Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 4:29 pm Post subject: Soldier arrested for anti-war stance
1) ANTI-WAR SOLDIER ARRESTED: PROTEST NOW
Lance Corporal Joe Glenton, the soldier who faces desertion charges for refusing to return to Afghanistan, has been arrested and charged with five further offences for leading Stop the War's demonstration in London on 24 October and for expressing his opposition to the media in defiance of orders.
The new charges carry a maximum of ten years imprisonment in addition to the sentence of three to four years that Joe could get if the desertion charge is upheld.
Joe's mother, Sue Glenton, has spoken out against his arrest: "You've got government ministers, army commanders and MPs speaking every day in support of the war. What's so scary about a Lance Corporal having his say? My son is only speaking out for what he thinks is right."
Joe's arrest and imprisonment are signs of panic by the government and military commanders, faced with an ever growing majority of the British public opposing the war and an increasing number of prominent voices in the media calling for the withdrawal of British troops.
A poll published in the Independent shows that only one in five voters believes that Britain's military presence in Afghanistan is helping to protect the country from terrorism, as Gordon Brown insists. The same poll shows that 48 percent of voters think the war in Afghanistan increases the risk of domestic terrorist attack.
Stop the War has launched a campaign to defend Joe Glenton and his right to freedom of speech. (For updates see http://www.stopwar.org.uk )
A protest has been called outside the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall on Thursday 12 November at 5pm and we list below what you can do to support the only serving soldier who has so far had the courage to stand up for what many in the army believe; that this is a futile and unwinnable war.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
* EMERGENCY PROTEST AT THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
If you live in London, please try to join the protest on Thursday 12 November, 5pm, at the Ministry of Defence, Whitehall (opposite Downing Street) FACEBOOK EVENT (Please circulate): http://bit.ly/2h9IOf
* WRITE TO DEFENCE SECRETARY BOB AINSWORTH
EMAIL: defencesecretary@mod.uk or ainsworthr@parliament.uk
WRITE: Secretary of State for Defence, Floor 5, Main Building,
Whitehall, London, SW1A 2HB
FAX: 020 7218 6538
* COLLECT PETITION SIGNATURES
The Defend Joe Glenton petition can be downloaded here:
http://bit.ly/10gDKb
* WRITE LETTERS OF SUPPORT TO JOE GLENTON
Lance Corporal Joe Glenton
Military Corrective Training Centre (MCTC)
Berechurch Hall Camp
Colchester
Essex CO2 9NU
Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 5:04 pm Post subject: Re: Soldier arrested for anti-war stance
faceless wrote:
To be honest, I'm in two minds about this. When did he decide that killing strangers for no apparent was wrong?
i guess when he realised the reason he was given was false. i mean, i'm sure a lot of soliders think they sign up to protect the country, and that's a noble thing. that 'protecting the country' is distorted by the politicians and media to achieve other aims ( we haven't fought a defensive war - to actually protect the country - for decades! ), and people believe it, is where the problem lies. that this soldier has finally seen threw the lies and realised what he was doing is wrong, fair play to him.
i can't blame him for being suckered into the world view presented to people by politicians, the education system and the corporate media, lots of people are. lots of people don't have the time or inclination to read and research to see the reality.
Mark Steel: Here's one soldier who told the truth about this war L/Cpl Glenton's crime was to say we were making matters worse
Politicians and newspapers love to revere a war hero from Afghanistan, so it's strange that they haven't got round to Lance-Corporal Joe Glenton. When Joe went out there he must have been warned he could end up being held in captivity, but he can't have expected that would mean getting locked away by the British Army.
His crime was to conclude that the war was making matters worse, and it was immoral to carry on fighting, and to say this publicly. So they put him in a military jail, presumably to stop him doing it again. Leave this dangerous felon at liberty and he might refuse to fight in the Congo, in Kashmir, in a re-enactment of the Battle of Bosworth; who knows what danger he'd be to the public.
As a soldier, this must leave you in a state of confusion, as I doubt whether the initial briefing includes a section that goes, "Now then, men, during your tour of duty with the British Army, I implore you to remain vigilant and wary at all times of the wily foes known as the British Army."
Joe Glenton might have escaped arrest if he'd been prepared to keep his opposition to the war quiet, rather than speak about his experience openly. Because, as a soldier, he's not supposed to air an opinion about the war. But every week there are reports in which soldiers tell us we're slowly winning, and none of them get court-martialled. So the real crime wasn't to voice an opinion but to voice the wrong opinion.
In any case Army leaders make statements about every aspect of the war, to the extent that Richard Dannatt, head of the whole force, criticised the Government just before announcing his allegiance to the Tories. Maybe there's a formula that goes, "Officers of the rank of Captain or above shall he be entitled to thoughts. (However, ranks down to Sergeant-Major may be permitted certain impulses, at the rate of up to three per calendar month)."
It must be hard for a soldier not to hold an opinion on the war, when they can see they're often arming one set of warlords against another, to the extent we call the ones we like the "Moderate Taliban". Presumably these are the ones who say "One tower was fine, but we shouldn't have done the two".
There must be signs all round the barracks saying "You are ordered not to notice that the honest government you're risking your lives to defend fiddled the election so blatantly the UN ordered it to be re-run – or that the heroin production you were told you'd be eliminating has gone up – or that many of the civilians you're here to protect want you to leave. You must also be careful not to remember that one of the reasons given for the war was to capture Bin Laden, which we never did. Therefore anyone who sees him must not notice him, as this will serve to dampen morale."
This might be why Joe described his time in the barracks since his imprisonment by saying "The response was fantastic. Soldiers shook my hand and patted me on the back. One guy said, 'You're saying what everyone else is thinking'. Talking to soldiers in other units, you get the impression that people are questioning why we're in Afghanistan."
This questioning has spread through every layer of society, to the extent that the audience for a recent Question Time in Wootton Bassett, the town that lines the streets for each returning dead soldier, warmed to the arguments of anti-war campaigner Salma Yaqoob. So the politicians and supporters of the war must be thankful to Anjem Choudary, who's planned a march through Wootton Bassett for his group called Islam4UK.
To give him credit, no one could accuse Islam4UK of pandering to Middle England. If one of his supporters suggested "Maybe we should call ourselves Islam4UK, except for Surrey", he'd probably say "If you're going soft you can sod off and join the Liberal Democrats". Next week, you assume, he'll announce a parade demanding the ritual slaughter of all kittens live on Blue Peter.
The march allows supporters of the war to define the situation as sensible Britain versus militant Islam. But sensible Britain is turning against this war.
Joe Glenton has recently been released on bail, and his court martial takes place in three weeks, around the time another participant in war will be giving his evidence. So the rules seem to be that if you tell a lie to start a war, you're called up seven years later for a polite inquiry. And if you tell the truth to stop a war you're likely to get banged up. To someone somewhere I presume this all makes sense.
A soldier who refused to return to Afghanistan because he opposes the war has been jailed after admitting going absent without leave (Awol).
L/Cpl Joe Glenton, 27, from York, joined the Army in 2004 but absconded in 2007 after serving with the Royal Logistic Corps in Afghanistan.
He handed himself in after two years and six days' absence.
Glenton, who is based at Abingdon, Oxfordshire, was jailed for nine months at Colchester and reduced to the ranks.
The court martial was told that Glenton, who later campaigned against the conflict, was discovered to be absent on 11 June 2007, when he was due to return to Dalton Barracks in Abingdon.
He returned to barracks 737 days later on 16 June 2009, when he was charged.
During that time Glenton went to south east Asia and Australia.
He had previously performed a seven-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.
When he returned he was ordered to go back to the conflict zone.
Nick Wrack, in mitigation, told the court martial that this was nine months after his previous tour had finished, even though military guidelines suggest soldiers should not be deployed again within 18 months.
Mr Wrack said Glenton had suffered from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after his first tour of duty.
'Coward and malingerer'
He told the court that when Glenton raised concerns about going back he suffered bullying.
"When he first raised with his staff sergeant his reluctance to be deployed again, instead of being dealt with in a sensible way it resulted in the sergeant at the time bullying and intimidating L/Cpl Glenton," he said.
"He was called a coward and a malingerer.
"When this information was brought to his commanding officer, the sergeant was spoken to, but this reinforced the bullying."
Consultant psychiatrist Lars Davidsson told the court Glenton may have reacted the way he did because of PTSD.
Glenton took part in an anti-war protest in October last year.
After the hearing a spokesman for the Stop the War Coalition said: "Joe Glenton is not the person who should be facing a jail sentence.
"It should be the politicians who have led us into disastrous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."
Monday 12 July. Interview with soldier Joe Glenton on the day he was released from military jail in Colchester for refusing to fight in Afghanistan.
Family and supporters of refusenik Joe Glenton have expressed their joy at the former soldier's release from military prison in Colchester.
A small but loud band of Stop the War protesters greeted Mr Glenton on his release with the former soldier visibly moved by the support.
First to greet Mr Glenton was wife Claire who declared to the waiting cameras that she was "ecstatic" about his release.
Speaking to the Star at a celebration lunch for Mr Glenton, she thanked the peace movement for "just being there" throughout the whole ordeal.
"The support, the amount of letters has all been very comforting," she said.
Although admitting it had been hard on a personal level, Ms Glenton said: "Joe's stand struck a chord in my heart. Things are not right and if I can help, I will."
The tireless Ms Glenton urged people to remember the reason why it happened and "why Joe did what he did.
"If the new government could read his original letter to Gordon Brown, then that would be a start. They need to take note of what he said in it."
She also criticised the military for not treating soldiers properly "when things go wrong."
Adding her voice of support to Mr Glenton, Stop the War convener Lindsey German said the former corporal was in "fantastic spirits both personally and politically.
"Joe should have been hailed as a hero, not put in prison," she insisted.
Turning her attention to the wider consequences of continued occupation in Afghanistan, Ms German added: "It's clear US imperialism cannot win. But if we don't stop them, there could be war with Iran which the whole Middle East could become embroiled in."
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