to see people like yourself taking on the US govenment. Here in Europe there often a tendancy to view the USA as some unstoppable monalith full of ignorant right wing drones. People like you show there is a real opposition in America to US government policies that is prepared to struggle and make sacrifices to beat those vultures in Washington.
All the best.
Stan:
“…this last post reminded me of ‘Winter warfare training’ in Wyoming.”
Help. my past is stalking me! (-:
Seems the snow has always inclined me to excess. Ed has seen me lose trucks. Linda has seen me conduct the wholesale slaughter of my own brain cells in the wilds of Jackson Hole.
How checkered is my past.
Belligerence is right, btw. That’s why I allowed this post through. I was joking about belligerence.com, but it turns out that is someone’s site, and not his. My bad. But he can still “aflict” elsewhere.
21 November 2005, 9:41 amMC:
Stan -
It’s painful to see so many of our young troops confused because of dogshit leadership.
What burns my ass more than anything is this duplicity about torture. It scares the hell out of the more thoughtful troops, because they’re caught between a rock and a hard place. Nobody’s got their backs, and they KNOW it.
It’s impossible to justify any of this shit to these guys. They ask me my opinion, and I give it to them. Very dangerous.
I dropped my paper a couple of weeks ago. It’s painful to see how things have degraded so rapidly, so EASILY. I have NEVER seen conduct by senior people that is so stupid and dishonorable. My sticking around and leading young GIs can potentially hurt them when they still have to go out there, when they are planning on longer careers.
They deserve so much better than this. This young trooper is doing the right thing. She’ll be okay in the long run, and if she does go to jail, I think she’ll sleep well.
I am DYING to see how this gets resolved. The people who have to make the decision are fucked either way you look at it. Can’t say they didn’t deserve it.
Stan, it’s hard broke, brother. REAL hard broke.
21 November 2005, 11:31 amJeff G:
A quick question for “CL”: If you don’t mind, I’m very curious what country you come from/military you served in. Maybe it’s just because of being from the US and having spoken with people from countries with mandatory military service, but I figured the situation with COs in the US was pretty standard.
My opinions on other posts: letting assholes post things like “belligerence” makes sense, in a fairly rigid anti-censorship kind of way, but why engage with them? It’s really not a good use of anyone’s energy.
A shart contrast is “Ed”, whose perspective I really appreciate, even though I totally disagree with most (not all!) of what he has to say. To be honest, it really beats the cheering chorus of agreement that tend to plague blogs in general… (-;
21 November 2005, 2:03 pmhenry and judith from wilkes:
dear katherine, i’m so sorry you’re having to go thru this -most of us who become disillusioned with our government probably haven’t been forced to the corner you now find yourself in. to truly follow your beliefs requires much more strength and bravery than to go along with any kind of peer pressure. you are literally on your own. regardless of the outcome, stick to your principles. as gandhi said, be the change you want to see in the world.
21 November 2005, 10:33 pmpeace and love, henry
CL:
Jeff G,
22 November 2005, 1:19 amForgive me, but I’m not a huge fan, for various reasons, of overtly and directly detailing my life on public websites.
Anyway, I don’t recall something like CO ever even being an option (there is an off chance I could be wrong and there might be some arcane rule on the books). I’m guessing the theory behind it is that if you didn’t expect to go to war, you shouldn’t have joined and if war happens and you seriously don’t want to be put in that position, there is no reason for you to continue to be in the army. That being said, refusing to obey an order to fight in wartime is court martialable, but that is not the same as putting in for a release through the proper chanels.
I don’t know much about the US military culture and tradition save the fact that for some inhuman reason they like to jog around in formation at 4am singing and chanting - I had a couple of involuntarily early mornings on a US base once. I suspect though, that at a basic level the culture in the US military is very different from other armies just from the shear size, power and role of the US military on the world stage and national identity. CO might make sense in that environment, if it were allowed to work.
Something you might do is look up the official military websites and unofficial chatrooms of other armed forces and compare the language, information, and topics to the US equivelents. The anglosphere has a few between NZ, Australia, UK, Canada, and the US.
Eric Arnow:
Dear Stan:
I am in Asia since August 2004. The whole bullshit election convinced me that things would have to fall apart, and although you probably disagree with me on this, I felt I had little part to play as a 57 year old man who has distrusted the military since I can remember–decided I was a pacifist after reading the Biographies of Albert Schweizer and Albert Einstein.
After Kucinich, as moderate as he was, was marginalized, If felt it was time to GET OUT. As have thousands of Americans disgusted not just by Iraq but the whole American fraud perpetrated by the gangsters who have run the country from the get go.
But what I want to say is that I met a guy in a restaurant in Bagan (Burma) from Germany, who does work for the US military at the big base ( Rotstadt?..Rotweiler?–I forgot the name)
He is seeing the horrible casualites US tropps are suffering, but more important, he says 80% of the troops despise Bush now. They were dumb for ever trusting him in the first place but they “get it” now.
I wonder what percent of troops despised the Soviet government before it fell, or other dictatorships, like Mussolini.
“Things would be a lot easier if this were a dictatorship and I was the dictator” GW Bush after he stole the 2000 election.
Ha!
I admire your work. Keep it up. I tell everyone I meet what is really going on. Even Europeans ask me how people elected Bush, when he stole his elections. and of course there are a lot more scandals no one has heard about overseas, much less in the US.
Take care,
Eric
22 November 2005, 6:34 amCleon:
This is real courage. Katherine is sticking her neck out, risking not only her career, but also her freedom.
Folks, this is an important part of the anti-war movement; if you haven’t donated to IVAW yet, please do.
22 November 2005, 12:04 pmdecembrist:
I wonder if Mr. Belligerence meant “I hope they keep her in it to SPITE her.” SMITE is just too Old World…
Regardless, to keep her in the guard just to “spite” her is heinous.
I appreciate Katherine speaking out. The armed forces exist to PROTECT us, not to punch somebody only becaue we HEARD that we were going to get punched.
23 November 2005, 4:55 amdecembrist:
sorry, didn’t read all the posts… got to learn patience and thoroughness. (re: my smite vs. spite)
23 November 2005, 5:00 amTimothy R. Anderson:
I am impressed . This site makes me energetic. I hope all is well for Mr. Goff this holiday season. Timothy R. Anderson
http://www.operationtruth.com
23 November 2005, 3:12 pmRichard:
I don’t suppose the U.S. military takes a persons age into consideration in cases like this?
What I find most disturbing is that you can “grow up” during your period of enlistment. It is not only criminal that the government wants her to kill, but that they also try to control the kind of person you grow into.
RM
23 November 2005, 4:40 pmJordy Cummings:
Stan - William Hurt is playing you in a new film - seriously - I don’t know if you’ve read anything I’ve written, but I’m a big fan of yours - and I couldn’t find your e-mail adress for this piece of information - so I’m adding it as a comment here on your blog (great read always - the gender tutorial was very informative, though I disagree with some things…) - there is a character in a new film that seems almost certainly to be named after you. From NY Times:
Syriana
Opens today nationwide.
Directed by Stephen Gaghan; written by Mr. Gaghan, suggested by the book “See No Evil” by Robert Baer; director of photography, Robert Elswit; edited by Tim Squyres; music by Alexandre Desplat; production designer, Dan Weil; produced by Jennifer Fox, Michael Nozik and Georgia Kacandes; released by Warner Brothers Pictures. Running time: 122 minutes.
WITH: George Clooney (Bob Barnes), Matt Damon (Bryan Woodman), Jeffrey Wright (Bennett Holiday), Chris Cooper (Jimmy Pope), William Hurt (Stan Goff), Mazhar Munir (Wasim Ahmed Khan), Tim Blake Nelson (Danny Dalton), Amanda Peet (Julie Woodman), Christopher Plummer (Dean Whiting), William C. Mitchell (Bennett Holiday Sr.), Shahid Ahmed (Saleem Ahmed Khan) and Alexander Siddig (Prince Nasir Al-Subaai).
24 November 2005, 12:39 amStan:
Hey Jordy,
I am also appreciative of your work. On the movie, though I haven’t seen it, and though this is funny — a movie about an oil war, with a secondary character that has my name (there are quite a few of us, actually) seems surely coincidental… unless I’m entitled to residuals. (-: Then it is definitely not coincidnce.
24 November 2005, 2:37 pmpeggy:
Dear Katherine,
I do not feel sorry or sad for you. On the contrary, I am so proud of you, no words can express my feelings. But perhaps I can express my thoughts.
Sometimes, we old ones get the feeling that the whole human species has declined beyond redemption. Then you come along, and you are not the only one, and we realize that people better than us are entering the world, and whatever struggles and failures we may have suffered, it has been worth it just to keep the world going somehow, so that you and others like you can simply exist.
24 November 2005, 8:06 pmFS in Eugene:
Katherine-
It is a strange thing that often we are punished by a sick society for going the way of health and realization of truth but we go towards them anyway because an inner betrayal is much more panefull in the long run than a “betrayal” (ie doing something unlawful) of a sick culture. I do not envy your having to deal with the military to try and get out but I applaud your courage in the face of it.
I am 26 and recently got arrested for protesting the war. When I was in those hand cuffs I felt so much gratitude for my life and the privaleges of being a white “middle class” woman. I believe that for those whom much is given much is expected and I see clearly now that I am living relatively safely in a country that has consistently throughout history lived off the misery of other peoples. I don’t want this to be what my life is about so I struggle to try and be different.
The large sacrific you are making and the smaller ones made by me and many thousands of others in this country may make the difference for Iraqies living under US occupation.
Many people hear your story and stand a bit taller. Best of luck to you.
26 November 2005, 6:23 pmTimothy R. Anderson:
Another Type of Conscientous Objectioning .
Funny how Pres. Bush never says this, but lots of Iraqis got up and left Iraq AFTER
March 19, 2003 , NEVER TO RETURN .
Strange that they would leave and not want to come back , what with all the ” good things ”
that an American-led “liberation”
brought to their (former) country.
Here’s what the Los Angeles Times said on November 11, 2005 : ” Iraqis have poured in (into Jordan ) since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 and are now said to number 500,000
or more . ”
With things being “better ” now that Saddam was removed from power ……. why choose to be in JORDAN ??????? H m m m ……
might be some lesson in that.
Timothy R. Anderson
http://www.operationtruth.com
27 November 2005, 4:13 pmastras:
this might be a bit of topic, but i thought some of you might be interested.
i had the opportunity to listen to the ex general klaus reinhardt who came to my university. reinhardt commanded german troops in bosnia and kosovo, also in africa. he left active service not long ago and still has very good contacts with active serving people, sometimes still works as an advisor. he complained bitterly about both wars. in fact he called the german engagement in afghanistan a ‘farce’ and a ‘masquerade’.
he said the troops are so ill equipped, the soldiers will not even be able to leave on their own and the ukrainians are being asked to fly soldiers and material in and out. he maintains that the impact of the nato-troops on the security situation is close to zero. apart from some heavily secured bases the country remains in a state of anarchy. the reconstruction is invested with corruption and laughably in-effective. surely you have seen the articles in the washington post about the schools that were build and now cannot be used. germany did equally foolish things. they did build a huge girls dormatory for lots and lots of money in a place in which there is not a single female student. that was known, but the thing was build anyway. and this while afghans are living in poverty.
he also claimed that the aftermath of the bombing campaign left thousands dead, because grain storages were also blown up on the grounds that the taliban could eat the grain.
he believes that the very cruel attack on the country, despite of being downplayed by the media, and the hairraising inability to rebuild anything is getting the afghans madder and madder. since the taliban have been able to skillfully exploit this and since the badly funded mission is pretty much impossible to succeed he recommands that the troops leave as soon as possible ’since that is the only option anyway’. he says he realizes that this will bring further instability to the region, but he hopes that terrorist fighting is more a thing for the police forces of the regional states and that those states should be supported instead of wasting billions on pointless military adventures.
he was pretty sure that german troops would not go to iraq, since germany is literally broke.
he was equally gloomy on the situation in iraq. he explained that there are over sixty no-go areas in iraq (no-go for foreigners that is), all huge population centers remain out of control. he also explained that the german ambassador in iraq is protected not so much by the handfull of german soldiers at the embassey and also not by the us-troops but by very larges bribes that have been payed to serveral tribes in iraq. he says all nations who have ambassadors there (and lots of spare money) are handling the situation that way. he welcomed the latest approach by the us-government to talk to iran. enlisting and supporting the help of regional states are in his view the only realistic option to get the situation to calm down.
under these circumstances it makes sense to refuse to serve. the bigmouthed announcement by the german government to raise the trooplevel in afghanistan has not been fullfilled for lack of volunteers.
1 December 2005, 6:38 amL Crow:
Timothy,
This was a great post.
We could rewrite your post to include works like - locals - Katrina - New Orleans - state - etc…..
That was what ran through my mind when I reread your post. We have HUGE problems at home. We really don’t need our president to be “spreading Democracy throughout the world”.
1 December 2005, 10:54 amMike Wittels:
Katherine,
Congratulations on your stand.
I took a similar stand 41 years ago. My application for discharge was turned down and I spent six months in the Ft. Knox Stockade when I finally had to refuse orders. I don’t regret it a bit. If you could make it through basic training — and obviously you could — you can make it through the stockade if it comes to that. And if you believe what you believe, you really don’t have much of a choice. You may have doubts from time to time, but any thinking person does. It’s the balance — the totality of you beliefs– that counts.
I was arrested again 20 minutes after my release and thrown back in the stockade for another couple of weeks or so but the charges didn’t stick and I was ultimately given a CO discharge, but that’s a long story. After I got for good, I counseled other men and (a few) women who were concerned about the things you are, each in his or her own way. These individuals ranged from those still in basic training to a major with 10 years in, the holder of a Silver Star. There were service academy grads and other career officers and people on their second tours in ‘Nam in between. I gained a good bit of experience doing this and later wrote the first edition of “Advice for Conscientious Objectors in the Armed Forces, a guide for individuals, counselors and attorneys” published by CCCO, whom I worked for. Along the way and since then, I met many people who were glad they stood up for their beliefs but none who were glad they didn’t. I support anyone taking a principled stand whether or not I agree with them but I want to tell you: I agree with you. You are the salt of the earth.
If there is anything I can do, please let me know.
5 December 2005, 1:42 amstuck:
Unless they’re static, IP addresses are useless for IDing trolls. Most ISPs use temporary IPs, because the number of subscribers outnumber the number of IPs alotted to them. But since not all subs are online at once, each time they do, each one is assigned an IP address. But these IPs are only temporary. Once they log off and log back on, they get a new IP addy.
7 December 2005, 1:28 amstuck:
P.S. MAC addresses, on the other hand, are more reliable, because those are permanently assigned to each machine. Of course, only the machine itself can be “banned”. There’s nothing to stop the troll from simply finding another computer to post from.
7 December 2005, 1:30 amD.B. Theyel:
I grew up with Katherine Jashinski and she does nothing less than embody integrity and display the highest level of class, character, and intelligence. I have no doubt that Katherine’s decision to enter the National Guard was contemplated and considered just as much as her decision to opt out of participating in a war she does not believe in.
It is amazing to me that the same federal government that denies transportation funding to states with legal alcohol consumption ages under 21, because they believe people under this age do not have the capacity to make wise decisions, can hold 18 year olds who are in the military accountable for their decisions made at this age for the rest of their lives.
Jashinski and her actions symbolize the framework of independence and freedom this country was built on.
Jashinski, whether one believes her actions to be right or wrong, deserves the respect of this nation; she has an independent mindset, intelligence to boot, and a voice that deserves to be echoed from coast to coast.
9 December 2005, 6:04 pmjustin:
Kathrine Jashinski is a real american woman. A great role model as well
21 February 2006, 3:03 pm