After a 20-30 minute eternity that left us all in a stupor of disbelief that the war's legality had just been debated in a military court, on the record, and had lost, badly, the attorney for the prosecution sat down.
Pablo Paredes refused to board the USS Bonhomme Richard as it was preparing to sail from San Diego with 2,000 Marines in December. He surrendered to military authorities a few days later and applied for conscientious objector status.
Paredes was convicted in a court-martial on Wednesday on a charge of missing his deployment. Prosecutor Lt. Brandon Hale said "He is trying to infect the military with his own philosophy of disobedience."
...the government prosecution used an unexpected argument...
... the judge said, "I believe the government has just successfully proved that any seaman recruit has reasonable cause to believe that the wars in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq were illegal."
Pablo Paredes is not yet a household name, but he is a good man, has a lot of friends and his story is gaining some traction.
In his words;
"What I submit to you and the court is that I am convinced that the current war is exactly that (illegal). So, if there's anything I could be guilty of, it is my beliefs. I am guilty of believing this war is illegal. I'm guilty of believing war in all forms is immoral and useless, and I am guilty of believing that as a service member I have a duty to refuse to participate in this war because it is illegal."
So far I can find only this news source on Google that mentions the fact that the judge has ruled this war illegal. I feel this deserves more attention.
The final word goes to Lynn Gonzales;
Let's call this Part One......there's so much more to write on the impact Pablo's case has yet to make.
[Dues to
js7a who spotted this 2 weeks ago.]