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[QUOTE="subjugate:63903"][IMG]http://news.bostonherald.com/images/localRegional/mejiabig03162004.jpg[/IMG] NORTH MIAMI, Fla. - A 28-year-old U.S. soldier who refused to return to Iraq because of his opposition to what he calls an ``oil-driven war'' reported to his unit Tuesday in preparation to seek conscientious objector status. Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia walked into the building housing his Florida National Guard unit at the North Miami Armory after repeating his determination not to return to the Middle East and fight ``I'm prepared to go to prison because I'll have a clear conscience,'' Mejia said. Lt. Col. Ron Tittle, a Florida National Guard spokesman, said Mejia would likely be transported to Fort Stewart, Ga., where he could meet with the military's legal services team. Mejia, 28, of Miami Beach, was in Iraq for about five months last year until October, when he returned home on leave. He did not return to duty. He surrendered Monday at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts and was ordered to return to Florida and report to his unit, the 1st Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment of the Florida National Guard. ``This is an oil-driven war, and I don't think any soldier signs up to fight for oil,'' Mejia said Monday after arriving at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Mejia was accompanied by his mother, an aunt and Spc. Oliver Perez, who served with him, when he reported to the Florida armory Tuesday. Perez said Mejia is ``a brave leader'' and should not be prosecuted. ``I fought next to him in many battles. He is not a coward,'' Perez said. Mejia's attorney, Louis Font, said he believes Mejia is the first soldier to turn himself in after refusing to return to Iraq. Mejia said he was particularly upset over an incident in which he and others were ambushed and innocent civilians were hit in the ensuing gunfire. ``That's one of the things that tells me there's no such thing as a fair war, no such thing as a just war,'' he said. He did not believe his refusal to return to service in Iraq affected morale among the troops, saying: ``I think the morale of the soldiers is already affected.'' A native of Nicaragua, Mejia is a permanent resident of the United States who served in the Army for three years. He had served in the National Guard for five years when his unit was called to active duty. In civilian life, he was a psychology student at the University of Miami. Mejia said he joined the military upon his arrival in the United States so he could work his way into American society. He could not say whether he might be deported because of his refusal to serve, but said ``whatever sacrifice I have to make, I have to go there.'' Tod Ensign, director of Citizen Soldier, a New York-based group that provides counsel and defense to military resisters and is organizing Mejia's defense, said Mejia could face up to one year in prison for being absent without leave and up to five years in prison if he is convicted of desertion. ``I am saying no to war; I have chosen peace,'' Mejia said Monday at an anti-war news conference. ``I went to Iraq and was an instrument of violence and now I have decided to become an instrument of peace.'' [/QUOTE]
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