Army Resister Victor Agosto Speaks Out on Why He's Refusing to Fight
in Afghanistan
http://i3.democracynow.org/2009/8/5/hours_before_court_martial_army_resister
US Army Specialist Victor Agosto faces up to one month in jail for
refusing to deploy to Afghanistan. After returning from thirteen
months in Iraq, Agosto became a victim of the stop-loss program that
has extended the tours of more than 140,000 troops beyond their
contracts since 9/11. Just hours before his court-martial, Agosto
speaks out from his military base at Fort Hood, Texas.
--
Guest:
Spc. Victor Agosto, US Army specialist who refused to deploy to
Afghanistan. He will be court-martialed today and faces jail time.
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AMY GOODMAN: We turn now to the growing movement of GI resisters in
this country. A US Army specialist who refused to deploy to
Afghanistan faces a court-martial today and up to a month in jail.
Twenty-four-year-old Specialist Victor Agosto from Miami spent
thirteen months in Iraq with the 57th Battalion. When he returned to
the Fort Hood military base in Killeen, Texas last November, he
thought his contract with the Army would end this summer. But Agosto
became a victim of the stop-loss program that has extended the tours
of more than 140,000 troops beyond their contracts since 9/11. After
nearly four years with the Army, Agosto was told he would be deployed
to Afghanistan.
When he returned to base, Agosto had become a member of Iraq Veterans
Against the War and decided not to go to Afghanistan. He went public
with his decision, saying, quote, "There is no way I will deploy to
Afghanistan. The occupation is immoral and unjust. It does not make
the American people any safer. It has the opposite effect," he said.
Well, Victor Agosto will be court-martialed in just over an hour from
the time of this broadcast. He joins us now by telephone from Fort
Hood, Texas.
Welcome to Democracy Now!, Victor Agosto. Tell us where you are and
why you have made this decision not to go to Afghanistan, after
having served for more than a year in Iraq.
SPC. VICTOR AGOSTO: Well, right now I'm on Fort Hood. And I decided
that I justI couldn't, in good conscience, deploy to Afghanistan. I
don't believe that we're actually there to fight terror or that
terror can even be fought on the battlefield. And then that's
basicallythat's basically it. I justI don'tI just can't do it.
AMY GOODMAN: How did you come to this decision?
SPC. VICTOR AGOSTO: When I was in Iraq, I had done some reading. I
thought about why I was actually there, why were we involved in these
wars. And I read Noam Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival, and it was from
there that I realized that the concept that I had that we were there
to help the people of Iraq, that America had some sort of moral
superiority, was completely shattered from what I read there.
AMY GOODMAN: Are you applying for conscientious objector status?
SPC. VICTOR AGOSTO: No, I decided against that, because as far as the
Army is concerned, a conscientious objector is someone who is opposed
to all wars, and that's not me. I believe that sometimes war is
necessary in cases of legitimate self-defense and legitimate resistance.
AMY GOODMAN: You just feel Afghanistan is wrong.
SPC. VICTOR AGOSTO: Yes, I don't feel that we're making the world any
safer by doing that. We're just killing people and spreading
suffering with no real justification.
AMY GOODMAN: Now, explain. You were supposed toyour tour of duty
should have ended, or your service in the military, when?
SPC. VICTOR AGOSTO: Yesterday, actually.
AMY GOODMAN: Yesterday.
SPC. VICTOR AGOSTO: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: So why are you being sent back, or why are they trying to?
SPC. VICTOR AGOSTO: WhyI suppose they just need more people, so they
stop-lossed me.
AMY GOODMAN: "Stop-loss" means they can just call you back, even
though your term is supposed to end.
SPC. VICTOR AGOSTO: Yes. They can retain me past my original
enlistment in order to deploy again.
AMY GOODMAN: Our next guest, Camilo Mejia, is the first GI who served
in Iraq to have publicly resisted the war, and he was imprisoned for
refusing to go back. We're going to speak with him in a minute. He
went underground. You've chosen, Victor Agosto, not to go
underground, but actually to remain at Fort Hood. Why is that?
SPC. VICTOR AGOSTO: As I struggled with my decision, I learned of the
effect of the GI resistance movement during the Vietnam War. And I
thought that if I were to go AWOL, my commanders could tell other
soldiers thatyou know, that I left because I was scared, that, you
know, I had other reasons, whereas ifwhereas by staying on base, I
can set an example for other soldiers to see that, you know, that I
think this war is wrong, and I'm just not going to do it and that,
you know, I think they should do the same.
AMY GOODMAN: What is the response of others on Fort Hood, as you've
become this public symbol of GI resistance?
SPC. VICTOR AGOSTO: Well, they've generally been positive or neutral.
I've had fellow soldiers come and want to shake my hand or flash me a
peace sign or something like that. Some people have expressed their
disapproval, but usually they'll say somethingthey'll start out by
saying how much they respect me, but they disagree with what I'm
doing. But I don't really encounter a lot ofI don't really encounter
any bitterness towards my decision.
AMY GOODMAN: Victor Agosto, can you talk about your time in Iraq?
Where were you stationed? What did you do there?
SPC. VICTOR AGOSTO: I was stationed at Forward Operating Base Q-West,
and basically I worked at what's called a technical control facility,
where I configured computers, routers, switches, servers. But I
neverI was never in combat. I never felt any danger. I never felt
the need to fire my weapon. And that's it.
AMY GOODMAN: What are you feeling right now? In just about an hour's
time, how exactly does the process happen?
SPC. VICTOR AGOSTO: I'll be tried andyou know, be tried and likely
convicted of refusing the order of a noncommissioned officer to SRP,
which is a process that every soldier has to go through before they
deploy. And then they'll immediately take me to Bell County Detention
Center, where I'll probably serve thirty days.
AMY GOODMAN: Did it surprise you that President Obama has escalated
the war in Afghanistan?
SPC. VICTOR AGOSTO: No. No, it doesn't, because he said he would do
so during his campaign. Part of why I'm doing what I'm doing is
because I don't believe that any politician can end this war. I think
that it has to be ended at the grassroots level. Soldiers, by
refusing to fight, can bring about the end of the war.
AMY GOODMAN: What message do you have for other GIs, for other people
in the military?
SPC. VICTOR AGOSTO: I would say that you would neveryou'll never
regret following your conscience and that adherence to an oath is not
a valid excuse for betraying your conscience.
AMY GOODMAN: US Army Specialist Victor Agosto, served a
thirteen-month deployment in Iraq, is now refusing to go to
Afghanistan. He is expected to be court-martialed in the next hour.
And we will continue to follow his case, as we turn now tobest of
luck to you, Victor Agosto.
SPC. VICTOR AGOSTO: Thank you, Amy.
.
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