Refuseniks come home

last updated 8 January 2015

Colchester, U.K.

Two British soldiers deployed in Iraq came home this week after they refused to fight. Their lawyer said the two, whose names have not been released, wanted no part of a campaign “which involved the death of civilians.” The British army, like the U.S. Army, is an all-volunteer outfit, so it is presumed to be free of conscientious objectors. British military authorities said professional soldiers who refused to fight could be charged with a range of military infractions, from the serious, such as cowardice in the face of the enemy (a charge formerly punishable by death), to the relatively minor, such as conduct prejudicial to good order. The “Nuremberg defense” would only apply if the soldiers were refusing to carry out a heinous order, such as to execute civilians.