by andrew on November 12, 2009 9:22 am in Afghanistan
A protest has been called outside the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall on Thursday 12 November at 5pm in reaction to the decision to arrest and charge Lance Corporal Joe Glenton, a serving soldier who had the courage to stand up for what many in the army believe; that this is a futile and un-winnable war.
12 Nov, 2009 - 10:09 am
It takes all day to travel now from Norwich, they are running out of train drivers willing to do the job, they are all christams shopping apparently, so I will not be coming.
My heart goes out to Joe Glenton, he returned from war and knows why and what he is objecting to at least, many
out there are currently talking tabloid.
Here is a little reminder of that little mawther from kent who got you all flustered, she has started her re- election campaign.
12 Nov, 2009 - 11:59 am
I don’t know what the rules are on people leaving the armed forces but I don’t expect there are now many in the forces who could not have got out since it became blatantly obvious that British democracy would provide no protection against them being ordered to carry out crimes against peace. Therefore my sympathy in this sort of case is somewhat limited.
12 Nov, 2009 - 12:15 pm
Civilians are free to disagree with and criticise the government, but this man joined the British Army voluntarily. He then went AWOL and also disobeyed orders not to speak publicly. Still, I hope that the court-martial will take account of his conscientious objections.
12 Nov, 2009 - 12:48 pm
In these rather sordid times, when individual courage, honour and preparedness to tell the truth whatever the consequences is discouraged, despised and ridiculed, I feel Glenton deserves not sympathy (he knows exactly what he is doing) but immense admiration.
12 Nov, 2009 - 1:13 pm
There is something seriously wrong when our TV screens regularly show v.senior military brass speaking out in favour of operations in Afghanistan, yet when an ordinary enlisted man speaks out against he gets hauled off to the slammer. I bet that’ll do wonders for morale.
12 Nov, 2009 - 1:48 pm
Mike
Well said.
12 Nov, 2009 - 4:27 pm
There is a gulf of unspoken discrepancy between signing up to defend one’s country unquestioningly and doing anything the army tells you to. For example, if his CO tells a soldier to machine-gun a gathering of civilians, or something else that is obviously a war crime, my guess is that he would be theoretically prosecutable under Nuremburg if he does it, and theoretically prosecutable under a court martial if he does not.
Given this logic gap, the rules on conscientious objection are unsustainable, though of course the Establishment will sustain them regardless.
12 Nov, 2009 - 5:00 pm
If you wish to support Joe:
Petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/Glenton/petition.html
More information:
http://www.refusingtokill.net/UKAfghanistan/GlentonFlyer.htm
12 Nov, 2009 - 5:05 pm
Also, there are printable and returnable petition sheets here:
http://stopwar.org.uk/images/defend_joe_glenton_petition.pdf
19 Nov, 2009 - 4:21 pm
Goes to show how evil thinks…
How we fight back.
Takes time for the sound to kick in…
tinyurl.com/ykxawev
23 Nov, 2009 - 10:11 am
11 Comments