Our Wishy Washy Position On Deserters Is An Indication

John Ivison: Canada's blind spot on terrorism

Posted: November 25, 2009, 5:26 PM by NP Editor

What would happen if Osama bin Laden washed up on the coast of Vancouver Island in a rusting old hulk and claimed asylum? If it was left to our immigration system, he'd share the same fate as the one that probably awaits the 76 Sri Lankan Tamils who arrived in Canada last month aboard the Princess Easwary -- that is, he'd walk free, be set up in a hotel, told he was entitled to work and handed a welfare cheque.

As with the Tamils, bin Laden would initially be detained by the Canada Border Services Agency and then obliged to appear before an Immigration and Refugee Board review hearing to establish his identity.

As with the Tamils, the Minister of Public Safety would likely ask the IRB to detain him while it investigated whether there was "reasonable suspicion" of inadmissability on security grounds.

Click here to read more...

Was He Part Of A Compulsory Draft? NO! Send Him Home

Let Iraq war resisters stay here
Mary Jo Leddy May 28, 2009
Jeremy Hinzman was a soldier in the United States Army's elite infantry division, the 82nd Airborne. In 2002 and 2003 he served in Afghanistan in a non-combat role after applying for conscientious objector status. His application was refused and he learned that he would ...

If The Ride Was Toronto To Buffalo I would Sponsor Phil

cycle for sight: toronto to collingwood to cure blindness

Two friends of mine, Phil McDowell and Jamine Aponte, are among the riders. Phil and Jamine came to Canada when Phil refused to participate in the war in Iraq.

The Salient Point Is In The Last line.....

women making peace

Antonia Zerbisias celebrates women waging peace.

Not that all men are warmongers, but it's striking how, in recent years, the most outspoken, out-front, outrageous and out-there peace activists have been women.

And older women at that.

Is it because, as our baby-making hormones ebb, our anti-war-mones take over?

Here in Canada, we have the Raging Grannies, often seen at the front lines of demonstrations against everything from the U.S. attack on Iraq to the globalization of trade that exploits workers, including women and children, around the word.

Earlier this year, when Israel deployed its forces over and into the already besieged Gaza, it was a group of women who protested by occupying the Israeli consulate here in Toronto.

Author-activist Judy Rebick (Transforming Power: From the Personal to the Political) explained her being part of that to me: "When Israel attacked Gaza – and I know how few options the Gazans have, and that Israel was bombing (what many critics describe as) an open-air prison – I was just so outraged. So, when I was asked to participate in the sit-in to help make it more high profile, I said yes. And I got involved."

Not coincidentally, it was a female MP who publicly took a stand against the bombing of Gaza, the NDP's Libby Davies.

Last month in Toronto, at a meeting to support Iraq war resisters fighting deportation to the U.S., it was all women at the podium, including Michelle Robidoux, the group's principal co-ordinator, as well as current NDP MP Olivia Chow and former MP Peggy Nash.

Please click through to read more - but, as always, best enjoyed without comments.

Posted by L-girl

Heaven Forbid that peaceniks and supporters of deserter/cowards might be exposed to the perspective of the majority.

The Fact He Deserted Not A Factor?

cliff cornell jailed for having morals, speaking out

According to peace activist and lawyer James Branum, Cliff Cornell's one-year sentence was longer than the punishment meted out to 94% of US soldiers who go AWOL. It's clear that's because Cliff isn't not being punished for desertion: he's being punished for speaking out against the war. Soldiers, check your right to free speech - and your right to your own moral compass - at the door. MORE

Not Welcome In My Canada

Re:Deserter gets a little help

Deserters are welcome here

Sep 22, 2008 04:30 AM

from Rae, Sept. 19

Instead of attacking U.S. war resister Jeremy Hinzman, maybe Rosie DiManno should have attacked the Federal Court which, on July 4, ruled that U.S. war resister Joshua Key had been forced to systematically violate the Geneva Conventions as part of his military service in Iraq. Or Parliament which, on June 3, voted to allow U.S. war resisters and their families to stay in Canada.

Dennis Bartels, Toronto

Has Rosie DiManno forgotten that Canada does not support this illegal war in Iraq? Clearly, Canada should welcome conscientious objectors and war resisters. Her personal attack on one individual goes beyond offensive. Stick to the issues, Rosie.

Helen Jefferson, Toronto

Canada did not support this immoral and illegal war in which tens of thousands of civilians have been killed. Young American men and women – those who have come to this decision after one or more tours of duty in Iraq as well as those who are conscientious objectors – should be welcomed here.

Update on Craven Coward Peter Jemley

September 13th, 2008

I wrote earlier about the latest celebre du jour duty shirker who ran off to Toronto to hide from his duty in the eeeevil American war.

Well, turns out there’s way more to the story.

Well, let’s start with the basics. First, SPC Jemley is in signals intelligence; despite the fact that he knows Arabic, he will never ever be required by the Army to interrogate anyone. Indeed, without obtaining the Human Intelligence Collector MOS and then certifying, he would be breaking the law were he to try to do so.

The contractor job at Guantanamo that he complains about had nothing to do with his military career. He used his training and security clearance, paid for by the US Army, to get a highly paid civilian contractor job, and then supposedly balked at the requirements. No one in the Army ever required him to go to Guantanamo. No one in the Army could order him to work as an interrogator at Guantanamo. If you are afraid that “coercive techniques” might possibly constitute torture, you probably shouldn’t apply for jobs where you might use them–never mind the fact that the worst you might face is getting fired when you refuse to do so.

Go read the entire smackdown at Sig. He’s in the same unit, under the same commander. An insider’s take on the cowardice that drove Peter Jemley to flee to Canada.

Unmentioned is what would happen if Jemley came back–he’d be re-classed into some other non-Intelligence job and could finish out his enlistment and earn an honorable discharge. Even after deserting, MAJ B was willing to give him a chance. No dice. Unmentioned also is the fact that he will never again be trusted with my nation’s secrets either way–he’ll never be in danger of being called to interrogate anyone. Ever.

Posted by: Right Girl

Take One Part Taliban Jack And One Part Left Wing Logic...

....and you get Bob Rae. No matter how you cut it and whether you are a Hawk or a Dove the simple fact is this person is a coward and a deserter.

Deserter gets a little help from Rae

Comments on this story (38)

Rosie DiManno

As of yesterday, 4,160 American troops had been killed in Iraq.

Jeremy Hinzman has broken faith with all of them.

He is a deserter.

Not a war resister, not a draft dodger as thousands before him who sought refuge in Canada from conscription during the Vietnam era, but a bolter, an abandoner of fellow soldiers – those who went, avidly or reluctantly, hawkish or dreading combat to the bone.

Hinzman turned tail on the U.S. Army in 2004 after learning his unit was headed for Iraq.

He had served a tour in Afghanistan the previous year, working in the kitchen, temporarily classified for a "non-combatant'' job while his conscientious objector bid was being considered.

It was turned down and he was ordered back to regular duties.

That's when he skedaddled north.

Since then, Hinzman has been living in Toronto with his young family.

His application for refugee status was rejected last month.

He has been ordered to leave Canada by Monday.

Yesterday, at a downtown church, with Bob Rae at his side, Hinzman made another plea for amnesty.

Rae echoed the call for a last-ditch meeting with Immigration Minister Diane Finley to avert deportation and what will occur on the other side of the border – arrest for desertion, a court-martial, perhaps a prison sentence.

"I'd rather go to jail than kill people,'' Hinzman asserted.

Actually, he'd rather not go to jail, otherwise he wouldn't be here and trying to stay.

More

Someone Should Explain To L Girl & Robin The Primary Function Of The Military

And while we are at it Long is a deserter, not a war resister, and he was not drafted but joined voluntarily....

robin long sentenced to 15 months in penitentiary

8.22.2008

War resister Robin Long has been sentenced to 15 months in a federal penitentiary, and given a dishonorable discharge.

Robin was deported to the US because, according to a federal judge, he failed to prove that he would face "irreparable harm". I consider 15 months in prison, plus a life-long felony conviction, irreparable harm, especially since Robin's only "crime" to refusing to kill.

Robin's punishment lies at Stephen Harper's feet.

Kudos To Immigration Canada

Keep up the good work......... U.S. army deserter to be deported from Canada

You Have To Admire Her Efforts.....

....but IMHO she has lost sight of the fact that individuals like Long are DESERTERS not war resistors.

to-do list

Things to do tomorrow:

1. Call Stockwell Day. Demand he stop the deportation of war resister Robin Long.

2. Join a demonstration to demand the Harper Government respect the will of the Canadian people and implement the June 3 motion calling for war resisters to be allowed to stay in Canada.

3. Call Stockwell Day.

4. Email Diane Finley and Stephen Harper.

5. Call Stockwell Day.

6. Spread the word, get others to call, email and fax.

7. Keep fighting.

Things not to do tomorrow:

1. Lose hope.

2. Give up.

Court Misunderstood The Situation?????

Where is the misunderstanding? Long joined the military voluntarily and then deserted which doesn't qualify him as a refugee and he is being kicked out of the country. If he truly believes the he is being asked to do something contrary to what he signed up for let him fight this battle on the lawn of the White House not Parliament Hill.

Canada to deport U.S. war deserter

ROBERT MATAS

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

July 14, 2008 at 9:48 PM EDT

VANCOUVER — U.S. army deserter Robin Long is slated to be deported back to his army base in Fort Knox, Ky., Tuesday, which would make him the first resister to the U.S. war effort in Iraq to be sent out of Canada.

Madam Justice Anne Mactavish of the Federal Court of Canada cleared the way for the deportation late Monday, dismissing a last-ditch attempt to delay the process while the 25-year-old pursued further appeals.

“I was just shocked at some things in [the] ruling,” Bob Ages, a spokesman for an informal group called Vancouver War Resisters Support Campaign, told reporters outside the courtroom. “It just flies in the face of everything that we and every Canadian know about the reality of what is going on.”

Mr. Ages said the court misunderstood the situation facing Mr. Long upon his return.