|
|
|
Bring Our Troops Home? What About Deserters? |
|
Since the beginning of the Iraq War, Canada has hosted a number of Americans who have decided that they no longer wish to serve in the U.S. military and deploy to Mess-o-Potamia for a first, second, or third tour.
Do American servicemen and women have the right to take this course of action if they believe the war to be wrong?
No.
Before I continue, a little background information may be necessary.
This is not the first time that our neighbors to the north have provided a haven for reluctant warriors. During the Vietnam War, many Americans fled to Canada to find sanctuary from what they considered to be an unjust conflict. The majority of these “refugees” sought to escape the draft, while the rest were a mixture of volunteers and men who had already been conscripted into the armed forces.
Most Canadians opposed America’s war in Southeast Asia and welcomed the deserters with open arms. Members of Parliament counted themselves among these benevolent hosts, and Pierre Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, declared in 1969 that his country is to be “a refuge from militarism.”
Although the Canadian government and the majority of its citizens have voiced their opposition to the Iraq War – much as they did during Vietnam – the similarities between the two eras end there.
For one thing, the government and supreme court of Canada have been less hospitable to deserters than their predecessors of a generation past. The High Court has refused to hear the appeals of American servicemen who have attempted to apply for refugee status. Prime Minster Stephen Harper and his Conservative government have given a frosty welcome to the deserters. Indeed, Conservative politician Laurie Hawn spoke for many when she asked, “Why do they not fight it within their own legal system instead of being faux refugees in Canada?”
At this point, the Canadian government has not deported a single American, but the legal noose is tightening. The nation’s immigration agency has already told nine deserters to split, causing them to seek redress in the courts. Changes have been made to Canada’s immigration laws to make it harder for deserters to stay. For instance, Americans seeking temporary legal status must qualify as refugees, but in order to do this, the “refugees” must be able to prove that they are suffering from a “well-founded fear of being persecuted” because of their religion, race, or political beliefs. This is a difficult thing to prove for obvious reasons.
Another significant difference between the Iraq and Vietnam eras is that the number of American deserters in Canada today is around 200 – a fraction of the 30,000-40,000 who sought refuge during the previous conflict.
And then there is the issue of the draft. The U.S. military does not have conscription today, as opposed to the Vietnam era. This means that every person who deserted in order to avoid serving in Iraq is a volunteer – a fact that has not been lost on many Canadians.
Like many Americans, I believe that the invasion of Iraq was unnecessary, poorly planned, and badly executed. However, I disagree with antiwar activists who say that the “illegitimacy” of this war gives servicemen the right to bail out on their commitments and seek sanctuary in Canada.
For one thing, as I mentioned above, all of these deserters volunteered to serve their country. Nobody forced them to join up. Cindy Sheehan’s ranting aside, these people hardly qualify as victims. I could sympathize with draftees – men who were forced to serve against their will – but I draw the line with volunteers. It goes without saying that if you choose to join the military, then you had better be prepared for anything.
There is also the chain of command to consider. If soldiers could choose which conflicts to fight in – as Lt. Ehren Watada attempted to do – or to not fight at all, we would not have an effective military. When you are in the service, you have to obey orders handed down by your superior officers unless those orders involve illegal acts such as torture or the slaughter of women and children. As “Government Issue,” you possess few rights, and none of these allow you to quit serving just because you feel that a particular military action is wrong. After all, the opinions of you and your parents no longer apply in these matters – your dear Uncle Sam is the only one who has any say.
The excuses many deserters give for their behavior are pathetic. For example, in an interview with the New York Time, James Glass, a member of the National Guard who fled to Canada while on leave from Iraq, said that he asked his recruiters if he would ever have to fight and “They told me I’m not going to fight a war on foreign shores.”
Anyone this gullible who joins the military is asking for trouble.
Jeremy Hinzman, an Army deserter who served in Afghanistan and left for Canada after learning that his unit was going to Iraq, told an interviewer, “No matter how much I wanted to, I could not convince myself that killing someone was ever right.”
Although it is too late for Mr. Hinzman, here’s a helpful hint to everyone else: If you think killing is wrong, do not join the military. As far as I know, the only army that does not train its employees to kill is the Salvation Army.
Ironically, if military members expressed their opposition to the war by accepting jail terms rather than fleeing to Canada, their actions would engender more sympathy and outrage on their behalf. Ordinary citizens would be more inclined to admire warriors who choose imprisonment over desertion – and ask questions about whether or not our government should be pursuing the kinds of policies that got these patriots into this kind of situation to begin with.
As it stands, however, those who desert are neither heroes nor victims. They are nothing more than volunteers who turned their backs on their fellow soldiers and chose to abandon the country they swore an oath to serve rather than take responsibility for their actions. Instead of receiving praise and sympathy, these people should spend the better part of their lives in the stockade.
Also, it should be noted here that support for these deserters among certain segments of the population is nothing more than a cover for what amounts to gross irresponsibility on the part of the American people. As citizens of a democracy, it is our duty to demand a thorough public debate over the legitimacy of any potential conflict. We must decide together whether or not a particular war is worth waging before we embark upon it, not after.
This did not happen in the run-up to the war in Iraq. Since they did not expect the impending conflict to affect them in any significant way, Americans were all too eager to eat up the sweet claims that the War Party dished out and neglected to ask the tough questions.
Hannah Arendt once wrote that freedom is nothing if not participation in political government. If this is true, then many Americans have chosen not to be free.
|
|
#1 |
on July 14 2008 06:16:28
#2 |
on July 14 2008 07:38:31
#3 |
on July 14 2008 08:56:35
#4 |
on July 14 2008 09:02:36
#5 |
on July 14 2008 09:09:00
#6 |
on July 14 2008 09:22:48
#7 |
on July 14 2008 10:47:29
#8 |
on July 14 2008 15:37:54
#9 |
on July 14 2008 17:41:57
#10 |
on July 14 2008 17:57:51
|
|
|
Please Login to Post a Comment.
|
|
|
Rating is available to Members only.
Please login or register to vote.
No Ratings have been Posted.
|
|
|
Not a member yet? Click here to register.
Forgotten your password? Request a new one here.
|
You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ')group by comment_item_id order by a desc limit 10' at line 1You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ')group by comment_item_id order by a desc limit 10' at line 1 |
You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ')group by comment_item_id order by a desc limit 10' at line 1 |
