They’re out there the soldiers who want to make plain their refusal to part of

They’re out there, the soldiers who want to make plain their refusal to part of this illegal war – I know, I’ve talked to them.Many people, even those who agree with my views on the war, will say that it is not the place of soldiers to decide which wars they will fight; that decision must be taken by their senior officers, and ultimately by the government of the day But you should only obey orders that are morally right. I listened to peace campaigners and soldiers who had been out there, and MPs like George Galloway. I would recommend similar research to any soldier who is having doubts about the war.Finally, one day about a month ago, I stood up at a demo in my local London borough of Hackney and just said “I want to get out of this, but what can I do?” It became clear that working with Military Families Against the War, I could make public my despair, my anger and my intention to refuse any call-up to serve in Iraq.I wanted to leave the TA in the public way I have because, although so many solders are against this war, they don’t have a rallying point There has to be someone who is the first to go After that, there will be another and another and another. And I started to go on the anti-war demos that continue around the country. I began to do a lot of research, learning everything I could about the illegality and immorality of our occupation of Iraq. In the end, quite a few did resign, and others who were called up deliberately failed their medical examinations.But although I stayed on a while longer, in the last year, when two of my comrades returned wounded, I began thinking seriously about what I could do to help end this continuing war.

None of us had been called up yet, so we succumbed to the all too human temptation to put off the evil day until it was upon us. Later I had joined the TA, as a medic, and I was proud to be a part of that institution, and bound to my friends and comrades there, some of whom agreed with me about the futility, immorality and illegality of the war. But from boyhood I had wanted to be a soldier; in fact, when I was 22 I had taken advantage of my dual Cypriot-British citizenship, and done national service for the Greek army in Cyprus. And much of the rest of the world, both governments and their peoples, were saying, “Let’s get this investigation sorted before we start blowing up human beings.”I could have quietly left the Army then, without fuss; you can resign from the Territorial Army if you’ve not actually been called up to serve in action.

Hans Blix, the chief UN weapons inspector, and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan had both pressed for more time before the final decisions were taken. Members of the Labour Party at the time were talking about practicing an “ethical foreign policy”, and yet there was nothing ethical about the way this was being planned and sold to the public.It was not as though there was no alternative at the time. Even then – before the absence of the weapons of mass destruction that Prime Minister Blair and President Bush cited as the principal reason to rush to war was admitted by all – I was astounded that they could take us to war when it was clear the majority of the population was opposed. I have never believed in the rightness of this war; in fact I was on the big anti-war March in February 2003. In fact, there is a growing vocal minority within the Territorial Army that is against the war.

Nonetheless I am the first one to make it clear, in public, that if called to serve in Iraq, I will refuse.
This has not been a decision arrived at impulsively. I’m not the only member of the Labour Party to be opposed to our military participation in this American-led adventure, nor am I the only soldier. Earlier this week, I came out publicly against the war in Iraq. In fact, there growing vocal minority within the Territorial Army that is against the war. I’m not sure we can bring democracy to the Middle East but we need to try. Fur coats, suits and slightly smug smiles suggested Bush supporters, who were most likely going to one of the many inaugural balls after a hard day of clapping and cheering.Banners, jeans, windcheaters and disgruntled crabbiness suggested the other side.”I’m celebrating.

I think it’s a good thing he was re-elected,” said consultant Gayle Nix, 49, one of the fur-wearers who was heading to a ball with her husband “He needs to finish what he started. You were either for him or against him, you loved him or loathed him, you were here to show your strong support or your utter condemnation. As has been the case for the past four years, there was no middle ground in regard to George Bush.For this, the 55th inauguration, more bankrolled by corporations and big business than most before and where seats alongside the route cost up to $125 (£66), it was not hard to tell the two sides apart. “We’ve just done the President,” said one man with obvious satisfaction. And so it was yesterday in Washington, as a freezing wind whipped celebrators and demonstrators alike.