Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Media: The Associated Press
Byline: ROBERT JABLON
Date: 27 September 2006
LOS ANGELES_A U.S. Army medic who fled rather than serve a second tour in
Iraq because he believes war is immoral said he will surrender to face a
possible court martial.
Army Spec. Agustin Aguayo, 34, said Tuesday he planned to give himself up at
Fort Irwin, a U.S. Army base in the Mojave Desert northeast of Los Angeles.
"It is the right thing to do," Army Spec. Agustin Aguayo said at a downtown
news conference where he was surrounded by supporters from Mexican-American
and anti-war groups. "I'm not a deserter or a coward."
Aguayo said he expected to face a court martial and some jail time.
"It's something I can live with," he said. "Something I can't live with is
being a participant of war anymore."
Aguayo has unsuccessfully fought the Pentagon for more than two years to be
declared a conscientious objector and win a discharge.
Aguayo, a U.S. citizen who was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, said he was not
anti-war when he enlisted in 2002. But his military experiences changed his
mind. He applied for conscientious objector status in February 2004 before
he was sent overseas.
He served a year as a combat medic in Tikrit, Iraq, in 2004 after the
military turned down his request.
He then jumped out of a window of his base housing in Germany on Sept. 2
rather than be forced to ship out for a second tour with the 1st Battalion,
18th Infantry Regiment.
"I have come to believe that it is wrong to destroy life, that it is wrong
to use war, that it is immoral, and I can no longer go down this path,"
Aguayo said.
A U.S. Army spokesman said he expected Aguayo to arrive at Fort Irwin
Tuesday afternoon.
After being taken into custody, Aguayo will be sent to either Fort Sill in
Oklahoma, or Schweinfurt, Germany, said John Wagstaffe, an Army spokesman at
Fort Irwin. Army officials would then decide whether to court martial him,
said Wagstaffe.
Aguayo likely will be charged with being AWOL, or absent without leave, and
with a separate charge of missing movement because he did not ship out to
Iraq with his unit, said James Klimaski, one of Aguayo's Washington
attorneys.
Other soldiers who went AWOL and claimed they were conscientious objectors
have been sentenced between a couple of months to two years in confinement
and given bad conduct discharges, Klimaski said.
Last year, Aguayo sued in federal court in Washington to overturn the
military's rejection of his conscientious objector bid. He lost the court
case but has appealed the decision. Arguments are scheduled for November. If
Aguayo wins his lawsuit on appeal, that would overturn any court-martial
decision, Klimaski said.
Byline: ROBERT JABLON
Date: 27 September 2006
LOS ANGELES_A U.S. Army medic who fled rather than serve a second tour in
Iraq because he believes war is immoral said he will surrender to face a
possible court martial.
Army Spec. Agustin Aguayo, 34, said Tuesday he planned to give himself up at
Fort Irwin, a U.S. Army base in the Mojave Desert northeast of Los Angeles.
"It is the right thing to do," Army Spec. Agustin Aguayo said at a downtown
news conference where he was surrounded by supporters from Mexican-American
and anti-war groups. "I'm not a deserter or a coward."
Aguayo said he expected to face a court martial and some jail time.
"It's something I can live with," he said. "Something I can't live with is
being a participant of war anymore."
Aguayo has unsuccessfully fought the Pentagon for more than two years to be
declared a conscientious objector and win a discharge.
Aguayo, a U.S. citizen who was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, said he was not
anti-war when he enlisted in 2002. But his military experiences changed his
mind. He applied for conscientious objector status in February 2004 before
he was sent overseas.
He served a year as a combat medic in Tikrit, Iraq, in 2004 after the
military turned down his request.
He then jumped out of a window of his base housing in Germany on Sept. 2
rather than be forced to ship out for a second tour with the 1st Battalion,
18th Infantry Regiment.
"I have come to believe that it is wrong to destroy life, that it is wrong
to use war, that it is immoral, and I can no longer go down this path,"
Aguayo said.
A U.S. Army spokesman said he expected Aguayo to arrive at Fort Irwin
Tuesday afternoon.
After being taken into custody, Aguayo will be sent to either Fort Sill in
Oklahoma, or Schweinfurt, Germany, said John Wagstaffe, an Army spokesman at
Fort Irwin. Army officials would then decide whether to court martial him,
said Wagstaffe.
Aguayo likely will be charged with being AWOL, or absent without leave, and
with a separate charge of missing movement because he did not ship out to
Iraq with his unit, said James Klimaski, one of Aguayo's Washington
attorneys.
Other soldiers who went AWOL and claimed they were conscientious objectors
have been sentenced between a couple of months to two years in confinement
and given bad conduct discharges, Klimaski said.
Last year, Aguayo sued in federal court in Washington to overturn the
military's rejection of his conscientious objector bid. He lost the court
case but has appealed the decision. Arguments are scheduled for November. If
Aguayo wins his lawsuit on appeal, that would overturn any court-martial
decision, Klimaski said.