Most Comprehensive Interview to Date

I was interviewed during all three hours of the PeterMac Show this past Saturday night (11/07). With this extended time format I had the opportunity to go into greater detail about my time in GTMO, the process of conscientious objection, and my change from being a pro-war Statist to an anti-war anarchist.

*The linked mp3 files exclude commercials.

Daniel Lakemacher - 11/07/2009: Hr. 1

Saturday, 07 November 2009 00:00

Daniel Lakemacher of WarIsImmoral.com. Daniel filed a request to be discharged from the United States Navy as a conscientious objector (CO). After 131 more days of being forced to work under the threat of imprisonment, he was finally freed from his involuntary servitude on September 11, 2009.

Download | Right Click and select "Save File As" or "Save Target As" to download this file.

Daniel Lakemacher - 11/07/2009: Hr. 2

Saturday, 07 November 2009 00:00

Daniel Lakemacher of WarIsImmoral.com. Daniel filed a request to be discharged from the United States Navy as a conscientious objector (CO). After 131 more days of being forced to work under the threat of imprisonment, he was finally freed from his involuntary servitude on September 11, 2009.

Download | Right Click and select "Save File As" or "Save Target As" to download this file.

Daniel Lakemacher - 11/07/2009: Hr. 3

Saturday, 07 November 2009 00:00

Daniel Lakemacher of WarIsImmoral.com. Daniel filed a request to be discharged from the United States Navy as a conscientious objector (CO). After 131 more days of being forced to work under the threat of imprisonment, he was finally freed from his involuntary servitude on September 11, 2009.

Download | Right Click and select "Save File As" or "Save Target As" to download this file.

Conformity & Compliance vs. Conscience & Consistency

As a followup to my interview on Antiwar Radio, I was contacted by the host of another podcast, Brett Veinotte. Brett expressed a desire to interview me specifically about the military's culture of obedience. Initially, I learned about Brett when he did an education series on the Complete Liberty Podcast, and then, about a month ago, Brett started his own show, School Sucks. In just this short time, his show has quickly become one of the most popular education podcasts available on the web, with downloads from around the world.

Outside of authoritarian family dynamics, the governmental indoctrination system commonly referred to as "Public School" is undoubtedly the single greatest propaganda tool for manipulating the minds of young people toward a willingness to murder and/or die in the military. Were it not for the nearly constant messages that it's the highest virtue to be killed while trying to kill others (in uniform of course) and that without waging war we'd all be saying "Heil Hitler" or speaking Japanese, there would undoubtedly be few people so willing to risk their lives on command. Today the message has changed to the threats of wearing turbans and reading the Koran, but the principles of fear and a tribal mentality remain the same. As a result, Brett's work in highlighting the harmful effect of so-called public education is an invaluable part of progressing from a society that condones war to one that condemns it.

What follows is some background information about Brett as seen on his website edu-lu-tion.com:

In my 10+ years of teaching, "school sucks" is perhaps the most common phrase I've heard students use to describe their feelings about public education. But this seemingly bitter and reductive slogan is actually quite clever. When taken literally, "school sucks" is perhaps the most accurate and astute synopsis of the system I've ever heard. Here's why...

The twelve-year process of an American public education has a dramatic effect on the mind of a child. When we first enter school at age six, many of our best personal attributes are already in place. We are curious, innovative, unique, creative and hopeful in ways that we will rarely be able to replicate throughout the rest of our lives. But over time, school sucks those essential attributes out of too many of us...and replaces them with predictability, obedience and apathy.

Brett includes a "Critical Thinking Question" as part of each episode, and for this show the question is, "How could disobedience to authority save millions of lives?" Whether you already know the answer or not, I'm confident that you'll find the content of the show to be thought-provoking and insightful.

The show is available for listening/download via podOmatic by clicking here,

or

You can use the following link to find School Sucks in the iTunes Store.

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Additional Resources:

Daniel Lakemacher on Antiwar Radio

http://antiwar.com/radio/2009/09/16/daniel-lakemacher/

The Perils of Obedience by Stanley Milgram

http://home.swbell.net/revscat/perilsOfObedience.html

An Exploration of Self-Responsibility and Its Effects on Obedience by Wes Bertrand

http://www.logicallearning.net/obedience.html

Radio Interview

On Tuesday I had the privilege of being interviewed by Scott Horton on KAOS 95.9 FM in Austin, Texas. Scott is the host of Antiwar Radio, and in addition to his live show, he publishes his interviews as podcasts. The bulk of Scott's questions were related to my time in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but I also had the opportunity to provide an overview of how to be discharged as a conscientious objector. I'm excited about the increased publicity this has brought to my own site, especially since many in the anti-war movement are unaware of the powerful impact that can be made by encouraging an active duty member to file as a conscientious objector.

Included below are links to the interview, as well as some information from the "About" page of antiwar.com. Antiwar.com is a unique source for detailed information that is hard to find through any of the major media outlets. Particularly in light of the recent U.S. military attack in Somalia, I encourage you to utilize this site as a means to discover critical information and alternate perspectives on the immoral actions perpetrated under the guise of United States foreign policy.

MP3 Download (25:03)

iTunes Store Interview Link

This site is devoted to the cause of non-interventionism and is read by libertarians, pacifists, leftists, "greens," and independents alike, as well as many on the Right who agree with our opposition to imperialism. Our initial project was to fight against intervention in the Balkans under the Clinton presidency. We applied the same principles to Clinton's campaigns in Haiti and Kosovo and bombings of Sudan and Afghanistan. Our politics are libertarian: our opposition to war is rooted in Randolph Bourne's concept that "War is the health of the State." With every war, America has made a "great leap" into statism, and as Bourne emphasized, "it is during war that one best understands the nature of that institution [the State]." At its core, that nature includes an ever increasing threat to individual liberty and the centralization of political power.

. . .

Our dedication to libertarian principles, inspired in large part by the works and example of the late Murray N. Rothbard, is reflected on this site. While openly acknowledging that we have an agenda, the editors take seriously our purely journalistic mission, which is to get past the media filters and reveal the truth about America's foreign policy. Citing a wide variety of sources without fear or favor, and presenting our own views in the regular columns of various contributors, we clearly differentiate between fact and opinion, and let our readers know which is which.

Keep reading . . .

Days 108-112 - Interview Responses

I'm guessing that many of you have already seen my interview with Pete Eyre of the Motorhome Diaries, but if not, press play below or the rest of this blog probably won't make nearly as much sense.

I'm continuing to receive feedback (positive and negative) about the video, but of course I'd be interested to read more in the comments section or by email at warisimmoral@gmail.com. On the encouraging side, a classmate from high school, whom I hadn't spoken with since graduation, saw the clip on my Facebook page, checked out my website, and then took the time to write. She shared how she joined the military right out of high school and ended up feeling both disappointed with her experience and embarrassed that she had enlisted. Overall, she thought the interview was really cool and that it was great what I was doing.

I appreciated knowing that my efforts had a significant enough impact on someone I haven't seen in 8 years that she took the time to write. Least to say, I absolutely assured her of how much I resonated with her feelings, in addition to thanking her for such an encouraging note.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, another person who was also in GTMO claimed that I'm "fabricating the truth to (my) own benefit," by "spreading lies" about what I saw. He said that he was there too, and he knows that "these dillweeds are being treated just fine."

Some of you reading the above lines might be utterly perplexed as to how he could say this, and if so, I encourage you to read my article, Behind the Wire: An Insider's Perspective on Gitmo. It provides an overview of how my understanding about GTMO changed in the aftermath of my own time there. Essentially, I can personally relate to the hatred and feelings of injustice that the above detractor expressed because they were my initial feelings as well. The difference is that much of my understanding has changed since that deployment. I tried to communicate some of the ideas that prompted my own transformation, and what follows is a substantial portion of my email response to this person.

In my interview I neither spread lies nor exaggerated anything. I was absolutely disturbed by what I saw and experienced in GTMO, but I didn't immediately understand the evil nature of the acts I helped support. As you apparently feel now, I first reacted with hatred for the men imprisoned there and scorn for the way I had to "cater to their needs."

I think the best way I can address this is to ask if you would you so boldly claim that what goes on in GTMO is fair treatment if you were the one down there in a cage? Would you honestly say that you were being treated well if you were locked up in that same fashion? If you were caged someplace where none of your family or friends could come visit you, and you had no idea of whether or not you would even stand trial or have any opportunity to publicly defend yourself, would you be saying that all the people that were involved with keeping you confined in that manner were "taking care" of you?

If you were completely unarmed and had 5+ guys in riot gear forcefully restrain you within your cell simply because you didn't give back your styrofoam meal container when asked, would you say that was being treated well? Would you say you were being mistreated if you decided not to eat, and thus were forcefully strapped into a chair and fed through a tube that was put down your throat?

I didn't understand these dynamics all immediately, and for better or worse, it's taken me more than a year to come to my current understanding of what I experienced in GTMO. Believe me when I say that I'm not just saying stuff or making it up for the purpose of getting out of the military. My understanding has fundamentally changed since I first came home.

I see now that it's absolutely not catering to those people's needs if they're being housed in cages against their will. I couldn't rightly say that I was taking care of you if I locked you in a closet and then shoved food and water through a hole in the door. Even if I provided you the world's best medical treatment, but still kept you in a cage, it wouldn't be doing you a service if all you wanted to do was leave.

One point that you made was that the people down there were horrible baby-killer types. A second point you made was that the US is working to try and return them to places they won't be killed. This doesn't make any sense. If the people who had been, and are, at GTMO are really the sub-human animalistic killers that you make them out to be, then why would any of them have been released?

The fact is that the majority of those who have been confined in GTMO have already been released from there because they were innocent. Innocent people being locked up is mistreatment, even if they're later released. Secondly, if there are any people who are as horrible as you make out, then it would be easy to use reason and evidence to prove to the world that these men are justly confined.

People should not be indefinitely held against their will for supposed crimes for which they've never been convicted. However, this is exactly what Barack Obama has said needs to happen with some of the people confined in Guantanamo Bay (http://www.reason.com/news/show/134775.html). If they are guilty, prove it. If they are innocent (as most of them undoubtedly were given the fact that the majority of those who were ever there have already been released) then those in the United States military and those giving them orders ("President"/"Congress") have committed horrible acts of evil.

Overall, the result of the video is that I'm continuing to hear from a number of other present and former members of the military. With that in mind, I'm asking you to forward this video to anybody who you know that's ever been in the "Armed Forces." Another option would be to post a link on your own Facebook page. While I definitely wouldn't guarantee that others will agree with what I have to say, I highly doubt they'll be bored by it.

P.S. If you're curious to find out more about Pete and the rest of the crew of the Motorhome Diaries, check out their website via their linked name, or read my previous mid-week blog (Meet My Interviewer).

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My participation in the Complete Liberty Podcast looks to be continuing for the foreseeable future, so I leave it to you gentle reader to subscribe at either the iTunes Store or to check out the hosting site: http://completeliberty.libsyn.com/ . If you're looking for other listening specifically about war, I have one podcast of my own dedicated to this topic at http://warisimmoral.com/podcast

Days 106-107 - Meet My Interviewer (Video)

If you haven't recently visited my homepage, WarIsImmoral.com, then you may not have realized that I participated in my first video interview with Pete Eyre of the Motorhome Diaries. The interview, still in post-production, is scheduled to be online later this week as part of Pete and Jason's almost real-time documentary, "Searching for Freedom in America."

In addition to meeting up with scores of individuals who value freedom and voluntary interactions, these peaceful liberty-activists have experienced some harsh physical abuse from people identifying themselves as "the government." As is sadly common in our society, the rights-violators who aggressed against the crew of the Motorhome Diaries did so in broad-daylight and while wearing official-looking costumes and shiny badges.

I figured there was no better way to introduce Pete and his friends, than to offer a video of them sharing about why they started the Motorhome Diaries, and how they came to be mistreated by the "Jones County Sheriff's Department."

To find out more about this incident visit http://motorhomediaries.com/jonescounty/ or use any of the above links to access their homepage.

Day 4 - Man of the Cloth

I was thrilled at 10:27 this morning to receive an email from my Chief telling me to report to Command Legal. Action. Unsure exactly what to expect, I headed promptly from my office to report as ordered on the other side of the base. After introductions were made, I was informed that my application had been reviewed by the Command, but there was yet one more form requiring my signature. The legalese I readily endorsed was as follows:

"The authority to request this information is derived from 50 U.S.C. 456j and 38 U.S.C. 3103, and 5 U.S.C. 301, departmental regulations. The purpose of this application is to allow myself to apply for conscientious objector status. This application is completely voluntary; however, failure to provide the required information would result in an inability to process this request and I would not be able to receive the requested status."

Exciting prose, I know. Better news awaited in the conversation that followed, as I was directed to meet with the Chaplain. The Chaplain interview is a prerequisite for being classified as a conscientious objector, whether or not religious reasons are listed as the grounds for discharge. In the words of the Department of Defense Instruction 1300.06,

"The applicant shall be personally interviewed by a chaplain who shall submit a written opinion as to the nature and basis of the applicant's claim, and as to the applicant's sincerity and depth of conviction. The chaplain's report shall include the reasons for the conclusions contained within the report."

Given the above description, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from this interview, but as it turned out, I left pleasantly surprised at how well it had gone. The Chaplain began by explaining that he found the essays I had written for my application to be so detailed and thorough that he honestly had very few questions regarding what it is that I believe. After further conversation, he made the very deliberate statement that he was convinced that I believed my world view had changed, and he thought that I was honestly trying to align my actions with that change. I clearly understood the not-so-subtle implication of his obviously Christian world view to be that he believed I was going through a phase that would eventually fizzle out, whether in my lifetime or when I faced "the Christian Deity" on judgment day. The ominous insinuation that there may be fire and brimstone in my future if I don't change my ways didn't have me breaking a sweat, nor do I hold it against him for doing what he thinks is best and right. In fact, I feel only gratitude to the Chaplain for his assurance that he would endorse the authenticity of my beliefs and thereby my application.

To add to the fantastic news of the day, I also scheduled an appointment for my other mandated interview, this one with a clinical psychologist. I wonder if anyone has ever felt so much anticipation for a psychiatric evaluation? In any case, if there's no other news, there will be more on that tomorrow.