Fighting the War: Wilkerson sentenced, activists press Congress

Fighting the War: Wilkerson sentenced, activists press Congress
BY JUSTIN WARD

Spc. Mark Wilkerson faced a choice between his freedom and his conscience. He chose the latter, and now he's paying the price.
Last Thursday, Feb. 22, a Fort Hood military court sentenced the 23-year-old soldier to seven months in prison, with a bad-conduct discharge, for going absent without leave from the Iraq war. He will join more than 25 other soldiers nationwide who are incarcerated or facing prosecution for refusing to redeploy to Iraq, including Lt. Ehren Watada of Washington, who will return to court in March after his first hearing was declared a mistrial.

Wilkerson went AWOL while on leave from Iraq in November 2004, after the Army denied his application for conscientious-objector status – a legal exemption from fighting based on religious, moral, or ethical grounds. After spending 19 months as a fugitive, Wilkerson decided it was time to accept the consequences of his actions; without a plea agreement, he could have been sentenced to seven years in prison. In September 2006, he told a crowd of anti-war protesters at Cindy Sheehan's Camp Casey that he planned to turn himself in. In order to avoid a costly legal battle, Wilkerson declined a trial by jury and pled guilty to desertion.

On the eve of Wilkerson's sentencing, more than two dozen supporters gathered at South Austin's Cafe Caffeine. Wilkerson was scheduled to spend his last night as a free man speaking at the event but could not attend due to last-minute meetings with his lawyers. Ann Wright, a former Army colonel and State Department official who resigned in protest of the Iraq war, addressed the crowd and called the actions of Wilkerson and other soldier resisters an important "stand of conscience." "They are the ones that are willing to put their bodies on the line – not on the line for murdering or criminal activity," Wright said, "but on the line for conscience and morality and to hold accountable an administration that is putting our nation at risk."

Kelly Dougherty, co-founder of Iraq Veterans Against the War, echoed Wright's comments and underscored the difficulty of the decision faced by soldiers who choose to refuse. Soldiers are financially dependent on the military; not only do they lose their income if they go AWOL, but they face the likelihood of high legal costs. A strong military culture of camaraderie also causes soldiers to hesitate. "When you join the military, you become a part of a new family," Dougherty said. "IVAW members who have returned home and oppose the war often think of re-enlisting, because they don't want to leave their brothers and sisters in the military to fight the war alone." ..>

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