AWOL Soldier Seeks Sanctuary In Ithaca

© 2008 WTVH-TV, a Granite Broadcasting Station. 980 James Street, Syracuse, NY 13203 ^ | Dec 3, 2008 at 11:29 PM EST | By Joe Roetz

[Behind Liberal Lines]

After fighting 15 months in Afghanistan, 22-year-old Trevor Loope of Texas went AWOL from the Army. Stationed at Fort Drum, he left his post one year ago to seek better health care for depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He's hoping Ithaca's Common Council will hear his plea.

Flanked with veterans at his side Wednesday night, Loope and his attorney approached city officials asking them to help him avoid criminal charges under Ithaca's new "Community of Sanctuary" law.

The law, passed two months ago, is aimed at allowing veterans to exercise free speech and peaceful protests of war in the city. The problem is the interpretation of the law. Councilman Joel Zumoff says, "The city Ithaca would not be persecuting if you will, any particular member of the military who chose to oppose what the government was doing."

Loope says he'll turn himself over to Fort Drum soldiers on Thursday. Ithaca city officials say their hands are tied and that the sanctuary law wasn't meant to be a safe haven for soldiers going AWOL.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

More here:

Common Council in October passed a resolution declaring itself a “community of sanctuary” that would “respect and not interfere with the lawful activities of military personnel, veterans, and all others who are opposed to the immoral wars in and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan and all other violations of the United Nations and Nuremberg Charters.”

Loope said he believes the war in Iraq is “immoral” but that the war in Afghanistan may not be. However, he is not seeking conscientious objector status. Rather, he contends that the Army did not provide the mental health care he needed as a result of his service.

Almost every member of Common Council indicated his or her willingness to write on Loope's behalf.

Alderman Dan Cogan, D-5th, said he was “glad that Ithaca's actions have been able to inspire soldiers” like Loope to stand up for themselves.

.

Ithaca is the City of Evil.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

City of Evil bump:

[Doogle]

Alderman Dan Cogan, D-5th, said he was “glad that Ithaca's actions have been able to inspire soldiers...

..the lib's idea of inspiration is questionable

[NativeNewYorker]

When he returned from Afghanistan to Fort Drum, Loope's mental disorder worsened.

Wow. I knew Upstate could be depressing, but still...

[Behind Liberal Lines]

I notice the soldier is from Austin, TX, which is, to my knowledge, sort of the Ithaca of the southwest. I wonder if he didn’t have ‘issues’ long before this.

[jagusafr]

This is a tough one - on the one hand, you don’t go AWOL (which, at a year and counting, is starting to look more like desertion) to get better medical care, you shout the house down with your command chain and your congressman if you’re not receiving what you need. On the other hand, this kid didn’t avoid service, he soldiered up and went to A-stan, and PTSD is a real problem for returning military members. Issues? Yeah, probably preexisting and exacerbated. Still the wrong decision on his part and some bad advice, I’ll wager.

Colonel, USAFR

[MountainDad]

Wow. I knew Upstate could be depressing, but still...

Yeah, I drove to Watertown from Nebraska last week. Snowed for 3 days non-stop. Was still snowing when I left!

[angkor]

Colonel —

Agree with what you say above, the soldier needs help and there ought to be a way for him to get it. I would add that the very fact that he has served 18 mos. duty in a combat zone has preemptively cleared him of any shirking charges, IMHO.

However for the pompous clowns of Ithaca to believe they’re “helping” the poor guy, or that they possess even a single iota of power to trump the UCMJ and military standards, is just pathetically laughable. I’d be ashamed to have these yoyos representing me on the City Council. They are like children, or even worse.

[GladesGuru]

New York has been a state of treasonous bachelor’s children since the days of the Revolution. There were all too many who went to Canada or returned to England when the Colonies declared their independence.

Ithica is a perfect example of how the deeply embedded collectivism of America’s academic community can infect the surrounding communities.

Cornell is a bastion of collectivism, as are most of America’s “educational institutes”. Cornell’s pernicious influence on Ithica is clear to the dimmest of intellects.

Ithica has, in effect, declared it is a “sanctuary sh*ty” for treason. Cornell’s collectivism supports, aids, and abets this treason.

To the West, Boulder, Colorado is also infected with raging collectivism and the University of Colorado at Boulder (UCB) is the source of that infection. Like Cornell, The University of Colorado at Boulder has also been turned into another such stinking pool of unending cess by its socialism impaired faculty.

Metastatic academentia on campus produced the infamous ‘fake Indian’, A.K.A. Ward Churchill.

Off campus, UCB’s ‘intellectual leadership’ produced such examples of Liberalism/collectivism as a law defining that Boulder has no pets. Boulder has “animal companions”, but Boulder has no pets.

In Boulder, that’s the law, not merely the emoting of animal rights whacko’s. A multiplicity of such madness is why an insightful young lady described Boulder as “a bubble of Liberalism surrounded by reality”.

In Boulder, a man nearly went to jail when a cougar, with his 45 pound dog thrashing in its mouth, was shot as the cat kept walking towards the man.

A local animal rights whacko, appropriately named “Wendy”, shrieked and screamed that he had no right to shoot.

Astoundingly enough, the Colorado Game Department ‘investigated’ this poor man for days while the Liberal media had a feeding frenzy (and boosted readership and viewer numbers!).

I dubbed such behavior “Boulder Dementia Syndrome”.

When an AgencyPerson took me to task about that name, I couldn’t resist suggesting that if the name fit, accept and respond to it - or change your behavior.

It went away mad, but at least it went away.

Until the last stinking pile of collectivism is mucked out of the Stable of Academentia, America will continue to be destroyed from within by the very academics we are supporting with our tax dollars.

Insist that all socialists be fired from all of America’s academic facilities. Do it for the Republic. Do it for yous self.

Most important of all, do it for your children, lest they be taught to become socialists, not Americans.

[metmom]

So he decided that the war is *immoral*? Didn’t he realize it was going on when he JOINED the military?

If he had issues about fighting in wars, he shouldn’t have JOINED.

[QBFimi2]

>>”Joel Zumoff holds a BS degree in Mathematics from Drexel University and an MS degree in Computer Science from Cornell University. He worked at Cornell for over thirty years
as a data processing professional before retiring in 2001. He is married to Cathy, and they live happily with their dog Arny.”

Maybe Arny the dog would be a better Alder-person.

[Jimmy Valentine's brother]

There’s more to this than what is in the article. He served 15 months (in what capacity it does not say) in A-stan starting in 2006. So he got back in 2008. Tough to determine the source of his PTSD.

Of course the military is evil as perceived by the Ithaca “common” council so they’ll take at face value what Loope says.

[gwilhelm56]

Love your tag... HOWEVER..
as any resident of “THE CITY OF EVIL” can attest..

ZERO is Moderate to RIGHT WING, .. COMPARED to the “”COMMON”” Council of Ithaca...

/sarc (maybe)

[YHAOS]

"If he had issues about fighting in wars, he shouldn’t have JOINED"

Propaganda stunt.