REFUSING TO KILL IN AFGHANISTAN

 A SOLDIER’S MOTHER SPEAKS

Italian tour with Sue Glenton 16-24 February

“There have been demonstrations in New Zealand, Moscow and St Petersburg protesting against my son Joe’s imprisonment and unjust treatment at the hands of the MoD [Ministry of Defence] and British Government. We remain strong in the knowledge that Joe is right.”   Sue Glenton, shown with Against The War York (UK)

Joe Glenton is the first soldier in Europe to publicly refuse to fight in Afghanistan.  He was sent there with the British army in 2006: while politicians claim that troops were there ‘to help’, he saw that the Afghan people were against them. He went AWOL) in 2007 and handed himself in two years later.

Last November, he was jailed for a month, then released on condition that he does not speak in public. His mother Sue and his wife Clare have carried on speaking for him and against the war and occupation.  On 29 January, as a result of international support within and outside the military, the military court dropped the most serious charges which carried a 10-year sentence. However, in spite of being diagnosed as suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, on 5 March Joe will be put on trial for going AWOL, facing two years in jail. This amounts to mental torture.

Joe Glenton is one of thousands of men and women around the world who refuse to serve in the military—a crucial part of the international anti-war movement.  To defend Western interests, NATO troops have ravaged Afghanistan, one of the poorest countries in the world. The majority of casualties are women. In 2004, the UN estimated that of the 1.5 million people killed in conflicts over two decades, 300,000 were children. This bloodshed must stop.  Those responsible for the crime of war should be tried, not those who refuse to kill.  REFUSING TO KILL IS NOT A CRIME!

Sign the model letter to support Joe Glenton! on www.refusingtokill.net

Want to join the Armed Forces?

·    They take a lot of our money to kill more of us: World governments spent a record $1.46 trillion on upgrading their armed forces last year, almost half of this by the US alone. At least 753,399 people have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001.

·    You can also be killed: 4,368 US and 179 UK soldiers killed in Iraq; 986 US, 256 UK, and 389 soldiers from other countries, among whom 22 Italian, killed in Afghanistan.

·    Or wounded: 4,139 US and 2,864 UK soldiers wounded in Afghanistan; 31,514 US and 11,750 UK soldiers wounded in Iraq. 

·    Or kill yourself : In the UK 264 Falklands veterans committed suicide after the war, while 255 were killed in the war.  In the US, at least 6,200 veterans kill themselves each year.

·    Or become physically ill, perhaps fatally: 6,000 UK and an estimated 210,000 US soldiers (30%) developed Gulf War Syndrome after the first Gulf War. 

·    Or mentally ill: More than 1,500 British Iraq veterans have been diagnosed with mental health disorders.  About 300,000 (20%) US veterans suffer from major depression or PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

·    Or homeless: 1,100 UK veterans sleep rough or in hostels every night in London. In the US, one out of every three homeless men are veterans.

·    Or get into trouble with the law: 8,500 UK veterans are in prison – 10% of the prison population!  In 2004, there were 140,000 veterans in US prisons - 23% of them for a violent crime, including for sexual assault.

·    Or kill or rape: Murders committed by UK active-duty soldiers rose 89% from the pre-war period. Domestic violence is five times higher among US military families than among civilian families.

·    Or be raped or bullied: Who can forget the sexual abuse and sadism towards young recruits in UK Deepcut barracks? In the US, 30% of women ex-soldiers have reported rape or attempted rape within the military.

Is it worth it?

Fact sheet by Payday