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Active duty soldier and IVAW member, Victor Agosto, has refused to fight in Afghanistan and may face court martial for his actions. Adding your name to our support petition can help his case.

Victor returned to Ft. Hood, Texas after his deployment in Iraq and got news that his unit would be sent to Afghanistan. He had already been questioning his service in Iraq and saw parallels with Afghanistan. "Both occupations fuel the insurgencies in those countries. We are creating 'terrorists' and we are killing so many innocent people," Victor concluded. In May, he told his unit command he would not go.

Victor has overtly refused to follow any order that has anything to do with his taking an action that would support the occupation of Afghanistan. If he continues to refuse orders, he almost assuredly will face court martial and likely jail time.

"The only way to make them [politicians] responsive to the needs of the people is if soldiers won't fight their wars, and if soldiers won't fight their wars, the wars won't happen. I hope I'm setting an example for other soldiers," says Victor. And it seems his example is already affecting positive change. He and other soldiers from Ft. Hood have become regulars at Under the Hood cafe, an anti-war GI coffeehouse IVAW members helped establish near Ft. Hood. Another member of his unit also has refused to deploy to Afghanistan.

There are many more soldiers and Marines who feel the way Victor does, but face tremendous pressures to remain silent and go along with the status quo. This is why public support for his case is so important right now.