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U.S. soldier who fled to Canada because he refused to serve in Iraq has been deported, and now faces a possible court martial. Robin Long crossed the border into Canada in 2005. Last October, he was arrested in Nelson, B.C., on a Canada-wide warrant. He called military operations in Iraq "an illegal war of aggression." On Monday, Federal Court of Canada Justice Anne Mactavish said Long did not provide enough convincing evidence that he will face irreparable harm if he's sent back to the United States. She noted that the percentage of American military deserters prosecuted in the U.S....

A U.S. Navy deserter nabbed at the border is being shipped back to his base in California to face charges of desertion. At the same time, rallies were staged in Toronto and Vancouver yesterday to try to prevent Robin Long, a failed refugee claimant and deserter, from being deported to the U.S. In the first case, naval officer Jeffrey Mitchell, 24, was crossing the Peace Bridge late Saturday with his wife after a two-day Niagara Falls getaway when he was nabbed in a computer check, said Chief Kevin Corsaro, of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Corsaro said Mitchell had been...

A US soldier who deserted to Canada and sought refugee status for opposing the war in Iraq has been extradited to the United States, officials said, in Canada's first such case since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. "I can confirm that he has been expelled from Canada and returned to his country of origin," Shakila Manzoor, a spokeswoman for the Canada Border Services Agency (ASFC) said. US citizen Robin Long, 25, fled to Canada in 2005 and demanded refugee status, claiming he would suffer irreparable harm if he were sent back to the United States. He also argued that he...

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 15 (Reuters) - Canada deported on Tuesday the first of some 200 Americans who deserted the U.S. military and sought refugee status to protest against the Iraq War. Robin Long, 25, was removed a day after a Federal Court judge in Vancouver rejected his claim that he would suffer irreparable harm if returned to the United States. He fled across the border in 2005 as his army tank unit was preparing to deploy to Iraq. The Canada Border Services Agency confirmed Long's removal, but declined to give other details, citing privacy laws. Long's refugee claim had...

VANCOUVER - A U.S. Army deserter who fled to Canada three years ago has been deported back to America to face possible court martial. The Canada Border Services Agency confirmed Robin Long was removed from Canada Tuesday. Long claimed refugee status in Canada, saying he didn't want to take part in a U.S. war in Iraq he called "an illegal war of aggression." Sarah Bjoknas, a co-ordinator for the War Resisters Support Campaign, says Long will be returned to his unit based in Fort Knox, Kentucky. She says Long's punishment for deserting will be up to the company commander and...

VANCOUVER — U.S. army deserter Robin Long is slated to be deported back to his army base in Fort Knox, Ky., Tuesday, which would make him the first resister to the U.S. war effort in Iraq to be sent out of Canada. Madam Justice Anne Mactavish of the Federal Court of Canada cleared the way for the deportation late Monday, dismissing a last-ditch attempt to delay the process while the 25-year-old pursued further appeals.

RECOMMENDATION: Send a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Diana Finley and Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion requesting that the government of Canada establish provisions to provide sanctuary for U.S. military service members who are living in Canada to resist fighting in the Iraq War. BACKGROUND: Throughout the Vietnam War era, Canada provided a place of refuge for United States citizens seeking to resist the war. Because of Canada’s rich tradition of being a refuge from militarism, approximately 200 U.S. military service people have moved to Canada to resist fighting in the Iraq War....