They are not "conscientious objectors"---they simply have no conscious.
Posted on 11/27/2004 3:16:53 AM PST by Clive
Days before George W. Bush comes to Canada, three of his countrymen have been dealt a blow in their campaign to receive refugee status and be allowed to live here. Jeremy Hinzman is one of the three claimants -- former members of the U.S. military who refuse to fight in Iraq.
The federal refugee board declared that it is irrelevant whether the Iraq war is legal or illegal. It does not, they said, have any bearing on Hinzman's right to stay in this country or be declared a valid refugee.
The board is quite right, of course. What it should also say is that these three men should stop wasting Canadian time and money and be sent back to the free and democratic United States where their punishment will be moderate and appropriate.
Appropriate because they were, indeed, members of the American military. They may go to prison for a while and then receive a dishonourable discharge from the armed forces. One would have thought that any person with principles would welcome such a fair conclusion.
I happen to be opposed to the war in Iraq, but that is not the point. The United States has a volunteer army and nobody is forced to serve. More than that, some of those applying for refugee status also volunteered for advanced units such as the airborne.
Forgive my cynicism, but surely by the time you complete basic infantry training and then advanced paratroop training you might have just the hint of an idea that your role is to fire guns at the enemy and obey orders.
It's particularly troubling because there are thousands of deserving refugee claimants, many of them black and brown and poor, who are desperate to enter Canada and who face torture and execution in their homelands.
Their welcome has never been as generous as that given to people who run away from the United States. And it is this attitude, surely, that characterizes the hostility being directed towards President Bush as he prepares to visit Canada.
It may well be that Bush's foreign policy is unfair and unwise but that has relatively little to do with it. He is despised by the chattering classes in Canada for the same reason that a bunch of deserters are so lionized. Because it's a way of screaming at the United States.
And why do they scream at the United States? Because they are jealous, smug and bitter. I'd like to sound more understanding, I really would, but the evidence does not allow me such an indulgence.
For decades various Soviet leaders visited Canada and we heard barely a whisper from labour leaders, Canadian nationalists, television personalities and newspaper columnists. Yet these men directed a foreign policy that made the clumsiest of American excesses appear generous.
When the Soviets invaded Hungary and Czechoslovakia and murdered so many of their people, when half of Europe was imprisoned, when grotesque terrorist movements were sponsored and trained, there were no mass demonstrations in Canada or calls to indict assorted Soviet bosses.
Similarly with China and its rape of Tibet and subjugation of its own people. Maoist leaders visited Canada and only members of the Chinese diaspora protested. The Canadian left and its media representatives found these various Marxist thugs to be meaningful rather than monstrous.
The hypocrisy runs deep, and so does the guilt. Canada's immigration policy, for example, was inherently racist for more than half a century. During these years the Americans opened their doors to people who because of their race or class were considered to be beneath Canadian standards.
None of this makes Canada a bad country. It does, however, make Canada a lesser country.
Like a child who constantly measures his self-worth by how nasty he can be about his big brother, even when the sibling has done nothing wrong.
American policies deserve to be criticized but only by those who have a moral right do so, based on their own consistency and integrity.
As for the American deserters, they can go home, face their punishment like men and then write best-selling books about the horror of it all. Books that will no doubt become best sellers in good old Canada.
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Hmm, if they were men, they wouldn't be in Canada now would they?
If one really feels that the WoT is somehow wrong and should not be fought even though you volunteered to fight by joining the military then you need to say so in front of a court martial.
Canada: We want you to keep them.
Other than honorable.
6 months prison.
Felony record.
Public humilation with faces on TV.
That's fair I think. It's important to make it understood that such behavior is NOT tollerated. Don't sign a legal contract if you don't intend on holding up your side.
Red6
They are not "conscientious objectors"---they simply have no conscious.
"Canada your tax dollars are better spent taking care of these scum..."
Sorry......they're your scum.
Oh, No...
Send them back.
Please.
Send them BACK!
"When the Soviets invaded Hungary and Czechoslovakia and murdered so many of their people, when half of Europe was imprisoned, when grotesque terrorist movements were sponsored and trained, there were no mass demonstrations in Canada or calls to indict assorted Soviet bosses.
Similarly with China and its rape of Tibet and subjugation of its own people. Maoist leaders visited Canada and only members of the Chinese diaspora protested. The Canadian left and its media representatives found these various Marxist thugs to be meaningful rather than monstrous.”
We won't bomb them. Libya may, so the appeaser is always a loud mouth with those he feels safe with. Other examples, France and how they tap dance with Moslem fundamentalists. Germany and its dealing with Libya or Iran. They are more cautious with them than with us, because we won't have guys with vests blowing up airports or planes if we’re mad at them. Is it even in our own interest to economically hurt the “Axis of weasels”? No. We have the same geopolitical interests and are economically tied together.
The best example is in the book “We Were Soldiers Once And Young”. The airevac pilot who became mad at the commander for asking him to fly into a hot LZ. He had more courage with his peer and fellow American than in face of the enemy. It’s easy to do this and I think nations get this way collectively.
(Not you personally) Would demonstrating against beheadings in Iraq be cool? Would it change anything? And if you went to Iraq and confronted them, would it be safe? But if you spit in a soldiers face, no danger. In fact if he hits you you can get HIM in trouble. You may even be popular with your friends in the early 70s. "Man you really showed him". And our government IS influenced by what the people want. Sad how that works.
Red6
"Music-like men"
Is that the same thing as, "Clinton-like girlie boys?"
This is satire, right?
Damn good find Clive. Thanks.
Say what?!
Of course it's the point.
Outright lie. "Homelands" refers, in part, to the United States, based on what is all said in the article. Blacks here in America face TORTURE under the U.S. gov't?
Very few run away from the United States. I see a lot of folks trying to get into the U.S. but I don't see too many people already here who are anxious as hell to leave.
No, the attitude demonstrated in Canada towards the American President exists because Canada is overrun by socialists.
Therefore socialism = good; liberating millions of people and spreading freedom and liberty throughout the world = bad. Okay.
Sure you'd like to sound more understanding. Shut the f/uck up you stupid, arrogant Canadian a$$hole.
Okay, the writer admits Canada's immigration policy is/was racist.
Okay, now the writer condones "racism" on the part of Canada's gov't on all fronts.
And Canada has a moral right to criticize American policies? Please, my side is starting to hurt from laughing so hard.
This writer really is delusional. Such books would NOT become best sellers. None of these men would even be able to find a publisher.
I happen to be opposed to the war in Iraq, but that is not the point. The United States has a volunteer army and nobody is forced to serve. More than that, some of those applying for refugee status also volunteered for advanced units such as the airborne.
Enough said.
I would ask where this guy was during Vietnam when Canada welcomed America's deserters and runaways?Talk about inconsistencies . . . . . .
Back then we had the draft – now we have an all volunteer military.
“The United States has a volunteer army and nobody is forced to serve.” – I see no inconsistency.
Those kerri supporters are getting obstreperous. An example should be made of them upon extradition back to the USA. Heros of the left, I mean ZEROs.
Probably high and fishing in Ottawa.
I have an idea, let's make desertion the crime it used to be. How about 15 years or more at hard labor. Any effort to get into Canada by these scumbags is proof positive they are attempting to desert. They are lucky we don't follow the same rules we followed during the Civil War, where execution was not uncommon.
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