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| Navy Files Charges Against Pablo Paredes |
| 2005-03-26 |
| Petty Officer 3rd Class Pablo E. Paredes decided to protest the Iraq war by not sailing with his ship when it left San Diego Harbor on Dec. 6. And holding a press conference about it Yesterday, the Navy decided to charge Paredes, 23, with being absent without leave and missing movement, charges that could send him to military prison for as long as a year and limit his employment options. The action by the Navy surprised Paredes, who made headlines and drew supporters and critics with his stance. "Consequences? Nobody told me there would be consequences!" "I showed up at the base expecting to hear whether the local Navy command had approved my conscientious objector status. Instead I was read the charges against," said Paredes, who is on temporary "It's ironic. The other day marked the two-year anniversary of a war that was criminal from the beginning, and today I get charged for not participating in it," said Paredes, a weapons control technician who joined the service in 2000. it's not "ironic". It's sublime, asshat Attorney Jeremy Warren, who represented Paredes, hopes the Navy will follow the recommendations of one of its chaplains and grant his client conscientious objector status. "I'm still optimistic that the Navy will do the right thing" and agree with a chaplain who said that "it was morally imperative that the conscientious objector status be granted," Warren said. Warren said the Navy could deem Paredes a conscientious objector and still prosecute him, although he hoped the latter would not happen. Not gonna happen. He's too high-profile and too bigga mouth (even bigger than Chuck Simmins) No date has been set for the court-martial. If there was a bright spot yesterday, Paredes' brother Victor said, it was that the process is finally moving. LOL"At least now we have a clear and definite direction to work in," said Victor, who lives in New York City. "It is definitely a lot more concerning when you are in limbo." Paredes agreed. "At least we are moving somewhere. I want to be out of the military, and this is moving toward that." But there could be a detour, said Jeremiah J. Sullivan III, a San Diego attorney who represents military defendants. "The big thing is that they want to give him a bad conduct discharge and maybe some brig time. With a bad conduct discharge, he'd find it difficult to get a job with the state or federal government." Or any other patriotic companyIn December, Paredes called several members of the media to tell them of his one-man boycott. Then he turned up pier-side wearing a shirt that read: "Like a Cabinet Member, I Resign." Unlike a Cabinet Member, you have a committment of time and to take orders. Wasn't a problem til you found out that it might mean getting shot at. Coward and Grandstander. Ward Churchill's illegitimate son |
| Posted by:Frank G |
| #7 Twits! it's all gone down hill since they closed Portsmouth. Reopen and close Gitmo. |
| Posted by: CPO from Hell 2005-03-26 4:00:48 PM |
| #6 Glereger- Under the UCMJ, 'peers' simply means 'other enlisted personnel'. His lawyer (who, unlike others I've seen, seems to have a dim idea as to how the military justice system actually works) hopefully will not let that happen - because the result will be 12 grizzled CPOs glaring down on him from that jury box. Better he go with the officers, statistically they're more lenient. And Frank is right - this case was WAY too high profile for the USN to cut him a break. He actually had several valid, legal options open to him under which he could have had all the publicity he wanted and the Navy couldn't have done a thing about it. But, like all Classic Asshats(TM), he got greedy. Hope you like USMC Disciplinary Barracks Quantico, Pablo. My dad was an MP there in the 50's and one of my troops got sent there in the late 80's. It hasn't gotten any better. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2005-03-26 1:57:16 PM |
| #5 Big Chicken Dinner? LOL! I love it |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-03-26 1:38:59 PM |
| #4 Not a felony conviction unless convicted at General Court Martial. If convicted at Special Court Martial, is a federal misdemenor conviction. The Big Chicken Dinner can be given at either. |
| Posted by: Bill 2005-03-26 1:23:00 PM |
| #3 Let me help you with your career preparation, Pablo. Repeat after me: Do you want fries with that? |
| Posted by: Dar 2005-03-26 11:48:19 AM |
| #2 Sublime, indeed, Frank: on which side of the Naive or Sentimental argument do you suppose this huckster falls? I think Schiller would be proud that his ideas are still topical. Enjoy your post-prison career at 7-11, Pablo. |
| Posted by: Armchair in Sin 2005-03-26 11:18:28 AM |
| #1 With a courts martial he'll have a federal felony conviction on his record as well. That wipes out a lot of employment opportunities. However, I'm sure the bleeding hearts in Hollywood can find you a 'show' job to make them feel, ah, so important. Like adopting some foreign orphan or such. BTW, he seems to have forgotten his 'oath' was executed "...without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion...". Attorney Jeremy Warren, who represented Paredes, hopes... Hope is not a plan. If he asks for 'peers' on his courts martial, make it up from the Marines recoverying from their injuries from Fallujah. |
| Posted by: Glereger Clugum6222 2005-03-26 11:13:03 AM |