sergeant kevin benderman applied for conscientious objector status last december. that was just 10 days before his unit was set to deploy to iraq, and benderman had already served 8 months in iraq and had been in the army for 10 years. but, things he saw in iraq (one example: a young girl burned) mad ehim question what he was doing there
thing is, his CO status has been denied now, and he'll be facing a court martial on charges of desertion
the military defines a conscientious objector as someone who "opposes war in all forms for deeply held moral or religious reasons"
maybe it's just me, but wouldn't seeing how horrible war could actually be and turning against the idea of it seem like soemthing that should count more (rather than less) than some liberal kid afraid to go to war*? this guy actually experienced war and saw firsthand how it didn't fit with what he was doing in the military...
...and now he faces up to 7 years in prison, reduction in rank to private and a dishonorable discharge
of course, maybe that's better, under the circumstances than being forced back into active duty in iraq
* not that that's all that goes for CO status, of course