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Mystic Power
admin THC-Ministry YahooGroup
Joined: 23 Aug 2004
Posts: 3605
Location: Key West
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 Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2005 7:50 pm Post subject: A Conscientious Objector Speaks Out... |
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| Quote: |
Jun 16, 2:08 PM (ET)
By SETH HETTENA
http://apnews.excite.com/image/20050616/OBJECTORS_STORY.sff_CASH101_2005061
6140058.html?date=20050616&docid=D8AOS07G0
(AP) Former U.S. Army reservist Aidan Delgado speaks during a lecture at the
University of San Diego's...
http://apnews.excite.com/image/20050616/OBJECTORS_STORY.sff_CASH101_2005061
6140058.html?date=20050616&docid=D8AOS07G0 Full Image
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Aidan Delgado says he once saw an Army master sergeant lash
Iraqi children with a Humvee antenna. He says he watched a Marine send a
youngster flying with a boot to the chest. And he says men in his unit
hurled bottles at Iraqi civilians from a military vehicle.
Since he left the U.S. military in January as a conscientious objector, the
former Army specialist has traveled the country, giving audiences a
disturbing account of routine brutality he claims he saw during his year in
Iraq.
His grisly roadshow has triggered two military investigations. It has also
drawn a legion of critics who scrutinize his accounts for inconsistencies,
suggest he is a liar and dismiss him as a darling of the far left. Some
criticize him for waiting until he came home to report incidents.
"The time and place to have made these claims was while he was a soldier
wearing a uniform over there," said Steve Stromvall, a spokesman for the
U.S. Army Reserves.
Wearing a black T-shirt with the word "Peace" in English, Hebrew and Arabic,
Delgado punctuated a recent talk to about 50 people with slides of gruesome
war images. One picture showed a bullet-shattered corpse in a partially open
body bag.
"The point of showing this is not to shock you," Delgado, 23, told his
audience at the University of San Diego's Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace
and Justice. "We don't have a really good sense of Iraqi civilians as human
beings. It's not part of the news coverage."
Some of the pictures were taken by Delgado, whose tour of duty included six
months at Abu Ghraib prison, where abuse of prisoners has already led to
criminal charges and international outrage. Other shots were provided by
fellow soldiers.
The 81st Regional Readiness Command in Birmingham, Ala., which oversees
Delgado's former unit in Florida, said it has launched an investigation into
his claims. So has the Army Criminal Investigation Command in Fort Belvoir,
Va.
Delgado said he has given a statement to an Army criminal investigator, who
took copies of some of the grisly photos from his slideshow.
Emiliano Toro, a former sergeant who was Delgado's supervisor in Iraq, said
he was aware of the alleged incidents involving the children struck with the
antenna and civilians hit with soda bottles. "I did see these things or I
did hear about them," he said.
Delgado said he did not file an official complaint with his commanders about
what he saw because he felt they were part of the problem and because he
feared retribution.
"I don't want to ruin people's lives over something they did in a horrible,
stressful situation," he said. "I do want people to know this is a part of
war."
The son of a U.S. diplomat, Delgado grew up in Thailand, Senegal and Egypt,
where he learned to speak Arabic. He was a 19-year-old college student in
Florida when he enlisted in the Army Reserves. He signed his service
contract on the morning of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
He became a Buddhist before the Army activated his unit and sent him and 140
others in the 320th Military Police Company to Iraq in March 2003. Three
months after arriving, he decided to turn in his weapon.
Back home in Sarasota, Fla., he resumed religious studies at New College of
Florida. He has given free talks to audiences at high schools, college
campuses and churches from Florida to California.
Delgado has aligned himself with the peace movement but has not joined the
call for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops. He said occupation is
better than allowing Iraq to slip into anarchy and even more bloodshed.
"If democracy comes out of this invasion, then there will be some good to
it," Delgado said. "But I just want people to know: Along that road there is
going to be an enormous amount of brutality and bloodshed."
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Mystic Power
admin THC-Ministry YahooGroup
Joined: 23 Aug 2004
Posts: 3605
Location: Key West
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| Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2005 7:55 pm Post subject: |
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P.S.
When li'l unwashed heathens are resistant to the freedom and democracy which we so selflessly offer, sometimes ya just gotta take a HUMMER antenna to 'em, know'm sayin'...? 
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"We are the Ones we have been waiting for."
~Hopi Elder ~
"In Lak'ech"
~ Ancient Mayan: "I am another YOU." ~ |
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Brother Adam
Cannabis Sacrament Minister
Joined: 04 Feb 2005
Posts: 1915
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| Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 2:05 am Post subject: |
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| Yeah, he doesn't want to stop the illegal invasion. He just wants to bitch about how the ILLEGAL INVASION is carried out......OH, I get it! |
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Mystic Power
admin THC-Ministry YahooGroup
Joined: 23 Aug 2004
Posts: 3605
Location: Key West
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| Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 2:30 am Post subject: |
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I wouldn't judge the kid too harshly.
He's been through an absolute mind fuck that only be comprehended by personal experience.
I'd guess he's come a long way from where he once was...and isn't finished journeying yet.
_________________
"We are the Ones we have been waiting for."
~Hopi Elder ~
"In Lak'ech"
~ Ancient Mayan: "I am another YOU." ~ |
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Brother Adam
Cannabis Sacrament Minister
Joined: 04 Feb 2005
Posts: 1915
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| Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 5:36 am Post subject: |
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I know, I shouldn't be so jumpy! 
It's upsetting sometimes to see how slow the process of enlightenment can be for some. Even worse are those that never find the start of the path... |
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Mystic Power
admin THC-Ministry YahooGroup
Joined: 23 Aug 2004
Posts: 3605
Location: Key West
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| Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 6:57 am Post subject: |
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| Rev. Adam wrote: |
It's upsetting sometimes to see how slow the process of enlightenment can be for some. Even worse are those that never find the start of the path... |
Yep...it seems obvious to me that every intelligent being has a duty to question the predominate paradigm.
Apparently, that idea scares the willies out of some folks. 
Bliss,
Ben
_________________
"We are the Ones we have been waiting for."
~Hopi Elder ~
"In Lak'ech"
~ Ancient Mayan: "I am another YOU." ~ |
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Torkel
Cannabis Sacrament Minister
Joined: 23 Nov 2004
Posts: 1396
Location: West Virginia, USA
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| Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 3:04 pm Post subject: |
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MP wrote:
| Quote: |
Yep...it seems obvious to me that every intelligent being has a duty to question the predominate paradigm.
Apparently, that idea scares the willies out of some folks. |
Ain't that the truth? The folks that I meet and talk with about gw & the illegal war appear to be afraid to even think wrong thoughts...
like the "authorities" are gonna know what they are thinking and punish them. 
This country is very mixed up and frightened about these issues. I realize there are exceptions in most things...I just haven't met one yet.
Peace,
Torkel
_________________
Miller vs U.S. (230 F 2nd 486,489): "The claim and exercise of a Constitutional right cannot be converted into a crime."
Miranda vs Arizona (384 U.S. 436, 125): "Where rights secured by the Constitution are involved, there can be no rule-making or legislation which would abrogate them."
HAGANS vs LAVINE (415 US 533 N-3,note 5): "Once JURISDICTION is challenged it must be proven by the Plaintiff." |
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Mystic Power
admin THC-Ministry YahooGroup
Joined: 23 Aug 2004
Posts: 3605
Location: Key West
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| Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 4:36 pm Post subject: |
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It has become a culture of fear, that's for sure.
Yet, half the country didn't vote for Bush...and, he now only has a 42% approval rating, according to ITV.
also...
| Washington Post recently wrote: |
Nearly three-quarters of Americans say the number of casualties in Iraq is unacceptable, while two-thirds say the U.S. military there is bogged down and nearly six in 10 say the war was not worth fighting -- in all three cases matching or exceeding the highest levels of pessimism yet recorded. More than four in 10 believe the U.S. presence in Iraq is becoming analogous to the experience in Vietnam.
Perhaps most ominous for President Bush, 52 percent said war in Iraq has not contributed to the long-term security of the United States. |
YAY! Let's hear it for optimistic pessimism!!! 
_________________
"We are the Ones we have been waiting for."
~Hopi Elder ~
"In Lak'ech"
~ Ancient Mayan: "I am another YOU." ~ |
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Torkel
Cannabis Sacrament Minister
Joined: 23 Nov 2004
Posts: 1396
Location: West Virginia, USA
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| Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 5:23 pm Post subject: |
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GWB, should listen to Led Zep's - "Your time is gonna come" tune off their first album.
gw's baleful outlook will remain for a while then take a dive along with his former position of power... hopefully?
Peace,
Torkel
_________________
Miller vs U.S. (230 F 2nd 486,489): "The claim and exercise of a Constitutional right cannot be converted into a crime."
Miranda vs Arizona (384 U.S. 436, 125): "Where rights secured by the Constitution are involved, there can be no rule-making or legislation which would abrogate them."
HAGANS vs LAVINE (415 US 533 N-3,note 5): "Once JURISDICTION is challenged it must be proven by the Plaintiff." |
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