Just saw this incredible story of civil disobedience from Reuters:
ALDERSHOT (Reuters) – An RAF doctor stood trial at a court martial on Tuesday for refusing orders to go to Iraq, which he said was an illegal war.
Australian-born Flight Lieutenant Malcolm Kendall-Smith could face an unlimited jail sentence for five charges of disobeying orders after refusing to train and deploy last year, in the first case of its kind over Iraq.
Prosecutor David Perry read out a statement Kendall-Smith gave to police in which he said he could not go to Iraq because he believed the war was illegal and that to go would violate British and international law.
“For me to comply with an order which I consider to be illegal, places me in breach of domestic and international law, something that I am not prepared to do,” the statement said.
A doctor is not a front line soldier. He would have had a relatively safe tour of duty in Iraq, but chose to refuse to serve in a war he considered illegal and immoral, knowing he could be sentenced to an indefinite prison term. That takes real courage, folks — standing up for your beliefs even when they could send you to jail.
Let’s hope this brave man gets off.
Court Martial of Malcolm Kendall-Smith
