The Objector - USA

June 2005
Over 5,000 American soldiers have deserted since the start of the Iraq war. But, as conscientious objector Camilo Mejia discovered, speaking out carries a heavy price.

During his five months in Iraq, Mejia was deeply troubled by what his unit was ordered to do. "These were pretty objectionable things," he explains. Unable to justify them to himself, he went AWOL and applied to be considered a conscientious objector. However, unlike other deserters, he took his case to the media. But the army refused to consider his claim. "He deserted his men. He let his country down," lambastes Major Tad Warfel. "I can't think of a much worse crime than that." Camilo was singled out for harsh punishment and imprisoned for nine months. But he remains unrepentant. "I have no regrets about making a public stand -- I don't regret any of it."

Produced by SBS/Dateline
Distributed by Journeyman Pictures

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[bmodest]

this man is a hero. the Major on the other hand needs to rethink his views. WW2 set a precedent. 'just following orders' isn't an excuse for committing war crimes. you have a responsibility to refuse orders if they amount to war crimes.

[pabfranz]

camilo I admire you. You are an example of guts and having value and dignity. They couldnt brainwashed you

[Beesnchickens]

If he signed a contract and did not keep his word because doing so would mean both breaking his enlistment oath to support the constitution and murdering little kids.

[irendelle]

thanks will look into it friend

[Tabitha5599]

Speaking of that kid, Tori, I found her again on YouTube, and it seems she's still far more mature than most kids her age. I can't get the link to come up, but look up "Talk to an Iraqi - This American Life - Showtime: PART 2/2" and then she's at about the 3:50 mark, BUT you really should watch the whole episode to get the gist of what she's talking about, and what the show is about. She's the best part of that whole video.

[irendelle]

u are modest indeed!

[irendelle]

05:51 "I just don't think I deserve the honor" ... yes, you do camilo! yes you DO!!! Btw, nice friend you have in Tori 12:20 ... for a girl her age---she's MORE mature than warmongering adults ... godbless you, daughter!

[BigRichardBig]

We need to start more wars and kill all people who speak against war.Anybody who isn't pro war is Anti-American. AmeriKKK was founded on killing the natives and working the slave to build our great white-world where we wave the flag and search out more lands that we can exploit so we can all rave about how great we are on Fox news and drink our grape cool-aid slurpees and freedumb fries and beat our wives on Super -bowl Sunday after we go to our mega-churches and scream GOD BLESS US! Jesusa!

[larsos313]

good video

[ClamLuvr]

AXEMANJACKSON, True, he entered into a contract. But a contract involves two or more parties. He had a contract with the U.S. government. The government betrayed him by justifying a war using falsified information.

And obviously you have never signed that contract. I have. There is no place in it where it says, "accept orders no matter what". No time try checking your facts before posting a comment. It usually works better that way.

[roberteckerson]

I'm another veteran (Cold War)

for RON PAUL 2008!