Wither Pablo Paredes?
Who is Pablo Paredes? He's a guy who thinks that the USA should not be involved in a war in Iraq. Lots of people think that. And of course, he's free to think that, and to say it. But Pablo is also a Petty Officer in the US Navy. His ship, the USS Bonhomme Richard, was due to leave San Diego with 3,000 US Marines on board in December, and Pablo presumed it was heading to Iraq and the war he felt was wrong - even illegal. So, he refused to go. He made quite a show of sitting on the dock and watching it sail away, then filing his paperwork with the US Navy as a conscientious objector and turning himself in for desertion. He presently awaits trial:
Infoshop Story on Pablo Paredes
Some may feel Pablo is a hero - others may feel he is a coward. However, history has tossed him a big wet juicy one - the Bonhomme Richard didn't go to Iraq after all. According to the US Navy, that is where it was originally headed, but circumstances changed. Argh, kicked in the snarglies again!
It went to Sumatra. Where the US Marines on board are aiding the victims of the recent tsunami there:
US Navy - USS Bonhomme Richard News
Powerline Blog Entry on Bonhomme Richard
So, wither Pablo Paredes? Better start saying your Mea Culpas. And don't count on your new anti-war friends to help you; you got the funk on you now, and they're going to drop you like a hot rock.
Good luck in prison, dude.
Smooches,
Wiggy
posted by Unknown at 1/05/2005 01:23:00 PM
2 Comments:
I offer only some clarification.
Some of our greatest proponents of peace have been ranking officers. Eisenhower even warned of the "military industrial complex". You can hear his speech at http://www.archive.org/audio/audio-details-db.php?collection=opensource_audio&collectionid=defarewell
It is something I think every American needs to listen to and contemplate.
I recently had the opportunity to interview Pablo for public access TV. Now that I am doing the background search I am amazed at the misinformation that abounds. The most amazing is the general belief that the peace movement had anything to do with Pablo's decision. The organizations that are often referred to only came forward after his declaration. He thought that he was alone. Ironically it seems that it was his exposure to the world, an exposure that he gained while serving his time in Japan, that afforded his a greater exposure to information that is, as we all know, withheld from the public in America.
There also seems to be a belief that this was a way to avoid combat, but the reality is that Pablo's job would have kept him at a safe distance from any action in an airconditioned room full of electronics, admittedly a more cushy situation then he expects as he faces possible prison.
As an observer of this situation I see a young man who grew up and in the process defined for himself the principles that he chooses to live by. As a member of a much older generation I have seen then people who have entered the service as boys and come out men. The nature of the knowledge and wisdom they have gained along the way has varied.
Tue Mar 01, 01:21:00 AM EST
Maegan,
Thank you for your interesting reply to my blog entry. It is obvious that you have put some time and energy into trying to understand Pablo Paredes and his true motivations, and I applaud that as well as your obvious intelligence.
With that said, let me address a few of your more salient points, er, clarifications.
As to members of the military being proponents of peace - I must agree. I have no doubt that those who have been involved most deeply in warfare understand it best and rightfully recoil from engaging in it without deep contemplation. I would ask what this has to do with Pablo Paredes?
I am surprised that you are surprised about misinformation on Paredes. As a member of the Press, you must understand that YOU (the collective 'you') give us what we know of Paredes - as we know, or think we know, about Michael Jackson or Paris Hilton or Billy the Kid.
Misinformation begins with journalists misreporting, misinterpreting, misleading, misquoting, and exaggerating for the sake of exploiting a 'story' that they wish to tell. I mean this not as an attack - but please - we get our information FROM the press - and wherefore, then, would come our misunderstandings?
Information withheld from the public in America? I must confess that I don't know what you're talking about. What information? I am a citizen of the world in the sense that I have access to news sources from around the globe - to people from every corner of the world who have access to the internet. In a way that did not exist when I was serving in Japan in 1981, I have full access to different points of view, different sets of information, and 'facts' as such that may be generally withheld in the USA. So I am a little unclear on your blithe statement that "we all know" about information withheld in the USA. Seems very scary.
As to Paredes' desire to avoid combat - let me make this clear. I don't know what Pablo's desire was when he intentionally missed the sailing of his assigned ship. I *do* know that he intentionally missed it. I hold no admiration for that act, regardless of his reasons.
It is all well and good to talk of voyages of self-discovery and what a person goes through on their journey to adulthood. I approve of such things in general. However, and this is perhaps the point where we differ - I believe that people have an obligation to the society in which they live as well as to themselves. Pablo was not drafted, he enlisted voluntarily. That he found himself a different person somewhere during his term of service is relevant, perhaps to the process wherein he applied for status as a Conscientious Objector. The military obviously maintains this option because it realizes that these 'self-discoveries' *do* happen sometimes, and when genuine, are deserving of special attention.
Pablo was within his rights to file for CO status - and should indeed have done so if his change of heart was genuine and not born out of a desire to avoid combat, or even deployment to a combat zone or participation in a 'war machine' in progress. That's all fine with me.
But Pablo did not wait for his adjudication or hearing on his application for CO status, did he? No, he did not. He famously sat on the dock and watched his ship set sail, and then he turned himself in to military authorities.
And there's the rub. What it appears you would forgive him for, I do not. He has or had a responsibility, a commitment, to his government, to his military branch of service, to his comrades in arms, and even to himself. For this, he faces adjudication and punishment, and for this I am glad.
For I do not consider the inner needs of Pablo Paredes in this situation - the defining moment in which he made the decision to abandon his responsibilities to anyone other than himself (and truth be told, he abandoned those as well). No, I consider those who were on the ship that sailed away. How many of those were of the same mind as Pablo, but faced up to their responsibilities and went? How many of those were on similar voyages of self-discovery and plagued by doubt that they were doing the right thing? And yet they boarded that ship and did what they had agreed - no - sworn to do.
And for this desertion - and I mean 'desertion' in the true, original sense of the word - Pablo Paredes should be stood against a wall and shot.
To desert in time of war - well, we all have seen the war films, etc - but few of us understand what that means. Take a moment and consider another word instead of 'desertion' - let's call it 'desolation'. Because that is what 'desertion' really is. It is a desolation of the soul, an abandonment of principle and even a sacrifice of humanity on the altar of self-interest, and it is beyond despicable - it is obscene. Our society cannot accept it. Our society cannot survive it, if it were to become commonplace. It is a crime against us all that is more offensive and repugnant than murder, mayhem, or shoplifting. It is the worst sort of abandonment, for it risks more the lives of those who have also elected to serve and who must needs depend on Pablo - who is not there.
I hold no malice for Pablo Paredes. I respect his decisions and to some extent, even the courage of his actions, no matter how badly informed his choices were. However, I require that he now stand for those decisions - and were it up to me, I would at this point require of him his life, as he abandoned his brothers in arms. He expected prison - he should receive it.
Best,
Wiggy
Tue Mar 01, 06:31:00 AM EST
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