Court Martial Soldier to Lead U.K. March Against Afghanistan War

Court Martial Soldier to Lead U.K. March Against Afghanistan War

Published Oct 23, 2009 by ■ Chris Dade

A British female soldier keeps watch while on foot patrol in a poppy field in Afghanistan
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A Lance Corporal in the British army who faces a court martial for refusing to return to Afghanistan will lead a march in Central London on Saturday that will call for the U.K. to withdraw its forces from the conflict in the South Central Asian country.
When Lance Corporal Joe Glenton takes his place at the head of the march which the Independent reports will make its way from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square it will, as Lindsey German from the Stop the War Coalition confirms, be the first time a serving British soldier has openly attended a national anti-war protest.
Another member of the Stop the War Coalition, Andrew Burgin, advised the BBC that Lance Corporal Glenton, who went absent without leave in 2007, has been told by his commanding officer that he should not attend nor speak at the protest. But Lance Corporal Glenton will be ignoring those orders.
Many of those marching in London on Saturday will be from military families, or be ex-soldiers themselves.
Paul McGurk is one former soldier who will be marching on Saturday, In the News confirming that Mr McGurk actually resigned from the army specifically because he believes the war in Afghanistan cannot be justified.
Yet another marcher will be Joan Humphries. Her grandson Kevin Elliott, 24 and a member of the Black Watch, was killed on August 31 whilst patrolling on foot in Helmand, a province in the south of Afghanistan.
Ms Humphries has explained that she has been a supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament all her life and first became involved in the Stop the War coalition in March 2003 after attending a million-strong protest against the Iraq War, held in London. She said of her late grandson:
Kevin knew my feelings, but there were no jobs, education was poor and the politicians were dishonest and there was simply nothing else he felt he could do but join the army
The man who declined to shake the hand of Tony Blair, telling the former Prime Minister of the U.K. that the hand he refused has his son’s blood on it, will be marching too. Peter Brierley, who encountered Mr Blair at a memorial service in St Paul’s Cathedral for soldiers who died in Iraq, lost his son Lance Corporal Shaun Brierley to a conflict that is arguably even more unpopular than the one in Afghanistan.
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Michael Waddington is a court martial lawyer – court martial attorney that defends military personnel worldwide as well as deployed civilian contractors subject to the UCMJ. He defends Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard, and civilian contractor court martial cases. He has successfully defended military personnel as a court martial lawyer Army Navy Marine & Air Force court martials in Germany, England, San Diego, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fort Bragg, Fort Jackson, Fort Stewart, Fort Gordon, Italy, Iraq, Kuwait, Korea, Okinawa, Japan, Yokota, and throughout the United States.