Let War Resisters Stay: Demonstrators

WASHINGTON — About 50 American veterans of the Iraq War and other demonstrators gathered at the Canadian Embassy in Washington yesterday to demand that the Canadian government allow hundreds of U.S. resisters to the Iraq conflict to remain in Canada.

The protesters presented a letter addressed to Ambassador Michael Wilson to an embassy representative. The letter asks the Canadian government not to allow the deportation of American soldiers who have fled to Canada to avoid serving in Iraq.

Geoff Maillard, president of the Washington, D.C., chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War, said the group was able to hand over both the letter and a supporting petition containing thousands of names.

Maillard said the Canadian government requires the U.S. soldiers who have to fled to Canada to go through a refugee process, but the refugee board refuses to consider the question of whether or not the Iraq war is legal.

He said that argument is central to the war resisters’ claim that they are fleeing a conflict that “clearly violates” international law against wars of aggression.

“These war resisters are leaving the U.S. not because they’re afraid to fight in a war, but because their consciences will not allow them to fight in a war that clearly violates Common Article 3 of the Geneva Accord,” Maillard said.

“The fact is that these young men and women are bravely standing up for international law and they are being rebuffed at every turn.”

In November, the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear appeals from Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey, who sought refugee status on the grounds of their opposition to the war in Iraq.

But last month the Commons committee on citizenship and immigration adopted a motion that the government implement a program to allow American war resisters and their families to stay in Canada.

Now groups such as the Oakland, Calif.-based Courage to Resist, which organized the Washington protest and eight similar demonstrations elsewhere in the U.S. yesterday, want the full Commons to consider the matter when it resumes next month.

Max Diorio, an organizer for Courage to Resist, said, “Our message is: ‘Dear Canada - let our war resisters stay.’”

“We believe that these war resisters should be allowed a safe haven from persecution on the basis of resisting an illegal and immoral war and occupation,” Diorio said.

In Canada, Lee Zaslofsky, a spokesman for a group called the War Resisters Support Campaign, said it has organized rallies and other events for today in several cities.

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25 Comments so far

ma77hew January 26th, 2008 11:49 am

Revolution!!!

The majority of The USA does not want this war!!
Why are we still there…?
The USA is no longer an Democracy!!
It is now a Corporate Fascist State run by Plutocrats.

The people are fodder for Big Pharma and the a Military and the corporate state. We are kindling for the fire that keeps the ruling class warm.

REVOLUTION!!!!REVOLUTION
It is the only way to bring
the change that is needed!!!

If you think the democrats will save you,
you are DEAD WRONG!!

SEE YOU IN THE STREETS!!

old goat January 26th, 2008 12:12 pm

This is slightly off-topic, but salient. The American Friends Service Committee has posted the cost of the occupation of Iraq in terms of what monies spent in one day could otherwise support. Another world is possible!
This takes 2 minutes. - during which time circa $619,000 will be spent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wnq6cD5jk1Q

Rebel Farmer January 26th, 2008 2:51 pm

Get your passport and run like hell!! Pretty soon NO American will be allowed into Canada by the U.S. killing machine.

And to any of you Canadians out there, thanks to you who are trying to help Americans reclaim their country. Could you also please get rid of your Bush enabler Harper. If Austrailia can do it, I have hope that Canada can to. Thanks for all you do.

MisoPretty January 26th, 2008 3:09 pm

Steven Harper owes the Bush admin his political career. If it were nor for Bush & the GOR’s (Grand Old Regressives)covert financing and interference, he would not even be in office.

Of course the Canadian government is going to send them back.

“…Furthermore, a jailed war resistor helps the cause of peace - since every dollar spent on their incarceration is one that won’t be spend on bullets…”

Thats just silly

They will just tax us more, and they will pay the Corporations that run the prisons 3X what it costs the state to house an inmate, and the bullet manufacturers in China 5X the retail price for their product.

bakunin January 26th, 2008 3:12 pm

ma77hew: As an anarchist I of course favor revolution–permanent, peaceful revolution is best for humanity, because it prevents ruling classes from forming and entrenching themselves in power and setting up security services and intelligence services to protect them as they go about their corrupt business of exploitation. But the truth is that the United States of America as a country has shown itself to be not worth saving as an political entity. Washington has declared its independence from ordinary Americans, so we should declare our independence from Washington. The federal experiment has failed completely.I don’t want to see a blood bath in this country. I want to see it break up peacefully into six or more smaller countries, renounce nuclear weapons, renounce interference in the business of other countries. Unfortunately we are dealing with a huge brainwashed population here, so chances of a reasonable and sane solution to the problem are slight.

sinnerjizm January 26th, 2008 3:20 pm

bakunin, I agree with your sentiment, but I believe that the federal government is the ONLY thing keeping this country from turning into something far worse than Bosnia. Any thought that this nation would break up “peacefully” is a foolishness.

salvia January 26th, 2008 3:28 pm

Killjoy - see two posts above your … would you have “sent war resisters in the Second World War back to fight for the Nazi genocide machine?”

zoya January 26th, 2008 3:46 pm

Rebel Farmer, we’re doing our best, but Americans should know they can no longer count on Canada. The last time we welcomed war resisters and draft dodgers was when we had a prime minister who was determined to hang on to Canadian sovereignty. But he was replaced by Brian Mulroney, best friend of Ronald Reagan. Together, they forfeited Canadian sovereignty in return for Canadian corporate access to the biggest consumer market in the world, namely US citizens. The last remaining steps in that deal have been pretty much completed. It only remains to tell the Canadian public that we are no longer a nation-state but rather, a vassal state of the US, complete with pretend “president” Harper. Even if he wanted to (which he doesn’t) Harper cannot accept American war resisters: he takes his orders from Washington.

I really regret this, as we loved having Americans among us during the Vietnam war, and appreciated that 50 percent of them chose not to go back when amnesty was declared. Often, they were/are better Canadians than the born-and-bred variety.

alirandyabi January 26th, 2008 3:52 pm

Killjoy,
most of these kids had no idea what hell they were signing up for. Many are inner city youth of poverty who know there is no job/future waiting for them when they leave school and are being blatantly lied to by military recruiters within their high-schools. Many were ROTC who are able to be pulled out of their first year of University classes and into active service - a friend of mine at the University of Tampa had exactly that happen. Many joined on the wave of patriotism that followed 9/11, believing that lying no-good scum sucking bastard when he said he would go after those responsible. Some joined during the Clinton years when there was no active war - bottom line is, an extremely small percent joined up to be murderers of innocents.

vaudree January 26th, 2008 4:12 pm

Click on a Province and contact an MP - tell him or her to vote for Olivia Chow’s motion concerning Iraq war resisters:

http://www.liberal.ca/members_e.aspx

Agree with you guys that the kids did not know what they were getting into.

Even if we can delay the deportations for another year, who knows, you may have someone better in the White House or we may have someone better in Sussex drive.

ma77hew January 26th, 2008 4:29 pm

bakunin- Very good point. Peaceful Revolution. Break the country up peacefully. It’s a nice thought. I like it. It’s a hard one to wrap my head around though. Not the peaceful part just the bigger idea of breaking it all up. eeeesh

Killjoy- “There isn’t a draft” First, it’s an illegal war that the nation was lied into. Second, there is a draft it’s an economic draft. A lot of these kids are there because it was the only way to pay for school or was the only job in their town. A lot of these kids were lied to and told stories about how they would never go to Iraq then boom there they are. On top of all of that there is a DRAFT!!! It’s called STOP LOSS!! Maybe you have not been reading up on this but deep in these contracts there is a clause that says the Military owns you until your dead or they let you go. One weekend a Month! My ASS!! They will “tour” you until you are killed or kill yourself or can’t walk. These men and women have done more than their fair share and they are asked to go back 3,4,5,6 times into battle because the Repugs and Demos haven’t the GUTS to ask for a draft because they know the nation will erupt!!

These men and women are hardly “deserters”. They are resisting a illegal war made by a corrupt government who supports torture and the killing of hundreds of thousands of innocents for corporate gain.

I for one support anyone who Stands Against This Government And It’s Illegal War!

Ginger January 26th, 2008 5:42 pm

We desparately need to put a complete quietus on the military’s total access to student files and all private student information. This is where all branches of the military are acquiring names, addresses, etc. that allows them to target specific students. I realize this “privilege” has been supported by the courts. Somehow we need to find a way to keep a student’s private information out of the reach of these war mongers.

Ronald White January 26th, 2008 5:57 pm

To Killjoy :

“I sympathize with deserters, and have been against the occupation of Iraq from the beginning.”

“from the beginning ” did you open up your house like I did to the deserters in Vancouver , BC , Canada ? See , I have no problem with the semantics : deserters , registers , quitters , cowards , AWOLS… For whatever reason for no-show for this “occupation that you oppose” , the desertions en masse will be a major part of the action that will bring this occupation to an end ” that you oppose ”

Let me clue you into some deserter-history : In 1917 Russian soldiers defied orders from their officers and marched home from the Eastern Front , for them , ending the war . No Russian soldiers were punished because they were supported by the millions of Russian peasants and joined the latter in the start of revolution . Any commanding officer stupid enough to execute deserters would have been and probably were “fragged” themselves.

As a credit to USA at the same time , the British Army executed about 2500 deserters from Canada , New Zealand , Australia , South Africa and Ireland . France executed about 600 . Germany executed about 1000 and USA 0.

As long as Americans or Canadians express their “sympathies” ( remember , it’s your word ) by suggesting that the deserters should have known not to sign up initially or that they should go back and except their punishment graciously , the occupation will continue with prosecutions handed down to set an example.

There’s some wise , old expressions that apply here : ” Do something or shut your mouth ” ” those who can , do and those who can’t teach (talk). ” Lead , follow or get out of the way”

We real-protesters are confident that whether the American military-machine is attritioned by mass deserters or cripples , the results will be the same : the inability to “stray” beyond its own borders ever again.

empirePie January 26th, 2008 8:25 pm

Let’s not forget that Canada is actively engaged in that other futile war in Afghanistan and has an economy that is tied up with the ‘benefits’ of imperialism or deficit militarism.

Likewise Canadian lifestyle and energy use is equally profligate.

War resisters though could likely easily mix in with Canuks… just add a few aehs too their lingo , sing exuberant ‘stand on guard for thee” at hockey games, and find jobs in the robust underground economy.

MA_Matriarch January 26th, 2008 11:04 pm

No child left behind needs to GO! It is law that the military have access to students records unless the parents disallow it. A great deal of parent DON’T know that they have this authority to do this.

Take a look at the stats for crime in the USA. http://www.statemaster.com/graph/cri_sta_and_fed_pri_hel_in_pri_fac-federal-prisoners-held-private-facilitiesPrisons are for profit. http://mediafilter.org/MFF/Prison.html. Those that volunteer to serve this country can’t afford attorneys to get them off. This would only benefit the fascists agenda not help those who oppose it. It is bad enough those with morals are already a prisoner in their own home, work and community. The national debt is wiping out people’s freedom.

Mike Corbeil January 27th, 2008 12:53 am

Re. KillJoy, other readers here have already said enough on his or her post that I’ll just add one (elaborated though) point that I did not see mentioned.

I enlisted in the USN in 1976 and during bootcamp we received plenty of courses, including what they called theory; ya sit down in a classroom and learn from texts. One of those is called the UCMJ, Uniform Code of Military Justice, which is about law and other things military service members may need to have learned once they’re in the midst of war.

It’s a small, pocket-sized book, small to always be carriable with us whereever we’d go. And the one thing about this small book or manual that I have never forgotten and will evidently never will forget, unless I become senile, eventually, is not to who, but to what we owed our OATH.

The oath is NOT to the fool or worse (being pretty much the only kind U.S. history has for examples so far) appointed as president; although that also applies to the fools who the ruling elites permit to be elected.

The oath is to the CONSTITUTION OF THE U.S.A.

What does the “just a piece of paper” (GW Bush’s view) Constitution furthermore say and which is clear in the UCMJ?

It specifies that international laws or treaties the U.S. govt becomes co-signatory of are supreme to the U.S. Constitution itself.

Hence, it is the duty of all U.S. military service members to abide by the Constitution and the intl laws, conventions, treaties, whatever, that the U.S. govt is party to or of.

And that means that the soldier has the obligation to refuse to obey criminal or even only unjustified orders coming from the White House administration.

Well, the U.S. military resisters, whether they are in the U.S.A., Canada, or anywhere else, they are all following their OATH and therefore DUTY.

All of these U.S. military soldiers resisting war, call them deserters if you wish, but while I will call their desertions resistance, for there is nothing negative about or wrong in what they’re doing, while desertion usually is thought of in negative or pejorative terms; like akin to treason, say. They ARE C.O. and as others stated above, the important thing is for them and many more to dissent.

There’s a short passage in the New Testament and it’s about when Jesus of Nazareth said to take the logs or planks out of our own eyes before passing judgement on others, too!

You can tell that to the du-fous that you quoted or excerpted from.

notsonaive January 27th, 2008 2:32 am

Many of my friends here in Canada are the Viet Nam war resisters. They have made Canada their home and visit family and friends down south regularly.

A couple of years ago I went to listen to Brandon Hughey when he spoke at a university auditorium. The place was packed and of course everyone supported him.

Today, we had a Pan Canadian Day of Action - a rally in support of US war resisters. Special guest was Brad McCall. Our Member of Parliament was there as well to support the resisters. Name of our rally: “LET THEM STAY”

Unfortunately we now have a neo-con prime minister - a sycophant who wants to impress your chimp president. He once made a speech somewhere in America and said that Canada was a second-rate country. And the stupid Canadians voted him in! I think we have a problem, like you guys do, of having a large segment of the population uninformed and just plain clueless, lazy and stupid.

www.resisters.ca/

rebelnow January 27th, 2008 2:35 am

I didn’t know there were “hundreds of war resisters” in Canada. The corporate media does a good job of hiding that, along with so much else. It’s interesting that there are that many resisters, especially since the US no longer has a draft.

greatbear215 January 27th, 2008 10:31 am

Someone needs to send Harper a pillow. That way he can kneel on something comfortable.

J D Smith January 27th, 2008 11:19 am

All US citizens opposed to US Military intervention around the world, currently the most obvious being Iraq, should consider taking:

The Vow: (To the President, both applicable Senators and appropriate member of The US House of Representatives.)

I want the Iraq war stopped immediately.

I believe the true motivation for US Military aggression, from The American Civil War to the present has been – and still is – profits on the part of Government Contractors, War Industries, Multinational Corporations (particularly oil) and Banking Interests.

I further believe the ultimate source of said profits is currently the evil axis of 16th Amendment (taxing the labor of the working class) and The Federal Reserve System (fractional reserve banking). 1913 was a very bad year.

I recognize each individual retail commercial transaction contributes incrementally to total taxable income and in that way increases funds available to pay interest on the money borrowed for US Military aggression and profits to the Military/Industrial Complex.

As I recognize no power on my part other than my own actions, I therefore resolve the following:
1. Until such time as the Sixteenth Amendment is repealed and the Federal Reserve Act is rescinded I WILL DO NO OPTIONAL CONSUMPTION. My shopping will be for necessities only.
2. I will persuade as many others as possible to do the same, including writing to you.

J D Smith – Zip Code 81324

terryb January 27th, 2008 1:14 pm

I am outraged at this, and other issues as well, in our country. This is not the Canada that i have lived in for over 60 years. Harper is a madman, and he has to be stopped.

Parallax January 27th, 2008 2:35 pm

About time Canadian Members of Parliament got rid of Harper.

Peter Sirois January 27th, 2008 3:42 pm

There are some good people in Canada. Indeed, a lot of good people. My family, both paternal and maternal came from New Bruswick and Quebec, respectively.

My problem is with the ass-wipes who are now running Canada. Revielle, mes amis! If you continue to elect those who feel comfortable with their lips on US ass, you, too, will be sucked into endless wars, declining education and a useless medical system.

Rebel Farmer January 27th, 2008 5:02 pm

I thank all of you Canucks that have joined the people of the world against the American war machine! Please do not get sucked into our governments slime. Get rid of Harper like the Aussies got rid of Howard. Somehow, we will also rid ourselves of Bush and his thugs, but most Americans don’t even realize what is going on in their names.

Thanks again. And please keep your borders open to us less fortunate ones north of your borders. We need a place to escape to when the time comes.

vaudree January 27th, 2008 8:13 pm

RE: - My problem is with the ass-wipes who are now running Canada.

Well George Bush needs to wipe his asterix when he comes to Canada so what else do you expect him to use other than Stephen Harper’s tounge!

ma77hew January 26th, 2008 11:49 am

Revolution!!!

The majority of The USA does not want this war!!
Why are we still there…?
The USA is no longer an Democracy!!
It is now a Corporate Fascist State run by Plutocrats.

The people are fodder for Big Pharma and the a Military and the corporate state. We are kindling for the fire that keeps the ruling class warm.

REVOLUTION!!!!REVOLUTION
It is the only way to bring
the change that is needed!!!

If you think the democrats will save you,
you are DEAD WRONG!!

SEE YOU IN THE STREETS!!
old goat January 26th, 2008 12:12 pm

This is slightly off-topic, but salient. The American Friends Service Committee has posted the cost of the occupation of Iraq in terms of what monies spent in one day could otherwise support. Another world is possible!
This takes 2 minutes. - during which time circa $619,000 will be spent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wnq6cD5jk1Q
Rebel Farmer January 26th, 2008 2:51 pm

Get your passport and run like hell!! Pretty soon NO American will be allowed into Canada by the U.S. killing machine.

And to any of you Canadians out there, thanks to you who are trying to help Americans reclaim their country. Could you also please get rid of your Bush enabler Harper. If Austrailia can do it, I have hope that Canada can to. Thanks for all you do.
MisoPretty January 26th, 2008 3:09 pm

Steven Harper owes the Bush admin his political career. If it were nor for Bush & the GOR’s (Grand Old Regressives)covert financing and interference, he would not even be in office.

Of course the Canadian government is going to send them back.

“…Furthermore, a jailed war resistor helps the cause of peace - since every dollar spent on their incarceration is one that won’t be spend on bullets…”

Thats just silly

They will just tax us more, and they will pay the Corporations that run the prisons 3X what it costs the state to house an inmate, and the bullet manufacturers in China 5X the retail price for their product.
bakunin January 26th, 2008 3:12 pm

ma77hew: As an anarchist I of course favor revolution–permanent, peaceful revolution is best for humanity, because it prevents ruling classes from forming and entrenching themselves in power and setting up security services and intelligence services to protect them as they go about their corrupt business of exploitation. But the truth is that the United States of America as a country has shown itself to be not worth saving as an political entity. Washington has declared its independence from ordinary Americans, so we should declare our independence from Washington. The federal experiment has failed completely.I don’t want to see a blood bath in this country. I want to see it break up peacefully into six or more smaller countries, renounce nuclear weapons, renounce interference in the business of other countries. Unfortunately we are dealing with a huge brainwashed population here, so chances of a reasonable and sane solution to the problem are slight.
sinnerjizm January 26th, 2008 3:20 pm

bakunin, I agree with your sentiment, but I believe that the federal government is the ONLY thing keeping this country from turning into something far worse than Bosnia. Any thought that this nation would break up “peacefully” is a foolishness.
salvia January 26th, 2008 3:28 pm

Killjoy - see two posts above your … would you have “sent war resisters in the Second World War back to fight for the Nazi genocide machine?”
zoya January 26th, 2008 3:46 pm

Rebel Farmer, we’re doing our best, but Americans should know they can no longer count on Canada. The last time we welcomed war resisters and draft dodgers was when we had a prime minister who was determined to hang on to Canadian sovereignty. But he was replaced by Brian Mulroney, best friend of Ronald Reagan. Together, they forfeited Canadian sovereignty in return for Canadian corporate access to the biggest consumer market in the world, namely US citizens. The last remaining steps in that deal have been pretty much completed. It only remains to tell the Canadian public that we are no longer a nation-state but rather, a vassal state of the US, complete with pretend “president” Harper. Even if he wanted to (which he doesn’t) Harper cannot accept American war resisters: he takes his orders from Washington.

I really regret this, as we loved having Americans among us during the Vietnam war, and appreciated that 50 percent of them chose not to go back when amnesty was declared. Often, they were/are better Canadians than the born-and-bred variety.
alirandyabi January 26th, 2008 3:52 pm

Killjoy,
most of these kids had no idea what hell they were signing up for. Many are inner city youth of poverty who know there is no job/future waiting for them when they leave school and are being blatantly lied to by military recruiters within their high-schools. Many were ROTC who are able to be pulled out of their first year of University classes and into active service - a friend of mine at the University of Tampa had exactly that happen. Many joined on the wave of patriotism that followed 9/11, believing that lying no-good scum sucking bastard when he said he would go after those responsible. Some joined during the Clinton years when there was no active war - bottom line is, an extremely small percent joined up to be murderers of innocents.
vaudree January 26th, 2008 4:12 pm

Click on a Province and contact an MP - tell him or her to vote for Olivia Chow’s motion concerning Iraq war resisters:

http://www.liberal.ca/members_e.aspx

Agree with you guys that the kids did not know what they were getting into.

Even if we can delay the deportations for another year, who knows, you may have someone better in the White House or we may have someone better in Sussex drive.
ma77hew January 26th, 2008 4:29 pm

bakunin- Very good point. Peaceful Revolution. Break the country up peacefully. It’s a nice thought. I like it. It’s a hard one to wrap my head around though. Not the peaceful part just the bigger idea of breaking it all up. eeeesh

Killjoy- “There isn’t a draft” First, it’s an illegal war that the nation was lied into. Second, there is a draft it’s an economic draft. A lot of these kids are there because it was the only way to pay for school or was the only job in their town. A lot of these kids were lied to and told stories about how they would never go to Iraq then boom there they are. On top of all of that there is a DRAFT!!! It’s called STOP LOSS!! Maybe you have not been reading up on this but deep in these contracts there is a clause that says the Military owns you until your dead or they let you go. One weekend a Month! My ASS!! They will “tour” you until you are killed or kill yourself or can’t walk. These men and women have done more than their fair share and they are asked to go back 3,4,5,6 times into battle because the Repugs and Demos haven’t the GUTS to ask for a draft because they know the nation will erupt!!

These men and women are hardly “deserters”. They are resisting a illegal war made by a corrupt government who supports torture and the killing of hundreds of thousands of innocents for corporate gain.

I for one support anyone who Stands Against This Government And It’s Illegal War!
Ginger January 26th, 2008 5:42 pm

We desparately need to put a complete quietus on the military’s total access to student files and all private student information. This is where all branches of the military are acquiring names, addresses, etc. that allows them to target specific students. I realize this “privilege” has been supported by the courts. Somehow we need to find a way to keep a student’s private information out of the reach of these war mongers.
Ronald White January 26th, 2008 5:57 pm

To Killjoy :

“I sympathize with deserters, and have been against the occupation of Iraq from the beginning.”

“from the beginning ” did you open up your house like I did to the deserters in Vancouver , BC , Canada ? See , I have no problem with the semantics : deserters , registers , quitters , cowards , AWOLS… For whatever reason for no-show for this “occupation that you oppose” , the desertions en masse will be a major part of the action that will bring this occupation to an end ” that you oppose ”

Let me clue you into some deserter-history : In 1917 Russian soldiers defied orders from their officers and marched home from the Eastern Front , for them , ending the war . No Russian soldiers were punished because they were supported by the millions of Russian peasants and joined the latter in the start of revolution . Any commanding officer stupid enough to execute deserters would have been and probably were “fragged” themselves.

As a credit to USA at the same time , the British Army executed about 2500 deserters from Canada , New Zealand , Australia , South Africa and Ireland . France executed about 600 . Germany executed about 1000 and USA 0.

As long as Americans or Canadians express their “sympathies” ( remember , it’s your word ) by suggesting that the deserters should have known not to sign up initially or that they should go back and except their punishment graciously , the occupation will continue with prosecutions handed down to set an example.

There’s some wise , old expressions that apply here : ” Do something or shut your mouth ” ” those who can , do and those who can’t teach (talk). ” Lead , follow or get out of the way”

We real-protesters are confident that whether the American military-machine is attritioned by mass deserters or cripples , the results will be the same : the inability to “stray” beyond its own borders ever again.
empirePie January 26th, 2008 8:25 pm

Let’s not forget that Canada is actively engaged in that other futile war in Afghanistan and has an economy that is tied up with the ‘benefits’ of imperialism or deficit militarism.

Likewise Canadian lifestyle and energy use is equally profligate.

War resisters though could likely easily mix in with Canuks… just add a few aehs too their lingo , sing exuberant ‘stand on guard for thee” at hockey games, and find jobs in the robust underground economy.
MA_Matriarch January 26th, 2008 11:04 pm

No child left behind needs to GO! It is law that the military have access to students records unless the parents disallow it. A great deal of parent DON’T know that they have this authority to do this.

Take a look at the stats for crime in the USA. http://www.statemaster.com/graph/cri_sta_and_fed_pri_hel_in_pri_fac-federal-prisoners-held-private-facilitiesPrisons are for profit. http://mediafilter.org/MFF/Prison.html. Those that volunteer to serve this country can’t afford attorneys to get them off. This would only benefit the fascists agenda not help those who oppose it. It is bad enough those with morals are already a prisoner in their own home, work and community. The national debt is wiping out people’s freedom.
Mike Corbeil January 27th, 2008 12:53 am

Re. KillJoy, other readers here have already said enough on his or her post that I’ll just add one (elaborated though) point that I did not see mentioned.

I enlisted in the USN in 1976 and during bootcamp we received plenty of courses, including what they called theory; ya sit down in a classroom and learn from texts. One of those is called the UCMJ, Uniform Code of Military Justice, which is about law and other things military service members may need to have learned once they’re in the midst of war.

It’s a small, pocket-sized book, small to always be carriable with us whereever we’d go. And the one thing about this small book or manual that I have never forgotten and will evidently never will forget, unless I become senile, eventually, is not to who, but to what we owed our OATH.

The oath is NOT to the fool or worse (being pretty much the only kind U.S. history has for examples so far) appointed as president; although that also applies to the fools who the ruling elites permit to be elected.

The oath is to the CONSTITUTION OF THE U.S.A.

What does the “just a piece of paper” (GW Bush’s view) Constitution furthermore say and which is clear in the UCMJ?

It specifies that international laws or treaties the U.S. govt becomes co-signatory of are supreme to the U.S. Constitution itself.

Hence, it is the duty of all U.S. military service members to abide by the Constitution and the intl laws, conventions, treaties, whatever, that the U.S. govt is party to or of.

And that means that the soldier has the obligation to refuse to obey criminal or even only unjustified orders coming from the White House administration.

Well, the U.S. military resisters, whether they are in the U.S.A., Canada, or anywhere else, they are all following their OATH and therefore DUTY.

All of these U.S. military soldiers resisting war, call them deserters if you wish, but while I will call their desertions resistance, for there is nothing negative about or wrong in what they’re doing, while desertion usually is thought of in negative or pejorative terms; like akin to treason, say. They ARE C.O. and as others stated above, the important thing is for them and many more to dissent.

There’s a short passage in the New Testament and it’s about when Jesus of Nazareth said to take the logs or planks out of our own eyes before passing judgement on others, too!

You can tell that to the du-fous that you quoted or excerpted from.
notsonaive January 27th, 2008 2:32 am

Many of my friends here in Canada are the Viet Nam war resisters. They have made Canada their home and visit family and friends down south regularly.

A couple of years ago I went to listen to Brandon Hughey when he spoke at a university auditorium. The place was packed and of course everyone supported him.

Today, we had a Pan Canadian Day of Action - a rally in support of US war resisters. Special guest was Brad McCall. Our Member of Parliament was there as well to support the resisters. Name of our rally: “LET THEM STAY”

Unfortunately we now have a neo-con prime minister - a sycophant who wants to impress your chimp president. He once made a speech somewhere in America and said that Canada was a second-rate country. And the stupid Canadians voted him in! I think we have a problem, like you guys do, of having a large segment of the population uninformed and just plain clueless, lazy and stupid.

www.resisters.ca/
rebelnow January 27th, 2008 2:35 am

I didn’t know there were “hundreds of war resisters” in Canada. The corporate media does a good job of hiding that, along with so much else. It’s interesting that there are that many resisters, especially since the US no longer has a draft.
greatbear215 January 27th, 2008 10:31 am

Someone needs to send Harper a pillow. That way he can kneel on something comfortable.
J D Smith January 27th, 2008 11:19 am

All US citizens opposed to US Military intervention around the world, currently the most obvious being Iraq, should consider taking:

The Vow: (To the President, both applicable Senators and appropriate member of The US House of Representatives.)

I want the Iraq war stopped immediately.

I believe the true motivation for US Military aggression, from The American Civil War to the present has been – and still is – profits on the part of Government Contractors, War Industries, Multinational Corporations (particularly oil) and Banking Interests.

I further believe the ultimate source of said profits is currently the evil axis of 16th Amendment (taxing the labor of the working class) and The Federal Reserve System (fractional reserve banking). 1913 was a very bad year.

I recognize each individual retail commercial transaction contributes incrementally to total taxable income and in that way increases funds available to pay interest on the money borrowed for US Military aggression and profits to the Military/Industrial Complex.

As I recognize no power on my part other than my own actions, I therefore resolve the following:
1. Until such time as the Sixteenth Amendment is repealed and the Federal Reserve Act is rescinded I WILL DO NO OPTIONAL CONSUMPTION. My shopping will be for necessities only.
2. I will persuade as many others as possible to do the same, including writing to you.

J D Smith – Zip Code 81324
terryb January 27th, 2008 1:14 pm

I am outraged at this, and other issues as well, in our country. This is not the Canada that i have lived in for over 60 years. Harper is a madman, and he has to be stopped.
Parallax January 27th, 2008 2:35 pm

About time Canadian Members of Parliament got rid of Harper.
Peter Sirois January 27th, 2008 3:42 pm

There are some good people in Canada. Indeed, a lot of good people. My family, both paternal and maternal came from New Bruswick and Quebec, respectively.

My problem is with the ass-wipes who are now running Canada. Revielle, mes amis! If you continue to elect those who feel comfortable with their lips on US ass, you, too, will be sucked into endless wars, declining education and a useless medical system.
Rebel Farmer January 27th, 2008 5:02 pm

I thank all of you Canucks that have joined the people of the world against the American war machine! Please do not get sucked into our governments slime. Get rid of Harper like the Aussies got rid of Howard. Somehow, we will also rid ourselves of Bush and his thugs, but most Americans don’t even realize what is going on in their names.

Thanks again. And please keep your borders open to us less fortunate ones north of your borders. We need a place to escape to when the time comes.
vaudree January 27th, 2008 8:13 pm

RE: - My problem is with the ass-wipes who are now running Canada.

Well George Bush needs to wipe his asterix when he comes to Canada so what else do you expect him to use other than Stephen Harper’s tounge!

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