Independent Perspective News

At least six American soldiers in Germany have abandoned their service, and a hundred more have requested aid from a network of associations to counsel them regarding the difficulties -which are especially harsh in times of war- of declaring themselves conscientious objectors and the serious consequences of desertion. In many armies, soldiers are not given "reasonable information" when they decide to leave the military body, and this circumstance adopts an extreme form in the United States, assured Rudi Friedrich, from the Connection Association (http://www.connection-ev.de), an organism that helps soldiers who abandon their headquarters to never come back.

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Refusing to fight is hard enough for contract reasons, since soldiers voluntarily commit to service for several years, and those who make such decision face a process that can last for months.

These soldiers must offer a detailed explanation of his reasons and, should his request be accepted, he must subject to tests carried out by a psychologist, a military priest and an officer, who will also decide on the process. The majority of requests come from soldiers stationed in Germany, because among all the European countries it is there where the U.S. have more troops, directed from Stuttgart-Vaihingen, place of the Central European Command (EUCOM), which coordinates 116.000 soldiers for operations in Europe, most Africa and Middle East.

The six deserters went through the main door of some of the U.S. bases in Germany and their whereabouts are unknown. Their future depends on citizens who might be willing to shelter them and on the help of associations of the MCN, which recommends insisting on the legal way, and not deserting. "If abandoning service is never an easy task, difficulties harden to the extreme in times of war, because many request forms are destroyed and their signatories sent to the front", denounces Connection.

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