Soldiers Of Conscience - Sgt. Kevin Benderman

Non commissioned officer, Sgt. Kevin Benderman refused to return to Iraq for a second tour of duty when he became aware of the immorality of the war. He applied for Conscientious Objector status and was denied. He was court martialed and sentenced to time in a military prison at Ft. Lewis, Washtington. After serving about one year in prison he was finally released in August of 2006.Many of our soldiers of conscience will be punished by the Industrial/Miliatry/Political complex for standing up for truth and justice rather than become mercenary pawns for pre-emptive colonial wars of aggression. Here is part of an article from the Courage To Resist web site.

“The only way to bring peace to the world is to let the people of the world decide for themselves what they want to spend their efforts on. I feel that in this day and age governments start wars, and not people, and since the governments want the wars then why don’t we let the government fight the war? All of the politicians that want to fight a war are free to trade places with me at any time. I will gladly go and learn war no more.”After serving in the military for eight years, including a tour of duty in Iraq, Kevin Benderman filed for conscientious objector status in December 2004. His application was quickly denied, and on the weekend of Jan. 7, 2005 Benderman refused to re-deploy to Iraq with his unit.

“As I went through the process which led to my decision to refuse deployment to Iraq for the second time, I was torn between thoughts of abandoning the soldiers that I serve with, or following my conscience, which tells me: war is the ultimate in destruction and waste of humanity." As stated in Benderman’s article, "A Matter of Conscience."

Support The Troops!These are the true heros who fight for truth and justice around the world. It concerns me that we don't read, see, or hear more about these Soldiers of Conscience in our American media. Either the media is too busy spewing propoganda to further indoctrinate the American people into thinking that they are doing a wonderful thing bringing "freedom and democracy" around the world under the point of rifles and missles or the corporate media is feathering its own nest fueling immoral militaristic activities because it is good for business and their bottom line. Many corporations and stock holders are profiting while hundreds of thousands of people are dying. I say a prayer of thanksgiving for people of conscience like Kevin Benderman and his family.

Kevin Benderman was declared a Prisoner Of Conscience by Amnesty International.

Link: Courage to Resist - Support Sgt. Benderman!.