Conscientious Objector

A Conscientious Objector (CO), according to the U.S. Selective Service System definition, "is one who is opposed to serving in the armed forces and/or bearing arms on the grounds of moral or religious principles."

Resources and articles

Related SourceWatch articles

• Anti-American activities
• Antiwar rallies
• Bush administration
• Center on Conscience & War
• civil liberties
• draft
• draft evasion
• Iraq Coalition Casualty Statistics
• Sgt. Kevin Benderman
• Operation Iraqi Freedom
• Operation Iraqi Freedom II
• Treating dissent as treason
• U.S. presidential election, 2004

External articles

• Duncan Campbell, "Marine who said no to killing on his conscience", Guardian/UK, April 1, 2003.
• Laurie Goodstein, "Conscientious Objector Numbers Are Small but Growing", New York Times, April 1, 2003.
• "First American Conscientious Objector from Iraq War", April 2, 2003.
• Gabriel Packard, "Hundreds of U.S. Soldiers Emerge as Conscientious Objectors", Inter Press Service, April 15, 2003. "Although only a handful of them have gone public, at least several hundred U.S. soldiers have applied for conscientious objector (CO) status since January,... The Center on Conscience and War (CCW), which advises military personnel on CO discharges, reports that since the start of 2003--when many soldiers realized they might have to fight in the Iraq war--there has been a massive increase in the number of enlisted soldiers who have applied for CO status."
• Gabriel Packard, "Rise of Conscientious Objection", Inter Press Service, April 21, 2003.
• Sue Mcguire, "Conscientious Objector Found Guilty of Unauthorized Absence", Associated Press, September 7, 2003.

External resources

• Wikipedia: Conscription; includes section on Conscientious Objectors.
• Bruderhof Peacemakers Guide; includes pages on well known Conscientious Objectors such as Mordechai Vanunu, Franz Jägerstätter, and Sophie Scholl.
• Who is a Conscientious Objector?, National Interreligious Service Board for Conscientious Objectors.
• Conscientious Objection and Alternative Service, Selective Service System web site.
• Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors. CCCO web site "supports and promotes individual and collective resistance to war and preparations for war."
• Center on Consience & War web site.