Posted By:
Catherine Moy
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Now here’s a story that can sour the stomach. A Canadian judge has delayed a soldier’s return to the United States, where he would likely face charges of desertion.

Jeremy Hinzman was one of the first soldiers to flee to Canada to avoid going to war in Iraq. But he wasn’t the last. A report from AFP estimates that 200 resisters have deserted and none have secured refugee status from Canada.

These deserters need to come home and face the music. One guy has already done that and was sentenced to 15 months in prison. Seems more than reasonable. After all, they did swear to serve in the Army, which means they could end up in a war zone. What part of Army didn’t they understand???

Here’s the story:

OTTAWA (AFP) — Canada’s federal court on Monday granted US war resister Jeremy Hinzman a last minute stay of deportation to the United States, a spokesman for the court told AFP.
Judge Richard Mosley delayed Hinzman’s return to the United States, where he would likely face a court martial for fleeing to Canada to avoid deployment to Iraq, while it considers whether to hear his appeal of a deportation order.
Hinzman is challenging a pre-removal risk assessment that found he would not face undue or harsh punishment if returned to the United States, and is also asking to stay in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
Hinzman, who was among the first US soldiers to flee to Canada at the height of the Iraq war, was to be sent home on Tuesday.
The father of two had deployed to Afghanistan in a non-combat role after asking the US Army for conscientious objector status.
But when he learned his unit would later be deployed to Iraq, he fled with his family to Canada, which is home to an estimated recent 200 US war resisters, none of whom have yet to secure refugee status.
More than a dozen US war resisters are fighting uphill legal battles to stay in this country, after the first of them was sent home and sentenced in August to 15 months in prison for desertion.