Kentucky Deserter Becomes High-Profile Iraq War Opponent

[UpInArms]

http://www.wkyt.com/Global/story.asp?S=3070636

An Army Specialist from Kentucky has become a high-profile opponent of the Iraq war. He's one of many U.S. military deserters who have fled to Canada.

Many Canadians who oppose America's policy in Iraq see 22-year-old Darrell Anderson as a hero. But back home in Lexington, some say he should be severely punished.

Anderson says he never imagined that he would be in the position he's in. He's hoping the Canadian government gives him asylum in the country. But he's had to leave his family behind.

Anderson was slightly wounded during action in Iraq last year. Once he returned home for Christmas in December, he says he decided he couldn't go back.

...more...



Joey Bozik,
a triple amputee, tests a new prosthesis as part of his rehabilitation

...more pictures at http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/scars/1.html ...

[NNN0LHI]

1. He's one of many U.S. military deserters who have fled to Canada.

I wonder how many of them are in Canada? Must be more that a few. Wonder where I could find this info?

Don

[UpInArms]

3. here's a CBS story from December 2004

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/12/06/60II/main659336.shtml

(CBS) The Pentagon says more than 5,500 servicemen have deserted since the war started in Iraq.

60 Minutes Wednesday found several of these deserters who left the Army or Marine Corps rather than go to Iraq. Like a generation of deserters before them, they fled to Canada.

What do these men, who have violated orders and oaths, have to say for themselves? They told Correspondent Scott Pelley that conscience, not cowardice, made them American deserters.

...more...

couldn't find much that was very definitive.

[NNN0LHI]

5. Thank you for finding that. At least we have an idea now n/t

[hadrons]

9. I think they are 6,000 deserters total, not sure how many are in Canada

[alfredo]

2. His mother came to our DFA meeting a couple weeks ago.

I hope he can come back to Lexington someday. First we will have to repair this broken land. It was bush's Crusade that forced this young man into exile.

[NNN0LHI]

4. Here is another one

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22671-2004Oct10_2.html

<snip>House has argued to the refugee board that Hinzman is fleeing an illegal war. The lawyer said he is prepared to argue that the Iraq war has produced a pattern of war crimes -- he says the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison is exhibit number one -- that justifies a soldier's refusal to serve.

The government responded that the legality of the war was not an issue, and that anyway, the U.S. presence in Iraq had been sanctioned by the United Nations by the time Hinzman fled Fort Bragg in January. The government's lawyer declined to discuss the case, as did spokesmen for the board and the Citizenship and Immigration Agency. snip

"The Army did give me focus and structure in my life," he said. "When I enlisted, I figured I would be deployed. I thought if I was called up to do it, I could do it. But I was ignorant, probably stupidly, of an ingrained inhibition to killing another human being." snip

Hinzman said he was repelled by the chants of "Kill! Kill!" in basic training and was more drawn to his readings of Buddhism. snip

In 2002, he applied for a conscientious objector status that would have kept him in the Army, but as a noncombatant. While his request was pending, his unit shipped out to Afghanistan. Hinzman went and was assigned to duties as a dishwasher and cook while his unit was in Kandahar from December 2002 to July 2003. In Afghanistan, a first lieutenant denied his application, saying the claimed reasons were "not congruent with the definition of conscientious objector."

Hinzman returned with his unit to Fort Bragg. But in late 2003, he was told they were being sent to Iraq. He and Nguyen talked at length, and "it became more and more obvious" he would refuse to go, he said. "It is an illegal war. I wasn't going to kill or be killed to subsidize gas for someone to drive their SUVs."

more

[dArKeR]

6. George Bush deserted.

[Mnemosyne]

7. Is there a statute of limitations on that?

Desertion during wartime is punishable by death. It was only used once, Pvt. Slovik, WWII, I believe.

However, I am against the death penalty even in cases of war crimes. If they don't play well with others, they need a time out. A very, very, very long time out.

[Mich Otter]

8. Can George Dumb?Yeah! Bush be called up to finish his time..

that skipped out of years ago?
It would be sooooo right!