U.S. army medic on trial for refusing Iraq mission
Source: Reuters
By Catherine Hornby WUERZBURG, Germany, March 6 (Reuters) - A U.S. Army medic and self-described conscientious objector goes before a court-martial in Germany on Tuesday for refusing to return to Iraq with his unit. Mexican-born combat medic Agustin Aguayo, 35, could face up to seven years in prison, a dishonourable discharge and loss of pay for leaving his base in Schweinfurt, Germany, in September 2006 and failing to deploy with his unit. His case comes at a time of waning support for the Iraq war in the United States and follows the high-profile trial in February of First Lt. Ehren Watada -- the first known court-martial of a U.S. Army officer for publicly refusing to serve in Iraq. Watada's court-martial ended in a mistrial. Aguayo, who has been fighting for three years to be recognised as a conscientious objector, served one term as a medic in Iraq in 2004, during which he says he refused to load his gun while on guard duty. He failed to show up when his unit redeployed to Iraq last year and then fled his base, going missing for several weeks before turning himself over in California. Aguayo's attorney said his attempts to be recognised as an objector could make a difference in the sentencing although he cannot use that as a defence in the trial, which starts on Tuesday in the Bavarian city of Wuerzburg. "We are not dealing with a person who just says 'I do not like the Iraq war so I won't go'," his civilian attorney David Court told Reuters. "We are dealing with someone who is saying 'I won't go to Iraq. I won't go to Afghanistan. I won't go to Somalia. I won't go to Bosnia. I don't believe in war'." A deserter is defined by the U.S. Department of Defense as a member of the armed forces who is absent from their unit or post without authorisation, quits their unit to avoid duty or enlists improperly in another service. It can also apply to people who are absent without leave for 30 straight days or more. The Department of Defense recorded a total of 4494 deserters in 2005, according to official data. In addition to Aguayo and Watada, there have been several similar cases, including that of British Air Force doctor Malcolm Kendall-Smith, who was sentenced to eight months in jail last April for refusing to go to Iraq. Organisations such as Iraq Veterans Against the War see Aguayo and others who have resisted military service in Iraq on the basis of conscience as examples to other soldiers. "While Agustin is first and foremost a man who is sincerely and morally opposed to war... he is also a proud example to other soldiers who are questioning the war in Iraq," Kelly Dougherty, President of Iraq Veterans Against The War, told a news conference in Berlin on Monday.
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