I do not admire disloyalty, so I was perturbed to read about a supposedly conscience-stricken young man [Matthis Chiroux] who, after years of military service in Afghanistan and elsewhere, suddenly says he "failed to report" "war crimes" and refuses deployment to Iraq. From his statement:

This occupation is unconstitutional and illegal, and I hereby lawfully refuse to participate as I will surely be a party to war crimes. Furthermore, deployment and support of illegal war violates all of my core values as a human being. But in keeping with those values, I choose to remain in the United States to defend myself from charges brought by the Army, if they so wish to pursue them.

I refuse to participate in the Iraq occupation."

[Yeah, I know he's being upstaged by that funny haircut on the guy on the right, and I know it's hard to be serious when you're looking at a haircut like that, but let me try to be serious, OK?]

The young man above describes himself as "from a poor, white family from the south," which made him "'filet mignon' for recruiters," and is said to have "graduated from Auburn High School in 2002."

He's shown as having played French Horn in the school band in 1999, so he was there for at least three years.

So why does this poor boy from Alabama not have even the slightest trace of a Southern accent?

It's probably nothing, and there has to be an explanation.

But what is it?

Auburn (Alabama) is a town located more than halfway between Montgomery and Columbus, Georgia. I knew a guy who lived in Phenix City (across the river from Columbus), and he had such a strong accent that I could barely understand him, and I kept having to ask him to repeat himself.

However, that was in the 1980s. I've read that Southern accents are disappearing, but still.... Seeing a "poor white" boy from Alabama talking like this was a bit of a shock.

But I guess it could have been worse.

At least he didn't denounce his fellow soldiers for behaving "in a manner reminiscent of Jenjis Khan" in an accent reminiscent of a Boston Brahmin....

That really would have been too much to bear.