Soldier refuses military role, still seeks conscientious objector status
Ledger-Enquirer -- November 17, 2005
Army Spc. Katherine Jashinski, fighting back tears as she explained why she is a conscientious objector, set the tone for November's SOA Watch protest just outside the gates of Fort Benning.

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After 30 Years, Draft Fears Rise
Washington Post -- June 2, 2005
"Rarely in the more than 30 years since the draft was abolished has the Selective Service triggered such angst. Two years into the Iraq war, concern that the draft will be reinstated to supplement an overextended military persists -- no matter how often, or emphatically, President Bush and members of Congress say it won't."

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Mom Worried her Soldier-Son is on the Run
Lexington Herald-Leader -- April 4, 2005
" Army Spec. Levi Moddrelle served in Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division in 2003, came home to Stanford late that year -- and then disappeared. Moddrelle, 21, a 2002 graduate of Lexington's Lafayette High School, was trained as a Chinook helicopter mechanic. But his mother, Susan Tileston of Stanford, says she thinks he was so distressed by his experiences in combat around Mosul at the height of the war that he ran away from the Army to avoid the possibility of another tour in.."

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Students learn process to become objectors to draft
The (Digital) Collegian -- March 21, 2005
Bill Galvin once again spreads the word in Pennsylvania, this time in State College. In a workshop open to students as well as the wider community, he discusses some details of the conscientious objection application process. It is also emphasized that Rangel’s draft bill might be re-introduced this year, giving draft-age men and women further incentive to give some serious thought to their beliefs about war. One of the Center’s board members, David Miller, was present.

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Speaker expects military to bring back the draft
The Marquette Tribune -- February 8, 2005
The article briefly covers a few points made by CCW's Bill Galvin at a talk in the Milwaukee Friends Meeting House, as well as comments by CCW's J.E. McNeil via interview. The points mentioned are regarding the consequences of non-registration (for the draft), the reasons for thinking a draft might be reinstated, and the position in which conscientious objectors would find themselves. As usual, Armed Forces and State Department representatives insist that troops are not or will not be overcommitted and that military recruiting goals are nearly met--therefore implying that a draft is neither necessary nor likely.

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Steadfast in convinctions, in limbo in Canada (part of a special section)
The Washington Examiner -- February 2, 2005
Washington's newest paper interviews U.S. military deserters in Toronto, military spokespersons, and peace activists such as the Center's J.E. McNeil in a special four-page section on deserters who fled to Canada. As usual, the military's official answers regarding troop retention and conscientious objection applications do not seem to agree with the reality that the Center on Conscience & War deals with daily. Most of the section, however, details the lives and thoughts of a few young men who refuse to participate in the Iraq war and seek refugee status in Canada.

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Teenagers take stand on war
The Chapel Hill News -- January 18, 2005
Fueled by a grim view of the Iraq war, members of Chapel Hill’s Religious Society of Friends, better known as Quakers, are stepping up a mission to turn more draft-age teens into conscientious objectors. J.E. McNeil, director of the Center on Conscience & War, spoke with students about preparations for a draft.

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Matter of Conscience
Savannah Morning News -- January 11, 2005
Sgt. Kevin Benderman, stationed in Ft. Stewart, GA, has just begun the most trying and time-consuming discharge process in the U.S. Army: that of applying for conscientious objector status. He realized he could no longer participate in war after his first (and last) deployment to Iraq. After witnessing the incredible devastation and horrors of war on civilians first-hand, he decided he would never return. He also realized that the Iraqi people's faith and overall desire for a decent life were similar to his own, far from being a threat to his country. Counseling Coordinator Bill Galvin is one of the GI Rights counselors interviewed.

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