Posted on 12/06/2007 7:48:10 AM PST by reaganaut1
Well since they are law breakers, even though it is military law, I would think bounty hunters would have the legal authority to go after them. The military would have to put up money for their return though.
That said, the desertion problem is not what this article is trying to paint it. I would like to see some actual facts and figures that give the percentage of desertions.
This is just another hit piece trying to take the victory out of the surge.
You don’t have to like it and leaving is OK. To each his own.
However, breaking a legally binding contract, breaking an oath before God, pretending not to have known that the military is an organization whose purpose is to kill and break things, who flee their country, hide behind the skirts of peace-nick bleeding hearts while talking crap about their country and the military - That says something about a persons character. Those people are cowards and liars.
Those people you should not trust with money, other people lives, wives, children, national secrets, etc. It is ultimately a demonstration of complete character weakness.
Rather than getting yourself arrested just call the MPs. You can still save them the trouble of tracking him down, but let them handle the apprehension.
I understand Sweden is still accommodating to deserters. Of course, with the Islamization of that country, it might be a moot point down the road...
Correct. It is easier to prove guilt under Article 86: Absence Without Leave because the proof of intent to remain away permanently required under Article 85: Desertion, is not required. Simply a cut-and-dried matter of absence from their unit without permission.
For absences exceeding 30 days, the maximum punishment under Article 86 includes either a BCD or DD. This is enough since getting rid of the defendant in a punitive way is really all the service is looking to do anyway. In addition, the AWOL deprives the defendant (and especially the defendant’s activist lawyers) of the opportunity to turn the proceedings into a political show. Since the issue is absence and only absence, any discussion about WHY the defendant went AWOL is immaterial to the charge(s).
Sort of a win-win situation for the service: get rid of the dirt bag AND frustrate the activists.
I understand what you’re saying, but the MP’s won’t go into Canada to get them back.
A private citizen CAN.
IMO, they deserve nothing better than to be taken by surprise, bound, gagged, and hooded, stuffed in a box for transport back over the border, then left a couple blocks away from the front gate of a military base for easy apprehension by the MP’s, who get an anonymous phone call telling them where to find the traitor.
In case you hadn’t guessed, I posses utterly ZERO sympathy for these traitorious slime.
(And further, if it were up to me...in time of war, such as we find ourselves in now, they wouldn’t be put in the stockade. Upon reaching the military base, they would be instantly tried, found guilty, taken to a wall and executed by firing squad.
There IS NO REASON for desertion, no extenuating circumstances EVER. If you desert your country, you are a chicken, a fraidy-cat, unworthy of the privelege of being called an American. They deserve no sympathy, just ever-lasting condemnation and derision, worthy of nothing more than to be spit on in the street of whatever country they choose to spend the rest of their miserable existence in.)
Back in the time of Gulf War 1, my wife’s nephew was in the Army but decided that he hadn’t really signed up to get shot at. He told his commanding officer that he wanted out and -poof- he was out.
In a volunteer army, I don’t think that the Army wants to waste its time with those who really don’t want to be there. The Army sees no gain in going after the deserters except perhaps “pour l’encourages les autres.”
They don't have to. Canada will arrest and extradite deserters if the US government makes them aware of their presence.
Even during Viet Nam when Canada was giving draft dodgers asylum they extradited deserters.
IMO, they deserve nothing better than to be taken by surprise, bound, gagged, and hooded, stuffed in a box for transport back over the border, then left a couple blocks away from the front gate of a military base for easy apprehension by the MP’s, who get an anonymous phone call telling them where to find the traitor.
I don't disagree that they deserve it. However, doing it will get you tossed in jail, likely for longer than they will spend incarcerated for desertion. It is also unnecessary.
Bad idea. As much as I would love to get them out of Canada, our government (quite rightly) does not take kindly to foreigners staging kidnappings on our soil. Many American bounty hunters learned the hard way that they can and will be extradited back to Canada to face kidnapping charges regardless of the legal status of their target.
“Which country would you run to if you were trying to renig on a promise(I.E.: enlistment), Mexico or Canada?”
If I were criminally minded and fleeing the law and was unable to hide in plain sight (move a few states away and get a fake ID) I would opt for a country with poor law enforcement connections to the US, weak rule of law itself, and a low cost of living. Canada does not fit that description.
If passport control is an issue there are probably a few places in the caribbean I could sail to and evade a passport check.
WA ping???
I realize in the above that I am thinking like a middle aged person rather than some 18 year old deserter, but still I’d expect a bit of variety in destination choices.
I know...and the world be a poorer place because of it.
I’d say “Change the law, then!”...but that doesn’t hold much weight in foreign countries, does it?
*sigh* I guess there’s nothing we can do then. It’s a sickening feeling, allowing the very existence of this filth. It does nothing more that spit upon the sacrifices of those who have had the guts to stand, even in the face of mortal danger.
You would need to go to a country in which the language was no barrier and in which you could buy property and get a job. Mexicans can’t get jobs in their own country how do you expect a gringo to get one? Canada DOES fit the description, mexico is a hostile environment to gringos. As for you being middle aged, that makes you younger than me, unless you consider 65 as being middle aged.
It may have changed post-9/11, but as recently as November ‘01 the Bahamas did not require North Americans to show a passport- any proof of citizenship was sufficient. When your biggest industry is tourism, making it harder for people to enter is the last thing you want to do.
btw...he was bitching that all his US banked funds had been frozen.
As in the US, people overcome language barriers all the time - either by learning the language or by isolating oneself to where it is less of a problem. Many Americans live in Mexico and Central American countries with no difficulty. Belize is an english speaking nation and english is widely spoken in many Caribbean countries.
Property ownership isn’t necessary for one’s survival. If I’m looking to evade the law I’m not trying to get rich but merely survive and stay out of jail. The job issue would be problematic but a resourceful person can always figure out something. There are probably many options in tourism.
The Military Police does not have any authority off of military reservations - unless specifically authorized by executive order (i.e. 101st Airborne intervening at Central High, 1957).
As an MP during the Vietnam era, I and my unit would routinely get calls from nearby police and sheriffs offices to come pick up AWOL’s and deserters being held by them. Back in the day, the bounty was $100 per and was considered easy money as all these civilian authorities had to do was drive up to the AWOL’s/deserters parents houses, knock on the door and ask for them and they would come out and turn themselves in.
So in your opinion would it be better to contact the MPs with any information about deserters, and then let the MPs contact the local police, or even the Canadian police? Or would it be better for individuals to contact the local police on their own.
I would think that in some areas the local police would be very helpful, but in others they might need a call from the military police before they are willing to take any action.
Back in 93 at Fort Lewis, I was talking to some MPs and asked what their latest strange case was. They had just come back from Idaho where they picked up a kid who decided not to go to Korea and went back home. The kid never got on the plane. His unit always sent back his end of month pay saying he isn’t our soldier. Took six months for someone to notice he never showed up.
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