Dahr Jamail on Dissent in the All-Volunteer Army

Refusing to Comply

The Tactics of Resistance in an All-Volunteer Military
By Dahr Jamail

On May 1st at Fort Hood in central Texas, Specialist Victor Agosto wrote on a counseling statement, which is actually a punitive U.S. Army memo:

"There is no way I will deploy to Afghanistan. The occupation is immoral and unjust. It does not make the American people any safer. It has the opposite effect."

Ten days later, he refused to obey a direct order from his company commander to prepare to deploy and was issued a second counseling statement. On that one he wrote, "I will not obey any orders I deem to be immoral or illegal." Shortly thereafter, he told a reporter, "I´m not willing to participate in this occupation, knowing it is completely wrong. It´s a matter of what I´m willing to live with."

Read the rest Dahr Jamail´s new article here: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175090