Newsmedianews | Northern Ireland - a perspective by Sean Mc Aughey

by Sean Mc Aughey
Sean Mc Aughey is a former University of Ulster Student's union President and has worked in public relations.
He is now a freelance journalist and a regular contributor to the Blanket, which describes itself as “a journal of protest and dissent”.
His material is published unedited on this page.
Contact Sean Mc Aughey Archived items

— a perspective –

Page Index
Leading Human Rights Solicitor "Shut Down” by Law Society

What’s this?
Direct news input story index

USA Presidential Election 2024
06 Nov 2024; posted by the editor - Opinion, United States

The world outside of the USA formed and helped develop the United States into what it now is.

Read more...

Tags: Donald Trump, 2024, USA election

0 Comments

Direct news input items

Desertion: A Long, Proud History printable version

20 Jul 2015: posted by the editor - International

By David Swanson
Excerpted from Free Radicals: War Resisters in Prison by CJ Hinke, forthcoming from Trine-Day in 2016
There are as many reasons to desert military service as there are deserters. All countries’ militaries like to snatch young men when they are uneducated, inexperienced, and unemployed. It takes a soldier far greater courage to throw down his weapon than to kill a stranger.

There are deserters in every country that has an armed forces. Armies demand blind obedience and human beings crave liberty.

Why do men desert? Certainly not from cowardice. It takes far more courage to break from the pack and its reliance upon rabid nationalism. 36% of men facing battle for the first time were more afraid of being labeled a coward than of being wounded or killed.

War-sick has been called by many names by psychologists. In the US Civil War, DaCosta’s disease or soldier’s heart; in World War I, shell-shock, conversion disorder or fugue state, flight response; in World War II, battle fatigue, battle exhaustion; in Vietnam, combat fatigue, combat exhaustion, combat stress reaction; to the oh-so-modern post-traumatic stress disorder shared by Gulf soldiers and drone pilots.

All these diagnoses have at one time been banned and mentions censored, even in medical journals. The goal of treatment being, of course, to send soldiers back to war. 600,000 were discharged from the US Army alone for neuropsychiatric complaints. As noted by Fortune magazine, at the start of World War II, ‘25 years after the end of the ‘Great’ War, nearly half of the 67,000 beds in Veterans Administration hospitals are still occupied by the neuropsychiatric casualties of World War I.’ More than one-quarter of all World War II casualties were psychiatric.

Deserters are hardly cowards. Many simply were not willing to kill after joining the military. Others experienced an ideological crisis. Some had needy families at home. Country right or wrong’ What nonsense! ‘Desertion’ is a pejorative term in human society. We think of them as ‘returners’ from the madness of all war. We’re waiting for them to come home, proud that they never had to kill anybody.

Although the US penalty for desertion during wartime remains death, no American deserter has served more than 24 months since September 11, 2001.

The Nuremburg Principles require a soldier to refuse any orders which may result in the commission of crimes against humanity. (And what else is war!) War of 1812 (1812-1815) 12.7% of all American troops deserted in comparison to 14.8% during peacetime. This was largely due to the death penalty for such ‘treason’.

Many faced summary execution.

Mexican-American War (1846-1848) 8.3%, 9,200 US soldiers deserted.

US Civil War (1861-1865) The north’s Union Army faced far greater desertion than the south’s Confederacy. More than 87,000 deserters were recorded from only three northern states, 180,000 deserters in total by war’s end. The south is said to have lost 103,400 to desertion through the war, including whole units of soldiers. However, as many as 278,000 of 500,000 troops were missing by war’s end. Mark Twain deserted from both sides. William Smitz of the North’s Pennylvania Volunteers was the last deserter shot by firing squad in 1865.

World War I (1914-1918) 240,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers were court-martialed and 346 were executed for desertion, cowardice, quitting a post, refusing an order, or casting away arms out of 3,080 death sentences during the ‘War to End All Wars’, including 25 Canadians and 22 Irishmen. They are commemorated by the Shot at Dawn Memorial in Staffordshire. The memorial was modeled on 17-year old Private Herbert Burden, blindfolded and tied to a stake. Almost all of these deserters’ names were not added to war memorials. Some, though not nearly all, have been pardoned posthumously by the British government. A few refused a blindfold when facing a firing squad, choosing to look them in the eye. (And these are cowards?!?) More than 600 French soldiers were executed for desertion.

15 German soldiers were executed for desertion.

28 New Zealand deserters were sentenced to death and five were executed.

These soldiers were posthumously pardoned in 2000.

The US military recorded 21,282 deserters and President Woodrow Wilson commuted all 24 death sentences for deserters.

World War II (1939-1945) More than 21,000 American deserters were tried and convicted of desertion during ‘The Good War’. Although 49 were sentenced to death, only one, Private Eddie Slovik, a soldier who had volunteered to clear mine fields, was executed by musketry on January 31, 1945 at Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines in France. His final declaration was, ‘I’ll run away again if I have to go out there.’ Supreme Allied Commander and later US President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, confirmed Slovik’s death sentence, claiming ‘it was necessary to discourage further desertions’. Slovik said, ‘They’re shooting me for the bread and chewing gum I stole when I was 12 years old.’ Slovik’s execution was hidden from French civilians. He was bound at arms and torso, knees, and ankles and hung from a spike on a six-by-six post against the stone wall of a French farmhouse. 12 soldiers were issued M-1 rifles, only one of which contained a blank round. After the first volley, Private Slovik didn’t die; he died as the soldiers were reloading. Eddie Slovik was the first American deserter to be executed since Lincoln was President. He was 24.

Slovik was buried in a numbered grave in Row 3, Grave 65 of Plot ‘E’ alongside 95 US soldiers executed for rape and murder, until 1987 when President Ronald Reagan ordered the return of his remains. He is buried in Detroit, next to his wife, Antoinette. She had petitioned seven US presidents for his return until she died in 1979, never having received GI medical benefits.

World War II saw 1.7 million US courts-martial, one-third of all American prosecutions. In May 1942 alone, there were 2,822 desertions from duty.

More than 1,500 Austrian soldiers deserted the German Wehrmacht. A campaign to remember them was started in 1988 with the theme, ‘Desertion is not reprehensible, war is’. In 2014, they were honoured by a monument, the Memorial for the Victims of Nazi Military Justice. The sculpture sits in Vienna opposite the Austrian Chancellory and President’s office. It is inscribed simply with just two words, ‘all alone’.

In Germany, more than 15,000 soldiers were executed for desertion by the Nazi regime. They were commemorated in 2007 by the Deserteur Denkmal in Stuttgart. It is dedicated ‘To the deserters from all wars’.

War on Vietnam (1955-1975) At least 50,000 US soldiers deserted, including many who fled to Canada, France, and Sweden.

The Soviet Union, throughout its history 1917-1991, executed 158,000 deserters and jailed 135,000 Red Army officers. A further 1.5 million Soviet prisoners of war under the Nazis were sent to Siberian gulags on their repatriation due to disaffection in the ranks.

60,000-80,000 ethnic Soviet border troops from the Muslim Central Asian regions deserted during the Afghan Civil War 1979-1989. 85,000 Afghan troops also deserted during this period.

Wars on Afghanistan, Iraq, and many more (2001-present) Since 2000, the Pentagon estimates more than 40,000 troops have deserted from all branches of military service. In 2001 alone, 7,978 deserted.

More than 5,500 American troops deserted in 2003-2004. In 2005, 3,456 soldiers deserted. By 2006, that number had reached 8,000.

In 2006, the UK military reported over 1,000 deserters.

US Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl was charged with desertion and ‘misbehavior’ before the enemy after abandoning his post in Afghanistan in 2009. He was held captive by the Taliban for five years before being exchanged in 2014
for six high-ranking Afghans held by the US in their extrajudicial prison base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. One died before the exchange so five Taliban were released by the US, the army chief of staff, deputy minister of intelligence, a former minister of the interior, and two senior commanders. The Taliban originally demanded $1 million and the release of 21 Afghan prisoners along with a Pakistani scientist who killed US soldiers. (President Obama actually does ‘negotiate with terrorists’.

The Commander-in-Chief took a publicity photo-op with Bergdahl’s parents in the Rose Garden.) It appears the young sergeant is being prosecuted because, were he not, he could demand compensation from the US government due a prisoner of war.

(The US can spend trillions on wars, and pay for a court-martial but refuses to compensate one soldier!) Bergdahl faces a life sentence at court-martial.

So what was this home-schooled Idaho boy who studied fencing and ballet, never owned a car and rode everywhere by bicycle doing in the military, anyway? Hint: the military maw will take any cannon fodder it can get! Bowe went from a year-long retreat at a Buddhist monastery direct to infantry school at Fort Benning. Like Pvt. Slovik, Sgt. Bergdahl, announced his intention to ‘walk away into the mountains of Pakistan’., taking only his compass.After he began to learn Pashto, Bergdahl spent more times with Afghans than the soldiers of his ‘counterinsurgency’ unit.

He wrote his parents he was ‘ashamed to be an American’ and considered renouncing his US citizenship, a small detail buried by the White House.

His parents wrote back, ‘OBEY YOUR CONSCIENCE!’ 64% of Canadians were polled to ask their government to accept US military refugees after two motions for compassion were passed in Parliament in 2008 and 2009. Hundreds of American deserters have fled to Canada.

However, these legislative efforts were non-binding. The Canadian government has adopted a harsh policy of deporting deserters to the US, in marked contrast to the Vietnam period, and many young Americans simply go underground in Canada.

The BBC commented on the precedent-setting case of Iraq war resister Jeremy Hinzman in 2004: ‘Americans in trouble have been running to Canada for centuries’ in the wake of the American Revolution’ Underground Railroad that spirited escaped American slaves to freedom’’.

Although I counselled, aided and abetted hundreds of Vietnam draft refusers throughout the 1960s as part of the Student Peace Union, The Resistance, and the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, I had little contact with American deserters. I first advocated desertion in a large, public Gensuikin demonstration in front of the huge US military base deploying troops to Vietnam in Naha, Okinawa, in 1969. I arrived by ship and left in a private plane.

I still advocate, counsel, aid and abet desertion by anyone in military service anywhere. Deserters are not only national heroes. They are global heroes who have refused to kill civilians and soldiers on foreign soil.

You can do no greater good than refusing to kill. If you are in the military, anybody’s military, do the right thing: RUN AWAY!

References
Wikipedia, ‘Desertion’ Charles Glass, Deserters: The Last Untold Story of the Second World War, 2013. William Bradford Huie, The Execution of Private Slovik, 1954. A 1974 movie of the same name based on the book and starring Martin Sheen.

Benedict B. Kimmelman, ‘The Example of Private Slovik’, American Heritage, September/October 1987. http:/www.americanheritage.com/node/55767 Joseph Heller, Catch-22, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1961. Ray Rigby, The Hill, New York: John Day, 1965.

Tags: Military desertion

Back to headlines
comments (0)
recommend

>Local comment

Name: Remember me

E-mail: (optional)

Captcha

Friday, January 14, 2005
Leading Human Rights Solicitor "Shut Down” by Law Society
Society claims ‘substantial history of complaints going back ... years’
Exclusive report by Sean Mc Aughey
Sources and friends close to lawyer Padraigin Drinan are saying the official reasons behind an enforced closure by the Law Society of the offices of Ireland’s foremost human rights defender and solicitor remains wide open for damaging speculation.

Former clients who contacted the Law Society say they were immediately re-directed to a voice mail inbox belonging to the Deputy Secretary; Suzanne Bryson who was unavailable.

On Wednesday a Law Society spokesman was asked if Ms Drinan’s certificate to practice been fully revoked. The spokesman described the measures against Ms Drinan as a “removal of her provision to practice.” and added that a full Law Society press statement on the matter would be available.

In a statement released on Friday, January 14, 2005, the Law Society said: “Ms Drinan has a substantial history of complaints going back a number of years. These have led to a series of decisions by the Law Society to bring proceedings against Ms Drinan before the Disciplinary Tribunal, established for this purpose by the Solicitors (NI) Order 1976, as amended. The Disciplinary Tribunal operates independently of the Law Society.”

However, no clarrification of the substance or nature of the ‘complaint’ was given. The statement continues: “Complaints against Ms Drinan came before the Disciplinary Tribunal in May 2004. On considering the evidence presented by the Law Society, the Tribunal found that the complaints had been duly substantiated. It may be helpful to explain that in addition to imposing certain fines and costs penalties, the Tribunal Order records as follows; ‘The Tribunal noted with regret the Respondent’s (Ms Drinan) previous history of proven complaints before the Tribunal which were all similar to the complaints today. They formed the view that the Respondent was not functioning at any acceptable level as a single practitioner and that in the interest of the public and the Respondent herself, they are ordering that she is restricted from practising on her own account or in partnership. She may accept employment from another solicitor provided they have at least seven years post qualification experience. The Tribunal also orders that she shall not work in any practice using her name on the title or as one of the principals.’ The Tribunal were prepared to defer the implemantation of the Order for a reasonable period to allow Ms Drinan to make alternative arrangements. This deferment initially applied until September 2004 with a subsequent deferral to a date than fixed by the Tribunal at 6 January 2005.

“As and from that date, Ms Drinan is not entitled as a matter of law to practise on her own account. If she continues to do so, she will not only be in breach of the Order of the Tribunal, but will also be committing a criminal offence. In these circumstances the Law Society is under an obligation to see that the terms of the Tribunal Order are complied with.

“Ms Drinan is not inhibited from practice as an employed solicitor.

“The inability of Ms Drinan to continue in practice on her own account is not an action taken by the Law Society but is a function of an Order made by the Disciplanary Tribunal. Ms Drinan has not to our knowedge at any time sought to contest or appeal the Orders made by the Disciplinary Tribunal.” The statement was signed by Don Anderson, for the Law Society.

An informed source close to Ms Drinan said it was believed that as a result of her civil rights involvement she was seen by the establishment as an embarrassing and troublesome ‘thorn in the side’ who had done nothing wrong other than to try to provide legal advice to those who could not otherwise afford it.

IRSP spokesperson, Terry Harkin described Ms Drinan as “someone who was on par with James Connolly especially in terms of helping the poor and the voiceless all over Ireland” and he asked “where will the most vulnerable in our society get legal help now ”?

“Padraigin Drinan,” he continued, “is a once in a lifetime heroine who ought to be recognized and elevated for her tireless work and not punished, bullied and intimidated by some of her colleagues, who have left her open to a humiliating whisper campaign. ”

A Spokesperson for the Anti Racism Network described The Law Society’s actions as “questionable” and she asked where was the Law Society’s energy when legal immigrants were imprisoned with their children, being bombed from their home or loosing their legs due to frostbite. The immigrants she said are only a small example of the many communities throughout Ireland who are indebted to Padraigin Drinan. ”

Padraigin Drinan speaking from her Belfast office said: “At this stage it appears that I am accused of being a poor business manager but not guilty of any financial impropriety. I have been instructed also that I must amalgamate with other solicitors. ”

But she added: ”I am heartened by the hundreds of calls from well wishers and supporters from all over the world including a call from among others, Gareth Pierce.”
background items

Thursday, 28 October 2004
Féile an Phobail, West Belfast
By Sean Mc Aughey
The West Belfast community was demonised for many years by both the establishment and the media and this reached fever pitch in March 1988 as a result of the tragic events which followed the SAS killings of three unarmed IRA volunteers in Gibraltar. In reaction to this unparalleled negative and damaging portrayal of the West Belfast community, local groups and their MP, Gerry Adams, decided to organise a festival. Its purpose was to celebrate the positive side of the community, its creativity, its energy, its passion for the arts, and for sport. And it aimed at providing events and entertainment at a price that the majority of the community could afford.

*1 The West Belfast Féile which is entering its 17th year is the largest community (people) powered festival in Europe. It is internationally regarded as a ten day long festival "on par" with the best community festivals in England and Ireland. The Féile includes, a colourful carnival parade, discussions, debates, concerts, exhibitions, children's events, i.e street parties, bouncy castles etc, sports, literary and drama events, Féile radio, widespread community events on a street to street, pub to pub basis and various political, cultural or historical tours and walks.

The Festival aims to provide events of interest for everyone at a price that the majority of the community could afford while simultaneously serving also to elevate a positive West Belfast self image contolled by its people despite the forces acting against the people and the official resources denied them. The Féile continues to grow into a major tourist attraction. The August Féile continues also to easily attract "top of the range" participation from local and International entertainers, artists and commentators. This year's Féile line up included, Arthur Scargill leader in 1984 of the National Union of Mineworkers presenting The 10th Annual Frank Cahill Memorial Lecture and The P.J. McGrory Memorial Lecture - Long Road to the Truth delivered by Mrs Geraldine Finucane who was shot and wounded at the time of her husband Pat's, assassination 15 years ago. Top British band Big Brovaz, Irish Traditionalist singer/songwriter, Donal Luney and Andy Irvine, Christy Moore and Declan Sinnott, novelist Roddy Doyle, comedian Rich Hall and Bob Marley`s band, the Wailers demonstrating that the Feile is going from strength to strength and most definitely growing in popularity not only among the audience but the artists, as well. The choice of August for the Féile by the West Belfast Community and many other Republican communities like Ardoyne and New Lodge is pertinent. Because, August 9th 1971, brought a re-introduction to nationalist areas of widespread house raids, arrests and imprisonment without trial or a release date. The yearly anniversary of Interment was previously marked in the community by a display of bonfires of defiance. But, the bonfires provided the RUC and British Army with the ideal opportunity for provaction and delivered in British terms "a fool proof" excuse for the entire "Mechanism of the State" to "justify" any injury or death perpetrated by State violence and especially the use of plastic bullets, when framed within the same context of a nationalist bonfire.

Teenager shot dead returning home from Internment night bonfire.
The DPP refused to initiate proceedings on the grounds that it was impossible to establish which RUC officer fired the fatal shot. The jury found that at the time of Seamus' killing that he was not engaged in any rioting and that there was no rioting at the time of his killing.

*2 "The fatal shot" that killed 15 year-old Seamus Duffy from the Oldpark area was fired from a passing RUC patrol on August 9th 1989. The plastic bullet crushed his heart and tore a four-inch laceration in his left lung.

*3 Seamus Duffy was returning home from an internment night bonfire and there was no rioting in the area. The initial RUC response indicates according to The Relatives for Justice group, the RUC believed Seamus Duffy did not die as a result of being hit by a plastic bullet and that they would appoint a 'top policeman' to investigate the exact circumstances of the death.

*4 Secretary of State, Peter Brooke said: 'There are no grounds for suggesting their use (Plastic Baton Rounds fired by RUC officers) last night was other than in accordance with the law'.

*5 Darkness
Over a very short period of time, bonfire culture in most Republican communities has been easily transformed to the community-orientated ethos that permeates participative festivals. Bonfires were already long since stigmatised as negative and destructive by the collective wisdom and experience of the community and most especially by those members of the community who vividly recall how life once was before the bright lights and colour of the Féile. A time, when, West Belfast was in darkness because the various combatants shut down the streetlights and fear was a way of life. The local dogs barking were for those of us making our way home hoping to avoid a beating from the British Army patrols, a most welcomed concert of sorts, alerting with pin point accuracy the exact location of the four, eight, 16 or 32 blackened faces of the British Army foot patrols in the area.

“Riddles' Field" - Daddy Makes A Dream Comes True (Thanks to the Féile)
When I reflect on the quality of life my teenage children are currently enjoying and compare this to my teenage days, I owe a lot to the efforts of the many people behind the West Belfast Féile who are continually raising the esteem of our people and enhancing our quality of life. There is clearly a massive gulf between my teenage days and that of my teenage children today in terms of confidence, opportunities and simply attending a concert by their favourite "pop stars" in West Belfast. This in itself remains a source of immense joy and pride. Especially, when I think about what used to be -"Riddles' Field", (Beechmount Leisure Centre) and look at the here and now concert venue, where teenage dreams are fulfilled. My daughters were in seventh heaven a few years ago at the Féile in "Riddles' Field" during a Westlife concert and then the Atomic Kitten concert. My teenagers' expectations are obviously higher today and undoubtedly more realistically obtainable thanks to the Féile. My children's confidence is part of the vibrancy that makes West Belfast Féile buzz. This buzz has been harnessed, channelled and most importantly of all, encouraged by the various F éile projects and events.

A Teenage Nightmare I hold by comparison to my children, a teenage tale of woe. One of my favourite Rock n' Roll bands in 1975, Showaddywaddy had agreed to play in Belfast at the ABC. I was all set for my face to face with my teenage "Top of the Pops" idols and unfortunately this was as near as I got. Showaddywaddy pulled the plug on the Belfast tour when news surrounding the murder of the Miami Showband reached their agents. I was shattered. The people responsible for killing the Miami Showband musicians were pro-British and some were also members of a British Army Regiment. Showaddywaddy were a Sheffield Band.

On the 31st July 1975, a Loyalist gang murdered three members of the Miami Showband. Tony Geraghty (23), Fran O'Toole (29), Brian McCoy (33). Two of the UVF gang were also killed, Harris Boyle, described as a UVF Major from Portadown, and Wesley Somerville, described as a UVF Lieutenant from Caledon, Co Tyrone. Two men from the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) were jailed for 35 years in connection with the murders of members of the Miami Showband. The Miami Massacre, a part of our past, had also a lasting impact for many engaged in the Arts and for one Belfast man the Miami murders would bring about his film debut.

Angel - Galway Film Fleadh Michael Dwyer: The thing that triggered Angel was the murder of the Miami Showband musicians...
Neil Jordan: Kind of. I was playing in a band and we used to travel up and down to Belfast and Derry and places like that and we'd be driving back late at night. It was in the 1980's when all those sectarian killings were happening. It was very black; you always presumed it wouldn't happen to you - that you were safe - and when the Miami were shot it seemed quite shocking. They were innocent and I felt totally numb I suppose and that put images in my mind. I like to write things with people in mind and I had written Angel with Stephen Rea in mind

*6 How are ye Jeffrey? - West Belfast Féile Talks Back
During the Féile Talks Back debate, a former IRA POW, Seanna Walsh—who was sentenced to twenty-two years when he was caught making explosives and mortar bombs— courteously welcomed The DUP's Jeffery Donaldson to the Féile debate. Mr Walsh then asked: “Jeffrey, when you talk about the IRA's capacity to make war, I can go out of here tonight with a couple of hundred pounds in my pocket and purchase the equipment to make Baltic Exchange/Canary Wharf type bombs. How are you going to remove that capacity? "

*7 The DUP man addressed the question in repetitive mantra. Seanna Walsh also said: "The point I was making was that I can produce homemade explosives and mortars. You cannot decommission that knowledge. What is more important is our commitment to peace and to politics. But all of the initiatives taken by the IRA to date have had absolutely no effect on the unionist community. Trust is a two-way street. We suspect that at the root of it unionists cannot deal with equality and sharing power and that the idea of republicans being in government was a bridge too far for them. Everything else is an excuse not to go there. ”

*8 The IRA and its weapons is being used as an excuse
About 24 hours after the Festival debate, Mr Gerry Adams, The West Belfast MP and President of Sinn Fein told PA News:
“ While I would not like to minimise what may be genuine fears and concerns within unionism, I do think the issue of the IRA and its weapons is being used an excuse.” The Sinn Fein president commended Mr Donaldson on his appearance at the festival and paid tribute to his colleagues on the committee, which organised the event. Mr Adams also said he would like to take part in a similar event in a loyalist area.

*9 Community Empowerment
Mr Adams sums up the spirit of the Féile in a sentence by saying he = would like to take part in a similar event in a loyalist area. Community festivals bring as in this case politicians face to face with the voter in the voter's home territory. The Shankill Road and East Belfast "Think Tanks" did likewise to enpower the community and expose the politicians. The voice of the community can be best heard at festival time.

References and sources used in this article:
*1 http://www.feilebelfast.com/ourhistory/
*2 http://www.relativesforjustice.com/victims/seamus_duffy.htm
*3 http://www.relativesforjustice.com/victims/seamus_duffy.htm
*4 http://www.relativesforjustice.com/victims/seamus_duffy.htm
*5 http://www.relativesforjustice.com/victims/seamus_duffy.htm
*6 http://www.iol.ie/~galfilm/filmwest/fleadhjordan.htm
*7 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/3543518.stm
*8 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/3543518.stm
*9 http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3D3300413

by Sean Mc Aughey