Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Pfc. Chris Gorman: I refuse to go back to Iraq, because this war is illegal

Jay Shaft | 14.07.2006 05:06 | Anti-militarism

Interview with Christopher Gorman, a religious Conscientious Objector who is refusing to return to Iraq.

Pfc. Chris Gorman: I refuse to go back to Iraq, because this war is illegal and unjust.

7/13/06
 http://groups.google.com/group/Coalitionforfreethoughtinmedia/msg/13df97446b56e4d0?hl=en

Published and Audio Broadcasted by Coalition For Free Thought In Media

Interview conducted by Jay Shaft: Editor-In-Chief/Executive Investigative Editor

THOUGHT BOMB RADIO - SHOCK AND AWE FOR THE MIND RADIO HOUR (C) 2003-2006 Jay Shaft/Coalition For Free Thought In Media

This is an interview with Pfc. Christopher Gorman who is home on leave from Iraq. He has just been stationed at F.O.B. (Forward Operating Base) Kalsu in Iskandariya, Iraq with Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

Chris is supposed to get on a plane on Monday, July 17th to fly back to Iraq. He is not getting on the plane, or returning to Iraq, despite the Army’s order to do so. He plans to go in the battalion Rear Detachment office and directly report that he is refusing to go back for the rest of his combat tour.

Audio archived at San Francisco Indy Bay Media Center
 http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/07/12/18287427.php

Part One: Chris talks about what he has witnessed in Iraq and how it has affected him. He explains what a C.O is, and why he considers the war to be wrong and injust.
 http://www.indybay.org/uploads/2006/07/12/tbrcgpart1.wma

Part Two: Chris goes over the reasons why is refusing to return to Iraq. He also explains why he is religiously opposed to serving in combat.
 http://www.indybay.org/uploads/2006/07/12/tbrcgpart2.wma

Part Three: Chris details his plans for filing a new C.O. application with his unit. He discusses the consequences of reporting that he is refusing to return to Iraq.
 http://www.indybay.org/uploads/2006/07/12/tbrcgpart3.wma

Part 4: Interview with Heather Gorman, wife of Chris Gorman.
Heather talks about the joy of having Chris at home, and discusses how their children feel about Chris refusing to go back.
 http://www.indybay.org/uploads/2006/07/12/tbrhgpart5.wma
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pfc. Gorman is already on record as a Conscientious Objector and has taken every legal step to be granted a discharge under the legal guidelines. Because his original Conscientious Objector application packet was denied at the Pentagon level, he is going to file a new statement with his chain of command.

He says he will not let the military send him back, because they have already promised him a discharge after the 4th ID redeployed back the US and returned to stateside duty. He states that he refuses to go back and is demanding an immediate discharge.

At this point he is still the only C.O. on record who has filed paperwork, and then been sent to combat in Iraq while his application was being reviewed. I do not know of any other soldier who has publicly spoken out while serving with a combat unit. I have been in contact with several other soldiers who were deployed after filing for C.O. status, but none of them have been willing to go public with any details.

For those of you who do not know what a Conscientious Objector is, please go and take a look at the Department of Defense Directive on C.O. Status and the different kinds of C.O. status’ and designations.
 http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf2/d13006p.pdf

The Army regulations relating to C.O. status are available at  http://www.usapa.army.mil.
The main Army discharge regulation, AR-635-200, can be viewed in PDF format at
 http://www.usapa.army.mil/pdffiles/r635_200.pdf

A full copy of the Uniform Code of Military justice can be found here:
 http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/ucmj.htm

This is the type of C.O. status that Chris Gorman has filed under. He is supposed to have every legal right to claim and use it as grounds for discharge.

3.1.1. Class 1-O Conscientious Objector. A member who, by reason of conscientious objection, sincerely objects to participation of any kind in war in any form.

3.2. Religious Training and Belief: Belief in an external power or being or deeply held moral or ethical belief, to which all else is subordinate or upon which all else is ultimately dependent, and which has the power or force to affect moral-well-being. The external power or being need not be of an orthodox deity, but may be a sincere and meaningful belief which occupies in the life of its possessor a place parallel to that filled by the God of another, or, in the case of deeply held moral or ethical beliefs, a belief held with the strength and devotion of traditional religious conviction. The term "religious training and belief" may include solely moral or ethical beliefs even though the applicant himself may not characterize these beliefs as "'religious" in the traditional sense, or may expressly characterize them as not religious. The term "religious training and belief" does not include a belief which rests solely upon considerations of policy, pragmatism, expediency, or political views.

Please listen to the audio interview to hear all the details in Chris’s own words. I can type up facts and quotes all day long, but it doesn’t have the same impact as hearing it directly from Chris.

A press conference is tentatively being scheduled on Monday to cover the issue of Chris Gorman’s case as a C.O. and his refusal to return for duty. I will interview Chris on Monday afternoon, or in the event that he is taken into custody by the Army, I will interview his wife Heather.

Please write to Chris Gorman at  cmgorman24@yahoo.com. He welcomes any comments, support, or prayers. He has asked everyone to pray for his continued safety and well being in this time of trial and trouble.

CFTM has released two previous interviews in print/audio format.
Live from Iraq-PFC Chris Gorman: This is an Ungodly War Based on Lies and Sin
 http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0605/S00042.htm
This article contains background information about other soldiers who have filed C.O status or gone AWOL or refused to report for deployment to Iraq.

The Army Is Religiously Persecuting and Harassing My Husband
Interview with Heather Gorman, Wife of Army Specialist Christopher Gorman
 http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00053.htm
This article contains facts about my investigation into the 4th Infantry Division, and some other incidents of soldiers being denied C.O. status.

You can find a timeline of the events leading up to this point, and the background behind Chris Gorman’s reasons for declaring himself a Religious C.O. at  http://www.soldiersrights.com/index.html

ABOUT THE INTERVIEWER:
Jay Shaft is a freelance investigative writer and the Editor-In-Chief and Managing Investigative Editor of the independent news group Coalition For Free Thought In Media.
 http://groups.google.com/group/Coalitionforfreethoughtinmedia

He has conducted many interviews with soldiers who have served in Iraq, in which service members exposed the issues of the military's failure to provide proper equipment and training to US troops, and he has been on the forefront of investigating the price that soldiers are paying as a result.

He is currently involved in interviewing soldiers who have returned from war with PTSD or traumatic injuries. An ongoing expose and series of troops/vet interviews and articles highlighting the failure of the VA system to adequately take care of the soldiers and vets is in current publication at this time. There is an ongoing series of letters from soldiers serving in Iraq that is being published as well.

Contact Jay at  coalitionforfreethoughtinmedia@yahoo.com or  cftmeditor@gmail.com

Jay Shaft

Comments

Display the following comment

  1. Sir, No Sir — un
Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech