US deserter 'a conscientious objector'

2003-04-02 09:20

San Francisco - A US Marine reservist who deserted his unit turned himself in and declared himself a conscientious objector on Tuesday, officials said, becoming one of the first to do so since war erupted in Iraq.

Lance Corporal Stephen Funk, 20, who signed up for the Marines and went through boot camp last year, underwent expert marksman training before realising he did not want to join in the violence.

"I wasn't thinking about the violence...how my beliefs against violence would be challenged," Funk told reporters before his surrender.

"I was just thinking of it as something to do as I passed by time to become a California resident, and to learn new things."

He turned up at his Marine base in the California city of San Jose, south of San Francisco, to register as a conscientious objector, becoming one of the first members of the US armed forces to do so since war erupted last month.

"He turned himself in this morning about 10:00 (20:00 SA time)," said Captain Patrick O'Rourke of the Marines' 1st Beach Terminal Operations, 4th Landing Support Battalion.

"This a common thing, it's nothing special," he said playing down the significance of Funk's action that came amid a blaze of publicity as US forces battled towards Baghdad.

Funk will be interviewed by a chaplain, a psychiatrist, and a Marine investigator before a panel decides whether he will be punished or not.

Funk's Marine reserve company received orders to deploy for possible war last month, prompting the soft-spoken youngster to decide he was not cut out for killing, the San Jose Mercury Herald said.

He was declared AWOL (absent without leave) after failing to turn up as ordered when his unit was shifted to the Camp Pendleton Marine base that lies nears the city of San Diego.

"I believe that it is impossible to achieve peace through violence," Funk said in a statement released by his lawyer Stephen Collier. "I hope other soldiers will find the courage to follow their beliefs," he added.

Funk will not be detained or punished while waiting for his application to be processed and will simply have to turn up for duty until his petition for conscientious objector status until a decision is made, O'Rourke said.

More than one hundred military personnel were granted conscientious objector status during the first Gulf War that erupted in 1992.

While military officials said they did not expect to receive many applications from conscientious objectors, pacifist groups reported a rise in requests for information since Washington began mobilising for war with Iraq.

"Our call volume has doubled," Teresa Panepinto of the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors told the Mercury Herald.

- AFX