TORONTO, Jan. 28, 2007
Soldiers Against Iraq Desert To Canada
Taking A Cue From Predecessors In Vietnam Era, Some Disillusioned Flee
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With the war in Iraq becoming increasingly unpopular, some soldiers like Justin Colby are deserting. (CBS)
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When you contemplate the danger and the violent death that are ever present factors in Iraq, you may wonder how Americans charged with fighting the war there can bear it.
The reality is that some of them can't take it. Justin Colby, 23 was inspired to join the Army to avenge the events of September 11.
"I thought that was something I wanted to do," he told Sunday Morning correspondent Rita Braver. "So I approached a recruiter and said, 'Sign me up.'"
On July 4 of this year, as his unit was about to be redeployed to Iraq, Colby became a deserter. And in September, he joined a small, but growing number of American servicemen who have sought refuge in Canada. Estimates say there are between 100 and 250 of them.
Before he decided to desert, Colby served heroically in Iraq. Starting in late 2004, he served a year as a medic there. He received the Army Commendation Medal for exceedingly meritorious service for his work while under fire. He said his base was constantly barraged by mortar and rocket attacks and he had a couple of close calls during his year there.
"The rocket landed within 15, 20 meters of where I was standing," he said.
But Colby was becoming disillusioned with the war in Iraq, especially because it became increasingly clear that Iraq, and its dictator Saddam Hussein, was not behind the attacks of 9/11.
"When I realized these people we were killing — 'cause we killed a lot of [them], I saw a lot of dead people — when I realized the people we were killing had nothing to do with 9/11, that's when I was, like, 'Okay, this is not for me! This, ya know, I was wrong.'"
Colby and the other deserters are the second generation of Americans to flee here, on the run from an unpopular war. In the 1960s and '70s, some 50,000 Americans — mostly draft dodgers but also some deserters — escaped to Canada, refusing to serve in Vietnam.
Lee Zaslofsky was one of those Army deserters. He was drafted in 1969 and fled to Canada in 1970. Today he is the coordinator of the War Resisters Support Campaign in Toronto — started in 2004 to help fleeing GIs. He is now a Canadian citizen.
"Provide them with temporary housing until they can get on their feet. If they need some money — we can give them some money; not a lot," Zaslofsky said. "We get them in touch with a lawyer."
He remains confident in the choice he made more than 30 years ago and says that he is happy to help other young men and women who faced similar dilemmas.
"I never had the slightest doubt about what I've done," Zaslofsky said. "What makes me feel good is that I'm able — at my age — to have the privilege of working with young people who have had the guts and the decency to stand up for what they believe is right."
One of those young people is former marine Dean Walcott, who served six years including two tours of duty in Iraq. In between he was assigned to a U.S. military hospital in Germany, assisting wounded marines. He said it was there that he fell apart after seeing so many burn victims.
"A lot of guys whose skin was melted off," he said. "A lot of guys who you couldn't recognize literally from their face to their feet. Missing arms, missing legs, couldn't breathe on their own, couldn't feed themselves. These kids, literally kids — 17, 18, 19, 20. And this look in their eyes that — Oh, I’m never gonna forget it. The look in their eyes when they finally come to understand that they're never gonna walk again. They're never gonna hold their wife and their children again. And having them ask me, 'Why?' Ya know — a 'big-picture why.' And I couldn't tell them."
After his second tour in Iraq, depressed and filled with anxiety, Walcott got himself assigned to a non-combat unit. But to his dismay, he was assigned to prepare reservists for deployment to Iraq.
"So basically instead of me deploying and me being psychologically or physically injured," he said, "now we’re pulling them away from their family for over a year — and telling them "Well, while I sit here in the office drinking coffee and being safe, you go to Iraq!'"
He simply walked out and headed to Canada, which he remembered hearing was a haven for Vietnam deserters.
But there's a catch for those who flee to Canada. In the era of the Vietnam war, American draft dodgers and deserters could easily take up residence in Canada, and stay as long as they liked. Now, however, Canadian law has changed.
"Well, legally what’s changed is that there’s a general policy in Canada now that to apply here you must apply from outside the country. And that's not really an option that American troops could do," said Jeffrey House, a Vietnam veteran who fled to Canada. "Because they’re gonna be sent to Iraq next week or next month."
House is now a lawyer in Toronto, trying to help deserters like Walcott. House is trying to convince Canadian courts that American deserters of today are, in effect, political refugees. He said he is currently representing about 35 clients and is trying to establish permanent residence.
"I believe the law says you need not participate in an illegal war," House said. "And so that's the circumstance we’re asserting. 'I'm an American solider, I don't want to participate in an illegal war. That’s why I couldn’t apply from the United States. That’s why I’m applying from inside Canada.' And [we believe] people will win their cases eventually."
But so far, despite all the countless papers House has filed, Canadian immigration boards have rejected the claim. The country’s appeals court will hear the case this spring.
But the United States military doesn't see desertion as a significant problem. Army Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty said fewer than 1,500 a year desert. The desertion rate has gone down since 9/11 and Hilferty said most desert for personal, family-related reasons [compared to] those motivated by opposition to the war.
"I don’t think America really wants an Army where soldiers get to vote," he said. "'I don’t want to attack that hill. I don’t think this patrol is a good idea. No, No I don't really, don’t want to go on that mission.' And that’s what these soldiers, I think, are saying. I don’t like this particular mission. You cannot have an army to defend America — that fights for truth and the American way — if you do that."
So far, a handful of American deserters who went to Canada have voluntarily returned to the U.S. One is in prison, another is in hiding. Several have been discharged. There’s no uniform penalty for desertion. Col. Hilferty says the military issues an arrest warrant for deserters — but does not actively attempt to track them down — whether in the U.S. or Canada.
"Primarily people turn themselves in. They return to their duty stations," he said. "Or if a police officer stops you for running a red light. Primarily what we do with deserters is we bring them back in the unit. That's our first course of action."
It's an idea that was rejected outright by Colby:
"What I feared the most was being incorporated back into the unit," he said. "Ya know, take my rank, take my pay and send me back to Iraq."
In the 1970s, President Jimmy Carter announced an amnesty for Vietnam draft dodgers and deserters, but with the war in Iraq still raging, no one is talking about how deserters from this conflict will be dealt with in the future. Theirs is an even heavier burden: with no draft, everyone in today's military joined voluntarily, including Walcott, who says he sees the contradiction between leaving the war for moral reasons and abandoning his mission.
"I do see the contradictions there," he said. "And I realize that as — again — it not only being illegal, it's also going back on my word which I swore to when I did it — and did it again. And it's also more than likely a sin."
But, he said, the images of the dead and wounded from Iraq will not go away.
"I regret that it became necessary, but I don't see any other way that I can help those men and women more than by doing what I’m doing now," Walcott said, "which is talking about it, raising the issue, getting it out there for people to debate about it."
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See all 207 CommentsI find it a great shame that people can't accept others for thier faiths and cultures. Perhaps its about time that we all decided as human beings to try making the world a better place by understanding each other. That includes ALL CULTURES. Instead of sitting back and saying "My *** is bigger than yours"
WHEN ARE THE REST OF THEM GOING TO WAKE UP TO THIS REALIZATION!
GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE OF OVERLY BEING 'PATRIOTIC' PEOPLE! We all love our great US of A, but sending troops to a war based on a lie, that is continued to try and save history's opinion of the worst president ever, is downright EVIL to the families of men & women who have died after 2004ish when it was starting to be revealed, and has been REPEATEDLY that this country had NOTHING to do with OSAMA and 9/11, nor did they have WMD that Bush so HUMOROUSLY mocked not finding in that skit he did on stage... OH he's sooooo funny! May he realize the blood of all those soldier's that spilled out of their dying bodies is because of HIM! He is responsible for their deaths because he sent them over to a war that his administration fiddled with the truth about to go ahead and knock off Saddam...
what a coward.
It is incouraging to see our wisest and bravest service members refusing to take part in the Bush regime war-crimes!
To our troops:
"Do not fight for a dying regime. It is not worth your life."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxKpeKQA6B4
www.appealforredress.org
www.thankyoult.org
Re: "No one is forced to join the military. When you do, you swear to uphold the constitution; support and defend the United States against enemies, foreign and domestic"
Indeed, and this courageous man is fulfilling that oath in the best possible way, by refusing to participate in an illegal and disgraceful war of choice.
Re: "and most importantly, obey the orders of those appointed over you."
You are mistaken. The Constitution is the most important, since "those appointed over you" lack any legitimacy or authority whatsoever, without it.
This type a report makes me think we are too comfortable here to understand the threat. We have become removed and aloof to right/wrong and that's a sign that our great society is on the verge of collapse.
These soldiers have a permanent YELLOW STREAK in place of a conscience.
This man decided to fight and possibly die for his country, for us. Not the cities of concrete, steel, and glass. He did it for we, the people and our way of life. His contribution was very significant. We, the people, asked too much from him and it broke him.
Please listen to me....
What makes a military man or woman of any branch be willing to kill the enemy, and if called upon give their life? It takes trust and faith in the unified chain of command.
Every man or woman has their own breaking point. Don't be so quick to condemn this man because he faced his. He is young and he does not want to die nor kill anymore in the name of this cause.
For those who still want to condemn him and still support Bush. Please, let me ask you. Are you willing to go to Iraq, possibly kill innocent people, or sacrafice your life for the next year? How about the next 2 years? How about the next 10 years? How about the next 20 years?
At what point would decide that the Iraqi thousand-year-old sectarian conflict will continue to go on regardless of how long we stay and how much of our blood we spill?
Well this guy did it for 4.
Bush and Cheyney has broken our military and ripped this country apart. We ar so deeply divided. We have already lost because as Bush has mis-managed this war, the military, and the American people the same way he mis-managed Katrina which now, Bush has deserted.
These cowards are better off in Canada. Had they been drafted and forced to war, they would have become a pain. Those types usually end up with a bullet in the back for running away.
CPO, USN
This guy did it for 4 years. A man that was a hero for 4 then runs is not a coward, he's broken.
Didn't Cheyney get 5 deferments...?
Is Cheyney a coward?
Nobody forced them to sign up in the American armed forces - it was their choice and I am tired of adults making poor choices and then being portrayed as victims. But lets get real, somewhere in their little brains it must of occurred to them that America is tapped often to solve the world's problems and the odds were pretty good that they would end up in battle somewhere.
If they are so against the wars that America is engaging in then the right and noble thing to do is to stay in the US and make your case there. I cannot imagine for one minute that the US Army would want to keep them if they are so appalled by fighting in the war. I suspect a dishonourable discharge could be arranged - but that doesn't have the same publicity value as AWOL in Canada.
A more interesting story from this Canadian's perspective is Canada's role in front line fighting in Afganistan as part of NATO. Our volunteer soldiers (along with the Americans) are carrying the brunt of the heavy fighting whereas our NATO allies from Europe are playing safe in secure areas. And I think mentioning the Tim Horton's in Kandahar would be good as well.
I hope the government keeps the warrants open for these guys who VOLUNTEERED. He and the rest of the "150" should be prosecuted and shot for desertion. This is not the 60's or 70's. They VOLUNTEERED.
I hope the government keeps the warrants open for these guys who VOLUNTEERED. He and the rest of the "150" should be prosecuted and shot for desertion. This is not the 60's or 70's. They VOLUNTEERED.
PERMANENTLY.
This is Justin Colby. I am reading this and I am glad to see some who are understanding. My response to the statement that the military is an all volunteer service is you are right. I volunteered with the sole purpose of avenging the deaths of those who were victims of september the eleventh. Many friends dead later, and many many more Iraqi deaths later, when discovering that the claim of Iraq being somehow responsible for September the eleventh was proven false by congresses own peel commission, I had realised that perhaps I wasn't set up to take part in this any more. My beliefs and feelings crystallised after the point of enlistment. It is an amazing ability for the human mind to be able to evolve. Mine did. The statement about me joining the army for medical benefits and college money. You must know so much about my backround, perhaps you can investigate the family I come from a little further and apologise to me for making assumptions like that. And for your information I was a medic in the U.S. Army, a provider of that health care that you think these "soldiers" are joining to get. And for anybody that believes it is such a great thing, this war in Iraq against the ones not responsible for 9/11.....I encourage you to go ahead and strap on your boots, button up your uniform, and polish your M16 and go join the other courageous people fighting over there.
Ever hear of a man named Lew Ayres?
If not, you might want to read about him.
You chose Canada instead. Fine, stay there.
You can move to Canada too. This country right OR wrong is too good for wimps and neo-fascists. Like you.
This man (and that term is used for politeness) and all those like him, should never receive amnesty. I hope the warrant for him is left open until the day he dies. He's a coward. He VOLUNTEERED to serve, now he runs. Cowardice.
One, our Armed Forces are subject to command and control. Witness Abu Gharib. Witness also the fact that those whom you hate and call bloodthirsty have yet to call for a levelling of Fallujah, Ramati, and Al Sadr city. However, if they had, I'm sure that both our casualty counts and those of the poor Iraqui people would go down considerably.
Two, the enemy that we fight don't hesitate to hide behind nor kill innocent women and children and pets. Justin baby, and his cohorts knew the nature when they signed up after 9/11. They weren't some Helmut or Karl joining the SS under Herr Hitler's charisma.
If you can't understand that, NJGirl, and others, and all you know is what Howie Zinn or Chomsky tell you, then honestly you don't deserve this country. Period.
And learn how to spell, d*mmit. It's called hypocrisy - which is what you follow.
And thank you!
Read about Lew Ayres - a REAL American hero.
and stop trying to justify your Benedict Arnold behavior. I'm not interested.
Oh, I'm quite sure you can get John Kerry to say a good word for you though.
Go and serve yourself.
I'M sure, since you hate President Bush so much and blame him for the world's evils - that you can find a place for yourself in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
Or maybe a touch beneath that would do you just nicely.
Hamas, Al Qaeda, Hizbullah, Fatah and Al Sadr's killers are looking for recruits. You and these pissants who fled to Canada can go and sign up with them. After all, if fighting them is ILLEGAL, then they deserve your support, and those like Justin, right?
Salman Pak.
Look it up.
You didn't have to go to Washington.
You can always go to Al Sadr City. Or if that's too hot for you, Paris is always a good second choice.
He didn't wish to pick up a rifle and kill.
Instead he went to Iwo Jima and served as a medic. And won the respect of ALL Americans even in a war where being a CO was an extremely hard thing to be.
Enuff said.
face your punishment,the worse they will do is put you in prison for a few year and then when your released,give you a dishonorable discharge, you will not be executed for desertion.This is much better than being away from your country and your family for the rest of your lives.
The real war on terror is in Afghanistan where Canada has several thousands of troops in combat
alonside US forces and many Canadian soldiers have already been killed and wounded.We need to put all our our resources in that country.
On December 7, 1941 Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. When President Roosevelt went to Congress he demanded that we Americans declare war on both Japan - and NAZI Germany and Italy.
Note - Herr Hitler, as terribly evil as he was, had NOT attacked America or Americans.
So, any American who volunteered or was drafted and sent to France, where he or she saw carnage, not only to Nazi personnel but to innocent animals, even some French civilians and their own buddies could say, I volunteered for Pearl Harbor and to fight *** - not to fight Herr Hitler. That's your logic, Justin?
Well, tell that to my mom's cousin, who was also a medic, machine-gunned under a white flag of truce to retrieve wounded. He didn't make a choice between the *** and the Nazis. He served and paid the ultimate price.
You don't deserve a country where someone like him shed his life for.
some b*stard in a cave who could care less if you have children or pet animals, or if you're carrying a M16.
Some b*stard who yearns for sharia and all those vested virgins awaiting him as he straps on the high explosive to murder women and children.
Who? This is an enemy, that unlike even Hitler, whom we knew where he was (funny all these folks who say why didn't we kill Bin Laden don't ask Roosevelt why the B-17s never deliberately targeted Hitler)hides in caves like the cowards they are. Or live in a country that thus far, has not given us the excuse to attack, namely Iran (when they start building their nukes, we had better do so, and immediately despite what PELOSI, WEBB OR HAGEL tell us).
The Nazis were in the open. As much as they are despicable and murderous they were open. These Islamicnazis are cowards. They don't fight like us. Nor are they willing to talk, unless we accept Sharia.
Is that what you want, lightnin?
Call me if you need someone to pull the trigger.
Les Randler
SFC, USA, RET
Call me if you need someone to pull the trigger.
Les Randler
SFC, USA, RET
here's another reason to desert.... because our government (Republican) has deserted our troops by severely underfunding the VA.. this, from a local Minnesote paper two days ago...
"Two weeks ago, Schulze told a staff member at the VA hospital in St. Cloud, Minn., that he was thinking of killing himself and asked to be admitted, according to his father and stepmother, who accompanied him. They said he was told he couldn't be admitted that day. The next day, a counselor told him over the phone that he was No. 26 on the waiting list, his parents said.
Four days later, Schulze committed suicide in his New Prague, Minn., home. He was 25."
source: http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_027144228.html
Last week a news article about how the Iraq factions are still arguing over the ins and outs of the "Oil Law"..... care to guess what the gist of the "Oil Law" is.. companies like Exxon get to do the drilling and pumping, and keep 55% of the output.. Tell me again it isn't about the f*cking oil..
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