AlterNet: The Burden of Conscience:

"There was this numbness..., this human aspect, you didn't think would be there. People all around me – us, the Iraqis – we were all losing friends and family. It was sickening...

"I saw destruction of people. Innocent lives taken that won't be coming back. I took lives... You were trained to think these people were lower than you. But you wondered if that person you'd just killed could have been your friend.... There was no honor in it, and I didn't want to be a part of it anymore.

"I was made aware of the conscientious objector option, and I submitted the paperwork, because I realized I want separation from the military... I was told I'd be fighting for freedom and honor and glory, but it's been about protecting political interests. It's been a lie."

In 2003, only 31 of a mere 60 applications for conscientious objector discharges were approved. Only two of five have been approved so far in 2004. The Army's numbers, however, are not only misleading; they're bound to change.

Leader of the GI Rights Hotline, a coalition of advocacy groups that offer confidential counseling and legal advice to American troops, says calls to their hotline service are now "virtually out of control. "