UNITED STATES: Iraq war deserter surrenders

Doug Lorimer

US Army Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejia became the first US soldier to turn himself in after refusing to return to Iraq when he turned himself in to military authorities in Boston on March 15, saying he would seek conscientious objector status.

"This is an oil-driven war, and I don't think any soldier signs up to fight for oil", said Mejia, one of 600 US Iraq war veterans who have gone AWOL over the past year.

Mejia was in Iraq until October 1, when he returned home on leave. He was supposed to return to duty on October 16, but did not.

The 28-year-old sergeant, who joined the US Army in 1995, was enrolled in the Florida National Guard while studying at the University of Miami when his National Guard unit was activated and sent to Iraq in last April.

After his surrender in Boston, Mejia was ordered to report to his old US Army unit in Fort Stewart, Georgia. Major Robert Resnick, chief of military justice at Fort Stewart, said that the Army had no immediate plans to charge or arrest Mejia.

From Green Left Weekly, March 24, 2004.

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From GLW issue 576