[Shadow_Group] Sailor refuses deployment in protest of war - AP

[shadowgroup-l at lists.resist.ca]

Find this article at: 
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20041206-1325-ca-iraq-sailorsprotest.html 


San Diego-based sailor refuses deployment in protest
of war

ASSOCIATED PRESS

1:25 p.m. December 6, 2004

SAN DIEGO Ð A Navy petty officer opposed to the war in
Iraq refused to board his ship Monday as sailors and
Marines deployed for the Persian Gulf.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Pablo Paredes, 23, said he has
opposed the war since its inception. Until recently,
the weapons-control technician said he did not feel he
had a direct role in the war. Two weeks ago, however,
he said he was involuntarily transferred to the
amphibious transport USS Bonhomme Richard, which
ferries Marines to Iraq.

"I don't want to be a part of a ship that's taking
3,000 Marines over there, knowing a hundred or more of
them won't come back," he said. "I can't sleep at
night knowing that's what I do for a living."

Paredes of the New York City borough of the Bronx said
he joined the Navy in 2000 and has 20 months left on
his six-year enlistment. He said he was stationed
previously in Japan.

He said he was young and naive when he joined the Navy
and "never imagined, in a million years, we would go
to war with somebody who had done nothing to us."

Paredes was at the ship's pier at Navy Base San Diego
Monday as Expeditionary Strike Group Five left for its
tour in the Pacific and Indian oceans.

Military officials did not immediately comment on his
actions. He could face a court-martial, a dishonorable
discharge and possible time in a military jail.

He said he hopes his protest might inspire other
sailors, soldiers and Marines to refuse to take part
in the war.

"I know other people are feeling the same way I am,
and I'm hoping more people will stand up," he said.
"They can't throw us all in jail."

Find this article at: 
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20041206-1325-ca-iraq-sailorsprotest.html 





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