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| No safe haven for U.S. deserters | |
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| Topic Started: Mar 27 2008, 12:36 PM (30 Views) | |
| SpookyTheCat | Mar 27 2008, 12:36 PM Post #1 |
~Shortstop had me at Hi..~
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No safe haven for U.S. deserters Soldiers don't get to pick their wars in an all-volunteer army Calgary Herald Wednesday, March 26, 2008 The House of Commons will debate a resolution in April that would allow conscientious objectors deserting from the U.S. military to find safe haven in Canada with their spouses and immediate families. That resolution, put forward by the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, and sponsored by Mennonite and Quaker organizations, along with the War Resisters Support Campaign (WRSC), should be tossed out. Arguments in support of the resolution are based on Canada's history as a haven for draft-dodgers during the Vietnam War era. Those arguments do not hold up when looked at through the lens of the Iraq war. The key difference is that this time, there is no draft. The U.S. has an all-volunteer military. Every American who has enlisted has done so of his or her own free will. American troops fighting in Iraq know they are there because the duty of soldiers is to go where they are ordered. There is no provision when enlisting to cherry-pick among conflicts, or for the recruit to lay down conditions on where he or she consents to be deployed. Allowing for such parameters in the enlistment process would seriously undermine the hierarchy of discipline essential to a well-functioning military. There are approximately 500,000 soldiers in the regular U.S. army, and when that is combined with the Army National Guard and the U.S. Army Reserve, the total exceeds a million. It is not to be expected that every one of those million troops will agree with the objectives or even the necessity of the Iraq war. But every one of those troops signed up knowing they could be called upon to fight at a place and in a war not of their choosing. Jeremy Hinzman, a deserter from the 82nd Airborne Division, has been in Toronto for nearly four years, while his case has wound its way through the courts. He served in Afghanistan, applied for conscientious-objector status, which was refused, and deserted just before his unit shipped out to Iraq. The Toronto-based WRSC estimates there are 225 other American deserters who've crossed into Canada. The Supreme Court of Canada recently refused to hear their case, but their deportation status is in limbo until the Commons deals with the resolution. These deserters should be sent home to face the consequences of their actions. The time for claiming conscientious-objector status was before they entered the military, not after. In private life, one can pick and choose one's battles, but the military doesn't allow for that. During the Vietnam war, conscientious objectors made their positions known when their draft numbers came up; they were opposed to war in principle. The deserters hoping to stay in Canada voluntarily became soldiers; now, they look more like opportunists. Canada's own soldiers are risking -- and losing -- their lives in Afghanistan. It is an insult to the sacrifices they are selflessly making, for this country to harbour American soldiers who, unlike Canadian troops, have cut and run. © The Calgary Herald 2008[ |
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9:38 PM Nov 24
