Another US Deserter, Accuses US Of War Crimes

[Aaron]

CBC

VANCOUVER (AP) - A U.S. soldier who deserted his Iraq-bound regiment and sought asylum in Canada said the U.S war in Iraq was illegal and he accused the United States of committing war crimes.

Pte. Jeremy Hinzman, 25, also defended his decision to leave his unit with the 82nd Airborne Division on Jan. 2, about two weeks after he learned his unit would be deployed to Iraq. He fled to Toronto along with his wife and child. "The Iraqi war is illegal according to international standards. It was condemned by most the international community," Hinzman said in a speech Tuesday sponsored by an anti-war group and an Arab advocacy group.

"If I had participated in the Iraq occupation, I would have participated in a criminal enterprise," he said.

Hinzman is believed to be the first U.S. soldier to apply for refugee status in Canada after refusing combat duty in Iraq.

A spokeswoman for the North Carolina-based 82nd Airborne Division has said Hinzman could be arrested, but that the army would not search for him.

Hinzman served three years in the army prior to January. He had applied for conscientious objector status before his unit was sent to Afghanistan in 2002, but the army told him it had lost his application.

The Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board is due to begin hearings in July on Hinzman's case.


Last week, a U.S. soldier who refused to return to his Florida National Guard unit after a two-week furlough last October was sentenced to a year in prison for deserting his unit in Iraq.

Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia had said that he disobeyed orders to return to his unit because his war experiences in Iraq made him decide to seek status as a conscientious objector. He later turned himself in to army officials.

They lost his conscientious objector application? Bullshit, it fucking found it's way into a garbage can. But regardless of that, I'll say the same thing I said about the other deserter, WTF was he doing in the army in the first place? You don't get to pick your wars, thats not part of the deal. If he was opposed to the war on moral grounds than he should have sought release from the military.

[Elfdart]

As much as I find his story plausible -even probable- when he deserted, his case went right down the crapper. Unlike another deserter I could name, his dad isn't a congressman, nor his grandfather a senator, so he's 100% fucked and so is his story. I doubt they trashed his application. In cases like this, they run it through the system just long enough so the rejection doesn't look out of hand, then laugh in the guy's face and say "NO FUCKING WAY!"

Maybe anti-war types should establish "coffee houses" like they did during Vietnam in order to give advice to servicemen who are conscientious objectors or need to pass along proof of atrocities without getting fucked over.

[Aaron]

As much as I find his story plausible -even probable- when he deserted, his case went right down the crapper. Unlike another deserter I could name, his dad isn't a congressman, nor his grandfather a senator, so he's 100% fucked and so is his story. I doubt they trashed his application. In cases like this, they run it through the system just long enough so the rejection doesn't look out of hand, then laugh in the guy's face and say "NO FUCKING WAY!"

Maybe anti-war types should establish "coffee houses" like they did during Vietnam in order to give advice to servicemen who are conscientious objectors or need to pass along proof of atrocities without getting fucked over.

While I can't claim to know how the US Military does things, I know that "lost" in the Canadian Army means it's in the garbage. I know this from personal experiance. I agree that this guy is fucked, the army says that they won't go looking for him, but hows he supposed to feed his wife and kids hiding up here in Canada. I applaud his morals, but he obviously didn't think his strategy through very well.

[Boyish-Tigerlilly]

s much as I find his story plausible -even probable- when he deserted, his case went right down the crapper. Unlike another deserter I could name, his dad isn't a congressman, nor his grandfather a senator, so he's 100% fucked and so is his story. I doubt they trashed his application. In cases like this, they run it through the system just long enough so the rejection doesn't look out of hand, then laugh in the guy's face and say "NO FUCKING WAY!"

Maybe anti-war types should establish "coffee houses" like they did during Vietnam in order to give advice to servicemen who are conscientious objectors or need to pass along proof of atrocities without getting fucked over.

I personally don't think it is moral to desert your comrads. You shouldn't let your fellow soldiers die because you just don't want to fight. No one is gonna blame the soldiers for going to war. I think his story about morals and "illegal war" is BS, since no one is gonna hang him for that, even if it were illegal. They can blame them for doing horrible, inhumane, criminal things, but defense of your country and war I doubt count, or every soldier in every army would be thrown in front of a world court for fighting. He shouldn't be in the military if he isn't willing to obey legitimate orders to go to war.

Now if he were told to massacre people, attack civilians on purpose, or some shit like that... I can see refusing that order. But war? What if everyone just refused to go to war and ran to another country. It's just..wrong.

[Stark]

I personally don't think it is moral to desert your comrads. You shouldn't let your fellow soldiers die because you just don't want to fight. No one is gonna blame the soldiers for going to war. I think his story about morals and "illegal war" is BS, since no one is gonna hang him for that, even if it were illegal. They can blame them for doing horrible, inhumane, criminal things, but defense of your country and war I doubt count, or every soldier in every army would be thrown in front of a world court for fighting. He shouldn't be in the military if he isn't willing to obey legitimate orders to go to war.

Now if he were told to massacre people, attack civilians on purpose, or some shit like that... I can see refusing that order. But war? What if everyone just refused to go to war and ran to another country. It's just..wrong.

Lol I think you've missed the point; this guy would argue that he wasn't going to be 'defending his country', he'd be attacking another country. And there's a fair bit of civilian killing going on over there... further, the 82nd is hardly going to collapse because one guy left.

And, frankly, armies should collectively decide to not go to war far more often. Having a non-military civilian being one's commander in chief sucks balls.

[Sarevok]

The Iraq war is unjust. US attacked Iraq on the false pretext of Iraw possesing WMD. They conveniantly forgot that it was the US who has the worlds largest collection of WMD and Israel has built up a massive nuclear arsenal. After the war Bush's propoganda shifted to liberating Iraq fron tyranny but that is also false after the events at Abu Ghraib prison. Bush's blunders costs thousands of Iraqi lives and the deaths of hundreds of American soliders.So I think the soldier did right by refusing to fight an unjust war in Iraq.