Post by whatever on Mar 3, 2005 9:48:38 GMT -5
Canada a Haven Again
By Andrew Metz
Newsday
Wednesday 02 March 2005
Like draft evaders and deserters of Vietnam era, American soldiers are heading north to find refuge from what they say is an unjust war in Iraq.
Toronto - In the crowded basement of a community library, the young men recounted their stories of escape.
They spoke of crimes perpetrated by their country, of fleeing in the dead of night to avoid a brutal war they would have been forced to fight.
Thousands of people seek asylum in Canada every year, but these were extraordinary exiles: They claimed to be refugees from the United States, soldiers no less, who deserted duty in Iraq and are taking a provocative stance against the nation they vowed to serve.
"I was willing to give my life. I received a Purple Heart for being injured in combat," said Darrell Anderson, 22
skipped...
House is using the refugee process because unlike during Vietnam, Canada now requires would-be immigrants to apply for residency from outside the country, which wasn't an option for the deserters. He alleges that the war was illegal and the occupation of Iraq so rife with crimes, such as abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, that soldiers should not be compelled to participate. If sent home, he insists, the young men - fugitives facing prison - will be persecuted.
"If someone is going to go to jail for doing what's right, then that's persecution," he said.
A decision in the first case, brought on behalf of Jeremy Hinzman, an Army deserter from South Dakota, is expected soon, although the movement has already suffered a setback. The refugee board has ruled out as disputed and irrelevant House's contention that the war was unlawful.
Michael Scharf, a war crimes expert who advises governments and judges around the world, said although soldiers have been given protection, these cases do not meet the standards. "I am sympathetic to them completely, but they just don't have a winning argument," he said, noting his own opinion that the war was illegal.
Scharf, the director of the International Law Center at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, said the soldiers are not facing persecution, just jail time. And he said they could have exercised an internationally recognized right to protest illegal orders.
"It would be different if [Defense Secretary Donald] Rumsfeld or the generals ordered the systematic commission of war crimes," he said. "But that is not what is going on."
By Andrew Metz
Newsday
Wednesday 02 March 2005
Like draft evaders and deserters of Vietnam era, American soldiers are heading north to find refuge from what they say is an unjust war in Iraq.
Toronto - In the crowded basement of a community library, the young men recounted their stories of escape.
They spoke of crimes perpetrated by their country, of fleeing in the dead of night to avoid a brutal war they would have been forced to fight.
Thousands of people seek asylum in Canada every year, but these were extraordinary exiles: They claimed to be refugees from the United States, soldiers no less, who deserted duty in Iraq and are taking a provocative stance against the nation they vowed to serve.
"I was willing to give my life. I received a Purple Heart for being injured in combat," said Darrell Anderson, 22
skipped...
House is using the refugee process because unlike during Vietnam, Canada now requires would-be immigrants to apply for residency from outside the country, which wasn't an option for the deserters. He alleges that the war was illegal and the occupation of Iraq so rife with crimes, such as abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, that soldiers should not be compelled to participate. If sent home, he insists, the young men - fugitives facing prison - will be persecuted.
"If someone is going to go to jail for doing what's right, then that's persecution," he said.
A decision in the first case, brought on behalf of Jeremy Hinzman, an Army deserter from South Dakota, is expected soon, although the movement has already suffered a setback. The refugee board has ruled out as disputed and irrelevant House's contention that the war was unlawful.
Michael Scharf, a war crimes expert who advises governments and judges around the world, said although soldiers have been given protection, these cases do not meet the standards. "I am sympathetic to them completely, but they just don't have a winning argument," he said, noting his own opinion that the war was illegal.
Scharf, the director of the International Law Center at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, said the soldiers are not facing persecution, just jail time. And he said they could have exercised an internationally recognized right to protest illegal orders.
"It would be different if [Defense Secretary Donald] Rumsfeld or the generals ordered the systematic commission of war crimes," he said. "But that is not what is going on."
I wonder if anyone is sure what kind of experience we mean anymore with "jail time". I mean, if you do the crime...right? I wonder where casually allowed violence and rape and/or institutionalized torture fits in that picture...for draft dodgers. And people wonder why I worry about my kids. Such a self-centered write off of my point of view.
I also find that last quote to be meaningful. Our nation. Sold.
HEY!! I had this great idea. What if our soldiers over there just...left. Came home. In droves. Unnoticed until unstoppable. Would that work, do you think? A non-violent war protest of the most effective kind. "We don't know what happened sir, all of a sudden, we're down to less than half our force. We can't even really count how many" I know; my brain is so nuts sometimes.
...when he's around