What democracy looks like - in Germany

What a contrast to our own country. At a time when US soldiers are routinely court martialed and worse for answering to their own conscience, Germany shows us how it's supposed to be done.

Judges at Germany's Federal Administrative Court said that members of the military could not be forced to comply with orders that went against their conscience, Germany's Deutsche Welle radio reported, even if the soldier was on active service and even if no formal conscientious objector application had been filed.

"The court found that the fundamental right to freedom of conscience cannot be superseded by an order," the court ruled, in a verdict that could have serious implications for future German participation in NATO operations.

The case began in April 2003, when the soldier, who was not named, refused to work on upgrading a software program that appeared designed for the war in Iraq. The soldier said he considered the war to be unconstitutional and a violation of international law. A military court then demoted him from major to captain, and sought to dismiss him from the service, but the civilian court Wednesday reinstated his full rank.

[hat tip to Paul von Hartmann]