Posted in response to this article:
Yes, these people did voluntarily enlist, but it is incorrect and unfair to just assume they are all cowards who simply don't feel like doing the job they signed up for. Many of them, Glass included, faithfully went to Iraq as they were supposed to do and served honourably for at least one tour of duty... and it was only after seeing the crimes against humanity occurring there that they could not in good conscience continue with this mission.
It is both patriotic and honourable to stand up against one's government when it is committing atrocities. It is a mark of their integrity that they served in the first place, and that they came forward honestly about the problems at hand, despite knowing the severe consequences they knew they could likely face by doing so. Wouldn't it have been much easier to compromise their integrity and weasel out with false claims of being gay or post-traumatic? I see no reason whatsoever to deport such people.
After having lived in the USA for many years, I know many who have been suckered, or nearly so, by recruiters' wild promises about their assignments and placement once they enlist. Those in the know got those promises in writing. The rest were shocked by just how badly they were duped into situations and assignments to which they never would have agreed.
It's also worth noting that unlike George W. Bush, not everyone has a rich powerful father to pull strings and keep them out of harm's way during a war, and then cover their absence with 'lost paperwork.' Mere commoners must face a court-martial. It is the height of hypocrisy to dodge deployment yourself, then be so quick to send others into an illegal war and court-martial them if they fail to comply.
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