Donate to help defend Marc - 146 people have given $5,408. Because the Army kidnapped Marc to Kuwait for trial, we will need to raise at least $10,000 to provide a civilian defense lawyer. Critical expert witnesses to could be another $5,000, in addition to the $4,600 already spent.

Courage to Resist. March 25, 2010

US Army Specialist Marc A. Hall sits in a military brig at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, facing an imminent court martial for challenging the US military’s Stop-Loss policy in a song — his pre-trial hearing was held last week on March 17. Yet it was not the hip-hop song he wrote criticizing the Stop-Loss policy that landed him in trouble. What put the 34-year-old New York City native in the brig were his persistent assertions of inadequate mental health care that culminated in a Dec. 7 complaint to the Army Investigator General. Just five days later Hall was charged with violating “good order and discipline” at Fort Stewart, Georgia, and was shipped out of the country.

Berkeley City Council recommends universal and unconditional amnesty for Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan war military resisters and veterans

Courage to Resist. March 30, 2010

On Tuesday, March 9, 2010, the Berkeley (California) City Council passed Resolution No. 64,803 N.S. recommending “Universal and Unconditional Amnesty for Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan War Military Resisters and Veterans Who Acted In Opposition to the War for Matters of Conscience.”

March 25, 2010

Afghanistan war resister Travis Bishop was released from the brig at Fort Lewis today. Travis originally was sentenced to 12 months in prison in a court-martial at Fort Hood, Texas for refusing to deploy to Afghanistan for reasons of conscience. He later received a 3 month reduction in sentence due to a successful clemency application to the Commanding General at Fort Hood, as well as receiving extra time off for good behavior. He served a total of 7 months and 12 days of confinement, as well as a reduction of rank from Sergeant to Private and a pending Bad Conduct Discharge.

Courage to Resist. March 25, 2010

Joe Glenton, the first British soldier to serve in Afghanistan and publicly speak out against the war, was sentenced to nine months in military jail on March 7th for being absent without leave. Joe believes the war has “further antagonized the Muslim population of the world… and the conflict has become a part of the problem not a part of the solution.” He will spend just over five months in jail due to “previous good character”.“He saw a war that defied everything that he was taught. They sentenced him to teach him a lesson about speaking out, [and] to discourage other soldiers from doing the same,” explained his lawyer after the sentencing. Joe’s mom Sue Glenton agreed and added, “The judge is making an example of Joe. This is a political decision.”

War objector with PTSD jailed and ‘extradited’ to Kuwait for secret trial

Donate to help defend Marc - 146 people have given $5,408. Because the Army kidnapped Marc to Kuwait for trial, we will need to raise at least $10,000 to provide a civilian defense lawyer. Critical expert witnesses to could be another $5,000, in addition to the $4,600 already spent.

After filing an official complaint over inadequate mental health services at Ft. Stewart, Georgia, Army Spc Marc Hall was jailed on December 12, 2009 on the pretext of an angry song about “Stop-loss” he produced in July 2009. The Army has recently shipped Spc Hall to Kuwait where he remains jailed awaiting a virtually secret trial.

By Army Spc Marc Hall. February 20, 1010

I never thought that I would join the Army only to one day be incarcerated by the Army. I have never been to jail in my life, until now. The Army is charging me with Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, “communicating threats” towards my chain of command. Yet I was only communicating how I felt about what I have experienced in the Army and how I felt about the Army’s “Stop-loss” policy. That policy meant that I could not leave the Army when I was supposed to, and after I had already served in Iraq for 14 months.

In short, we win! Alexis did not go to Afghanistan, will not go to jail, will not be separated from her baby Kamani, and will get out of the Army. To everyone who signed the petition or donated to her legal defense, thank you.

By Friends and Family of Alexis Hutchinson.
February 11, 2010

Spc. Alexis Hutchinson, the single-mother in the Army who missed deployment last year when her childcare plans fell through at the last minute was today granted an administrative discharge from the Army. Hutchinson and her civilian attorney, Rai Sue Sussman, are happy with the results. Spc. Hutchinson says that she is “excited to know what will happen to me, and that I am not facing jail. This means I can still be with my son, which is the most important thing.” (Photo:  James Dao, NY Times. 2/12/10)

By Jeff Paterson, Courage to Resist. February 1, 2009

Historian. WWII veteran. Author. Activist. GI resistance supporter.

I remember reading Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States" in 1989. At the time, I was a 20-year-old Marine artillery controller becoming disillusioned with what I was seeing stationed in Okinawa, the Philippines, and Korea. Reading “People’s History” was certainly an unknowing step I took towards later refusing to fight in Iraq in August 1990. It enabled me to see my individual actions as a part of something much larger—yes, even larger than the Marine Corps.

By Sarah Lazare, Courage to Resist for ZNet. January 24, 2010.

As Haiti asks the world for help turning around the destruction wrought by the January 12th earthquake, the U.S. is funding destruction in Iraq and Afghanistan. President Obama is expected to ask for another $33 billion for the military budget this year, on top of the $1 trillion that has come out of U.S. taxpayers' pockets since 2001, to fund the so-called War on Terror.

In contrast, the president has pledged $100 million in aid to Haiti, amounting to not much more than the mortgage on a rich person's house.

By Dustin Stevens. January 15, 2010

First of all I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. I have been free of the Army for almost three months now. I have to be honest, life is hard out here. But I'm slowly aiming for my goal of inner peace. I have changed a lot in this past year. More so than even I imagined. I want to say something to those of you who are reading that have not yet followed your heart and for those who are still in limbo. You have only one life to live on this planet. Life is too short to be unhappy. Fight for what you believe to be right.

Please donate to Eric's defense at couragetoresist.org/eric

Eric's story was featured on the front page of The New York Times. December 24, 2009

By Dahr Jamail, IPS News. December 11, 2009

MARFA, Texas - With a military health care system over-stretched by two ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, more soldiers are deciding to go absent without leave (AWOL) in order to find treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Eric Jasinski enlisted in the military in 2005, and deployed to Iraq in October 2006 as an intelligence analyst with the U.S. Army. He collected intelligence in order to put together strike packets - where air strikes would take place.

Successful clemency effort funded by Courage to Resist supporters.

By Courage to Resist. December 21, 2009

Iraq War resister Cliff Cornell was granted a 30 day reduction to his one year jail sentence this week. The Commanding General of Fort Stewart, Georgia knocked off the month in response to a clemency request filed by Cliff’s civilian attorney James Branum of Oklahoma. Cliff is now expected to be released on or about January 16, 2010.