source [rquoter] Soldier shoots himself to avoid Iraq What starts as a joke to wife ends with a $500 gunshot to the leg NEW YORK - A soldier who recently returned from Iraq has admitted he paid someone $500 to shoot him in the leg so he could avoid returning for another tour. Jonathan Aponte, 20, claimed he had been robbed and shot but changed his story when police questioned him, authorities said. Aponte, who was facing another eight-month tour, had been scheduled to leave last Monday. "As far as being shot at every day, I think it's better," Aponte told WCBS-TV in an interview that aired Friday. "Mentally I can't do it anymore. I can't handle it anymore." Aponte was charged with conspiracy and falsely reporting an incident, according to the criminal complaint. Joke became reality Apone had joked with his wife about getting shot in the leg so he could avoid another tour, according to the complaint. His wife took the remark seriously, and said she knew a man named who could do the job. Early Monday morning, the pair met with the man, who agreed to do the job for $500. Aponte told an investigator that he smoked a cigarette and closed his eyes before he was shot. His lawyer has said Aponte suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, and the military will evaluate him and decide whether he is fit for duty, provide counseling if needed and then send him back overseas, or discharge him. Aponte's wife, Alexandra Gonzalez, 22, was charged with assault, conspiracy and harassment. The couple was arraigned Thursday and released on their own recognizance. The suspected shooter was also arraigned and charged with assault, weapon possession, conspiracy and harassment. [/rquoter]
Everyone has a breaking point...I guess. I'd rather be in a gun battle with someone shooting at me than bungee-jumping (I'm not kidding)...
whoopee, our leaders can't get our soldiers out of iraq so they have to resort to shooting themselves. I recall this happend a bit in Vietnam and we all know how that one turned out (for the pro-war people, we lost that one).
[rquoter] Joke became reality Apone had joked with his wife about getting shot in the leg so he could avoid another tour, according to the complaint. His wife took the remark seriously, and said she knew a man named who could do the job. [/rquoter] I can't tell if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
The irony of Vietnam is that in the long run, none of it mattered. Today relations with Vietnam are good and they are moving to capitalism. In a way, we won the war 30 years later. Iraq - if we perhaps just had taken a smarter approach, could have had a better outcome. Saddam wouldn't have lasted forever....what a shame that we made the same mistake again, after we promised to never get caught up in an unwinnable war.
I like how the president says "If we leave then the terrorists have won." The terrorists win by killing people. And they're killing people in Iraq, not the USA, lets get the hell out of there and let the fire burn itself out. That's funny though how he paid to get popped in the leg, I would've just faked insanity.
