Actually anybody can disobey an order….but stipulate …that the cause in which you are fighting must be one that fits your political prejudices, you are hypocritical, dishonest…. Dugger

Pimping for a war that one hasn’t the intestinal fortitude to fight is the height of hypocrisy, dishonesty, and is deserving of contempt.
Look up the military oath.
Would you rather be true to your conscience or to a war mongering president who illegally attacks foreign countries?

It’s a joke, I say, it’s a joke, son!

If you’re not recalling what you learned in Sunday School, Saul of Tarsus was sent out to rout the trouble-making Christian movement in Damascus. Along the way, he got a high-voltage change of conscience. He bailed on his assignment and began working under an assumed name.

Quite so. I recommend the apostle Paul.

So legally the military should be able to send troops away for as long and as often as they like just because someone else is getting screwed over more? Hell no. The military must have an obligation to the health and welfare of the troops.

No, I think you are inadvertantly overlooking the fact that this guy’s five deployments don’t add up to the length of time of ONE of mine. Meaning that he has not been away from his family as long as the average Soldier who has only deployed one time. This is not my first, and it will more than likely not be my last. Bottom line, I volunteered, I don’t like a whole hell of a lot of things that I am ordered to do, but I volunteered and swore an oath. As long as the order is not one that is illegal I will follow it. Just because I think “it sucks” is not a reason to not do it. Just because the war is unpopular and is heavily disputed gives me no right to try and get out of an assignment or an order. Furthermore, I think he is wrong for going to the courts. What makes him so special that he doesn’t have to go. Air Force guys have shorter deployments than the Army or the Marine Corps, so some of them have been back and forth eight or nine times. The ultimate thing for a service member to remember is that if you don’t like the duty, get out when you “legally” can and don’t come back in. Service members have a different set of standards to live by, the luxury of being able to legally piss, bitch and moan about the government gets tossed out the window when you sign an oath of enlistment, or appointment letters as a commissioned officer. Civil disobedience is for civilians, it is called sedition or mutiny when you are wearing the uniform.

Like invading a country with no gameplan?

Is that a surprise?

Well, so do the men and women who are in Iraq right now. If the sergeant wants to try the “other priorities” argument, good luck to him. It worked well for Mr. Cheney and Mr. Ashcroft.

In his case, though, I have to side reluctantly with Dugger. Sgt. Botta made a commitment. As a matter of integrity, he’s duty bound to keep his commitment until his conscience leads him to an objection to all war.

Like when prisoners are being abused?

You can only protest obeying an order while carrying it out, or after having done it.

There is only one exception: When the order is morally repellent. That is the only exception.

… he had to ‘like’ the orders before he would obey them.: Dugger

Actually, even the military has the obligation to disobey an illegal order. I would be the first to advise this man to refuse on the grounds that the war in Iraq is illegal, the the C-in-C is a war criminal, and that consequently, his orders are illegal. If you think otherwise, you can take his place, bushboy.

So legally the military should be able to send troops away for as long and as often as they like just because someone else is getting screwed over more? Hell no. The military must have an obligation to the health and welfare of the troops.

“That’s not saying much”…

Actually that is saying quite a lot…..especially for people who have been on those “worse tours”.

That’s not saying much.

But let’s talk about oaths, shall we?

Our man Libby swore an oath to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Instead, he broke this oath and was found guilty of perjury. His reward for breaking this oath is a commutation of jail time and a possible full pardon down the road.

Our man Bush swore an oath to preserve, protect, and uphold the Constitution. And then he proceeded to ignore, disparage, or otherwise declare himself above said document.

Yet you tell me, in an America like that, that the oath sworn by a military man is sacrosanct and cannot be challenged, even in the face of, for example, an insane order such as castrating oneself with a melon baller.

(Which is not the case here, I’m aware. But you seem to say there would never, ever be a case where you would side with the offending soldier over the rule of his superiors.)

Doesn’t work that way, of course. Botta volunteered. Signed on the dotted line. He wasn’t given a caveat that he could pick and choose what orders to obey or that he had to ‘like’ the orders before he would obey them.

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