U.S. Army Deserter Seeks Asylum In Germany

Army Specialist Deserted German Base After 6-Month Iraq Deployment

(AP)  A U.S. soldier who deserted after serving in Iraq declared Tuesday he has applied for asylum in Germany.

Army Spc. André Shepherd said he deserted from his unit's Katterbach base in April 2007 after returning from a six-month deployment in Iraq, where he was a mechanic working on Apache attack helicopters in Tikrit.

"We went to war basically for nothing," Shepherd, of Cleveland, Ohio, told The Associated Press. "There's no way I would go back for a second tour with the information that I have since received."

Shepherd has been staying with friends in southern Germany since going AWOL and working odd jobs to support himself.

Germany should grant him asylum, Shepherd said, because of its strong opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

"The Germany government already declared the war illegal in 2005," Shepherd said.

The Interior Ministry, which oversees migration and asylum, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Shepherd applied for asylum last week, said Tim Huber, director of the Germany-based Military Counseling Network, a group that has been assisting him.

U.S. Army Europe spokesman Bruce Anderson confirmed that Shepherd served in the Army's 12th combat aviation brigade but would not comment on the asylum application.

Shepherd's bid for asylum follows that of U.S. Army Spc. Jeremy Hinzman, who in September won a last-minute stay of deportation from Canada after a judge there ruled he could remain while awaiting a decision on whether he could appeal a deportation order.

Hinzman faces charges in the United States of fleeing to avoid duty in Iraq. He had served a tour in Afghanistan during his three years in the Army, but has argued that the war in Iraq is immoral and illegal.

[libsh8theusa]

COWARD..

[earache4]

Now there''s a young soldier determined not to die for a lie.....

[inketolstoy]

"Now there''''s a young soldier determined not to die for a lie..... "

This man was no soldier. I admire the young men and women who volunteer in the armed forces, knowing that they are risking their lives. This guy broke an oath to his country and to his unit. Let him go, but don''t ever let him back.

[mrmeatspin]

Now there''''s a young soldier determined not to die for a lie.....


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Posted by earache4 at 03:39 PM : Dec 02, 2008
+ report abuse


*********

what lie can that be?? the lie that a liberal cares??

the best time to think about that lie..is when you are in a gas station filling up your car with petrol on the way to your facist capitalist work..

[mrmeatspin]

I bet you the liberal masses WILL support this guy if he turns around and joins a jihad against this country..

[gowens1]

More truths about the George Bush War machine..that''s all, and hte solidiers are wising up ot the Idiot and chiefs motives.

[biblethumpar]

nothing wrong with questioning why you are going over there.
Afghanistan is where it all began,
Iraq was cooked up, no one disputes that.

[mrmeatspin]

the last time i saw a liberal show an emotion towards an american soldier..he was spat at...

so its a bit suspicious about them want to save our american soldies from a lie..

[earache4]

This man was no soldier. I admire the young men and women who volunteer in the armed forces, knowing that they are risking their lives. This guy broke an oath to his country and to his unit. Let him go, but don''t ever let him back.

Posted by Inketolstoy at 03:48 PM

Wrongo. He''s already a veteran of a foreign war. Granted he should have gone the conscientious objector route, or asked to transfer to Afghanistan, but he is a soldier. And he won''t die for an oil war.

[mrmeatspin]

nothing wrong with questioning why you are going over there.
Afghanistan is where it all began,
Iraq was cooked up, no one disputes that.


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Posted by Biblethumpar at 03:53 PM : Dec 02, 2008
+ report abuse
More truths about the George Bush War machine..that''''s all, and hte solidiers are wising up ot the Idiot and chiefs motives.


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Posted by REPUBLISCUMS at 03:53 PM : Dec 02, 2008
report abuse

**********

it really does not matter if we get the culprit or not..liberals and terrorist DOES NOT LIKE THIS COUNTRY AND WILL ALWAYS BE SUSPICIOUS OF THIS COUNTRY..

come on..dont tell me liberals just started burning american flags and calling us marines baby killer just last 2001..

[mrmeatspin]

Posted by earache4 at 03:54 PM : Dec 02, 2008
+ report abuse


***********

you are not getting it..do you??

here is a question..DO YOU NEED OIL???????????

[biblethumpar]

MrMeatSpin , you dont have to like the fact that to each his own.
youre deffinitely still suffering PTSD from Nam..
Semper wifi geezer.
let the soldier be...

[eggy1620]

Interesting that during the Bush atrocistration, the standard enlistment has expanded to last longer than one 4 year presidential election cycle.

[earache4]

you are not getting it..do you??
here is a question..DO YOU NEED OIL???????????
Posted by MrMeatSpin at 03:56 PM

Not nearly as much as you need an education.

[mrmeatspin]

Posted by Biblethumpar at 03:57 PM : Dec 02, 2008
+ report abuse


********

You have your opinion and I have mine... I mean I am still allowed to have an opnion??


this soldier is a man..and has the right mind when he signed up..and he knew what soldiers do..and to the ''cause''..like i said..do you need oil?

[mrmeatspin]

Not nearly as much as you need an education.


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Posted by earache4 at 03:58 PM : Dec 02, 2008
+ report abuse


*****************************

and throwing personal insults is a sign of a enligthened scholar..

again..DO YOU NEED OIL??

[mrmeatspin]

Interesting that during the Bush atrocistration, the standard enlistment has expanded to last longer than one 4 year presidential election cycle.


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Posted by eggy1620 at 03:57 PM : Dec 02, 2008
+ report abuse

*********** PERHAPS BECAUSE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN AMERICAN HISTORY..

a civilian location was attacked and we are at war..

[inketolstoy]

Wrongo. He''''s already a veteran of a foreign war. Granted he should have gone the conscientious objector route, or asked to transfer to Afghanistan, but he is a soldier. And he won''''t die for an oil war.

I am not saying he wasn''t there, but that doesn''t make you a soldier. Plenty of politicians and journalists have made their appearances in Iraq, Afghanistan (who are fighting the same enemy, by the way), and many other hole in the wall countries we have been in in the last decades, but that doesn''t make them soldiers. Soldiers fight, and they are not given a choice on leaving when they disagree with policy. Do my brothers have the choice to quit the marines if they don''t like where Obama sends them next summer? If they run off to Canada or Germany, we would not be calling them soldiers.

[gowens1]

Boy MeatSpin, all oyu do is report abuse on anyone that doesn''t agree with your failed ways.

[hypnotoad72]

Further proof Iraq was cooked up?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDitSbkQKIs

[gowens1]

Facts are, we invaded Iraq based upon lies by George Bush and *** Cheney and they should be charged and tried for crimes against humanity for it. More than anyhting else the American public expects the president to not lie to them...

[biblethumpar]

MrMeatSpin , We all need oil, but im not willing to purchase through a lie with other childrens blood and
innards, and claim it was self defence. thats the difference...

[dagrandma]

the last time i saw a liberal show an emotion towards an american soldier..he was spat at...

so its a bit suspicious about them want to save our american soldies from a lie..

Posted by MrMeatSpin at 03:53 PM : Dec 02, 2008
+ report abuse

Where and when did you see a liberal spit at an American GI?

[earache4]

and throwing personal insults is a sign of a enligthened scholar..
again..DO YOU NEED OIL??
Posted by MrMeatSpin at 04:02 PM

No. My house is heated with electricity (coal, hydro, and wind) My car burns ethanol. All other oil needs have been replaced with synthetic oil substitutes. Do we need to waste troops on an oil war?

[mrmeatspin]

Posted by DaGrandma at 04:17 PM : Dec 02, 2008
+ report abuse


********

try google grandma...best use the image search

[whiskyrokr]

Hang this trader!! Wussy

[mrmeatspin]

No. My house is heated with electricity (coal, hydro, and wind) My car burns ethanol. All other oil needs have been replaced with synthetic oil substitutes. Do we need to waste troops on an oil war?


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Posted by earache4 at 04:20 PM : Dec 02, 2008
+ report abuse


*******

oh really..but you are aware that those resources was brought to you WITH SACRIFICES Behind it..

right??

the land where your house sits...stolen from the natives..

coal..pretty much fuyked a lot of animals and the environment for that..

oh hydro..you know several fishes and rivers and such were modified to give you that..

my point is..EVERY RESOURCE HAS ITS PRICE..

you are kind like the

"the one who loves his stakes and hates how the cow was butchered"

[a_witness-2009]

Just give him a dishonerable discharge,Revoke his US citizenship, file it and send him his papers. He should not be allowed back into the US and if he does, send him to gitmo. What a real shame 99.9% of the men going there are not cowards. It took only 1 Liberal during WWII to bring down Gen. Patton. And for all of you idiot Liberals, over half of the democratic congress supported this war along with the republicans so get your facts straight or shut up!!!!

[mrmeatspin]

Where and when did you see a liberal spit at an American GI?



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Posted by DaGrandma at 04:17 PM : Dec 02, 2008
+ report abuse


*******

try going to berkley..they are so big onthat its almost a nation sport there..

[kc629]

i hope this guy gets what he needs to settle down and live out his life in Germany leave it up to U.S. punish someone for ACTING out their beliefs.

[biblethumpar]

MrMeatSpin, so the price of Oil is Blood?
i thought it was traded in Dollars....

[mrmeatspin]

MrMeatSpin , We all need oil, but im not willing to purchase through a lie with other childrens blood and
innards, and claim it was self defence. thats the difference...


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Posted by Biblethumpar at 04:10 PM : Dec 02, 2008
+ report abuse


****************

there is no middle ground on your needs..ITS EITHER YOU NEED IT OR NOT..specially when we are sending our american soldiers to die so you can have ''a little bit'' of it..

YOUWANT TO SAVE AMERICAN SOLDIERS????????

when your walking your arse everywhere..THEN YOU GET THE RIGHT TO BI TCH till then..stop your moaning and groaning because YOU ARE THE REASON why these soldiers are dying for oil..

[mrmeatspin]

MrMeatSpin, so the price of Oil is Blood?
i thought it was traded in Dollars....


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Posted by Biblethumpar at 04:28 PM : Dec 02, 2008
+ report abuse


*******

like i said..act benevolent about it AS SOON AS YOU STOP USING OIL..

till then you are about as bad as everybody

[dagrandma]

try google grandma...best use the image search
Posted by MrMeatSpin at 04:21 PM : Dec 02, 2008

I did and I''m apparently not finding what you''re looking at. Can you tell me again where I can find evidence of "liberals" spitting on American soldiers?

[superdem]

All you need to see is the post calling this man a "trader" and demanding he be hung. Violence and ignorance so often go together. Probably a Christian, too. What did Jesus say about peacemakers ? Not that they be hung, I think.

[mrmeatspin]

I am actually pretty disappointed that gas prices are going down..way down..

and I bet every personwho jusitfy this guy are back in thier cars BURNING AS MUCH OIL like its NOT PAID FOR IN BLOOD.

[antoniof123]

What a shame before it was the United States of America that granted asylum to those in need now our own are fleeing this country for asylum in other countries. That should say something to America.

STOP LISTENING TO RELIGIOUS NEO CONS THEY ARE BAD FOR OUR COUNTRY.

Enough and after January you nut cases will be out for good. Never again will we be fooled in our lifetime.

[dagrandma]

try going to berkley..they are so big onthat its almost a nation sport there..
Posted by MrMeatSpin at 04:26 PM : Dec 02, 2008

Again, where''s your evidence. You see, I am a liberal and I am also a veteran (Vietnam era). I think the image of a liberal spitting on an American soldier is a bunch of hogwash. Everytime someone brings it up, I ask for evidence. I haven''t found any yet.

[used2bfedup1]

Posted by a_witness at 04:25 PM : Dec 02, 2008

What do you mean liberal? he was probably republican like Cheney who couldnt make himself go for even 1 tour or Bush who just didnt show up.

[mrmeatspin]

I did and I''''m apparently not finding what you''''re looking at. Can you tell me again where I can find evidence of "liberals" spitting on American soldiers?


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Posted by DaGrandma at 04:32 PM : Dec 02, 2008
+ report abuse


**************

i trust you would find one..keep looking grandma..

[mrmeatspin]

Again, where''''s your evidence. You see, I am a liberal and I am also a veteran (Vietnam era). I think the image of a liberal spitting on an American soldier is a bunch of hogwash. Everytime someone brings it up, I ask for evidence. I haven''''t found any yet.


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Posted by DaGrandma at 04:34 PM : Dec 02, 2008
+ report abuse


*******

its kinda like "hippies dont smoke dope" effect..

[antoniof123]

Again, where''''s your evidence. You see, I am a liberal and I am also a veteran (Vietnam era). I think the image of a liberal spitting on an American soldier is a bunch of hogwash. Everytime someone brings it up, I ask for evidence. I haven''''t found any yet.
Posted by DaGrandma at 04:34 PM : Dec 02, 2008


And you never will get any evidence because the only thing a neo con is good for is lying. The conservatives are so far gone they are just desparte and repeat anything they hear.

By the way it was mostly liberals that went to Viet Nam becuase the conservatives were busy trying to figure out ways to stay out look at Cheney and Bush.

[a_witness-2009]

Posted by used2bfedup1 -

Love your response. I love it when Liberals make my point.

[earache4]

Posted by MrMeatSpin at 04:24 PM

I get the whole ''used to be native american'' land thing. How has hydro electric screwed up the fish? And why does my not wanting to be part of the oil problem threaten you?

[a_witness-2009]

Posted by DaGrandma at 04:34 PM : Dec 02, 2008 -

I am a VV and served in the Marines as a Corpsman putting bodies back together. I know what war is and does and your and idiot. When I came back to California at the airport there that''s just what happened. So shut your big mouth up, because you *** sure don''t know what your talking about. Liberal

[dagrandma]

its kinda like "hippies dont smoke dope" effect..
Posted by MrMeatSpin at 04:36 PM : Dec 02, 2008

Okay, you lost me. Just get off the cbs website, go listen to Rush and you''ll feel better.

[a_witness-2009]

Posted by MikeTotten1 at 04:41 PM : Dec 02, 2008

Mike they can always quite the all volunteer service, they just have to ask. The problem is that they will loose all their free college and benifits by doing so.

They hope in signing up that they will fall through the cracks during any conflict and they will not have to defend anything except their tooth brush. Then when they get out, they have their benifits. They want something for nothing like most Liberals.

[a_witness-2009]

Posted by MikeTotten1 -

One more thing Mike. In in other war this man would have been shot for desertion and it would have been earned.

[earache4]

Did meatspin split? Was he overwhelmed by logic and reason?

[earache4]

seems as though I answered mrmeatspin''s questions too well....sorry.....