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Chiroux joined the US army straight out of high school nearly six years ago, and worked his way up from private to sergeant.
He served in Afghanistan, Germany, Japan, and the Philippines and was due to be deployed next month in Iraq.
On Thursday, he refused to go, saying he considers Iraq an illegal war.
"I stand before you today with the strength and clarity and resolve to declare to the military, my government and the world that this soldier will not be deploying to Iraq," Chiroux said in the sun-filled rotunda of a congressional building in Washington.
"My decision is based on my desire to no longer continue violating my core values to support an illegal and unconstitutional occupation... I refuse to participate in the Iraq occupation," he said, as a dozen veterans of the five-year-old Iraq war looked on.
Officials take "hard facts and slice them into small pieces to make them presentable to the secretary of state or the president -- and all with the intent of furthering the occupation of Iraq," Goldsmith added.
Chiroux is one of thousands of US soldiers who have deserted since the Iraq war began in 2003, according to figures issued last year by the US army.
But while many seek refuge in Canada, the young soldier vowed to stay in the United States to fight "whatever charges the army levels at me."
The US army defines a deserter as someone who has been absent without leave for 30 days.
Chiroux stood fast in his resolve to not report for duty on June 15.
"I cannot deploy to Iraq, carry a weapon and not be part of the problem," he told AFP.
Originally posted by DimensionalDetective
THIS GUY IS A TRUE HERO!!!
Originally posted by COOL HAND
Originally posted by DimensionalDetective
THIS GUY IS A TRUE HERO!!!
Nope, he is a quitter plain and simple.
To make him out to be anything more is stupid.
If he did not want to play in the "illegal war" then maybe he should have gotten out after his first tour came up?
He was willing to play soldier so long as it was convenient for him and the Army paid, clothed, and fed him. As soon as it got difficult on him he quit, plain and simple.
Originally posted by budski
So you now admit it is an illegal war as posted in the post I have quoted.
That's the trouble with gung-ho types - they always slip eventually.
Originally posted by deltaboy
Do you want to fight in wars? Check Yes or no
Originally posted by COOL HAND
If he did not want to play in the "illegal war" then maybe he should have gotten out after his first tour came up?
Originally posted by vor78
That's his choice and its one that I can respect, but on the flip side, he also voluntarily signed a committment with the US military and in return received numerous financial and possibly educational incentives from the taxpayers of this country for doing so.
Originally posted by vor78
That's his choice and its one that I can respect, but on the flip side, he also voluntarily signed a committment with the US military and in return received numerous financial and possibly educational incentives from the taxpayers of this country for doing so.
There's certainly a price to be paid for breaking that committment. That choice should come with consequences. Whether that's a fine or prison time, that's up the courts to decide.
Originally posted by greeneyedleo
Then why did he choose to re-enlist? Nobody forced him to.
Originally posted by MidnightDStroyer
So, do you know when he was assigned to another tour? Was that before or after he learned that the war is illegal & he started to refuse fighting it?...
...If you have any evidence that supports the idea that he accepted a new tour after he learned the war's illegality...