PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Violent soldier revolt continues
by anon Saturday, Jun. 18, 2005 at 6:35 PM

General, your tank is a mighty vehicle. It shatters the forest and crushes a hundred men, but it has one defect: it needs a driver.

General, your tank is a mighty vehicle.
It shatters the forest and crushes a hundred men,
but it has one defect:
it needs a driver.

General, your bomber is awesome.
It flies faster than a hurricane and bears more than an elephant,
but it has one defect:
it needs a mechanic.

General, a man is quite expendable.
He can fly and he can kill,
but he has one defect:
he can think.
--Bertholt Brecht

Last week military prosecutors charged staff Sergeant Alberto B . Martinez of killing two fellow officers in a grenade attack. This is the second such attack to be prosecuted by the military during Gulf War 2, following shortly the April conviction of Sergeant Hasan Akbar, who was sentenced to death. The number of attacks likely exceeds the number of prosecutions, however. Marine Andres Raya was shot dead by police officers last January after killing one officer and seriously wounding another. This took place shortly before he was scheduled for redeployment to Iraq. Also, over 30 U.S. soldiers have committed suicide during this Gulf War.

Attacks by soldiers were common during the Vietnam War. It was during that time when they became known as "fragging", after the fragmentation grenades often used. Official statistics from the Vietnam war record 551 fragging incidents with 86 deaths and over 700 injuries. But, as high as these numbers are, historians believe that soldiers attacking their officers occurred far more frequently. A particularly striking deficiency in the Pentagon's data is that it only tallies attacks with explosive devices, and omits other attacks, including attacks with firearms, which are much more widely available.

Recently, Harper's Index reported the estimated the GI rights Hotline received 35 THOUSAND calls last year from soldiers seeking a way out of the military. The GI Rights Hotline phone number is 1-800-394-9544 or on the web at <http://girights.objector.org>.

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