Current Events Watch

“Well, I think … if you are ever going to go destroy a country or wreak havoc on a country, it would need to be justified.”

These, the words of 28-year-old Jeremy Hinzman, ex-Army paratrooper formerly with the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Carolinian no longer, he’s now hanging out in Toronto, Canada with his wife and kid after loading up the car and making the border-crossing road trip when his application for Conscientious Objector status was rejected by the U.S. military.

Joining the military in early 2001, he completed basic combat training and airborne school at Fort Benning in Georgia. It didn’t take him long to realize that he was participating in something that wasn’t quite right.

At Fort Benning, bayonet training featured this beaut of a chant:

Instructor: “What makes the grass grow?�?

Trainees: “Blood, blood, blood!�?

Jeremy started to think his enlistment probably wasn’t such a wise decision after all.

On to Fort Bragg, though, to complete his training. He was no slouch, by the way. Awarded the highly coveted expert infantry badge, given only to those who master dozens of tasks involving deadly military skills, he was admired by his superiors for his work ethic.

Then in January of 2002, along with his wife, he began attending meetings of the Religious Society of Friends. Quakers, whose Peace Testimony against participation in war, and against military service as combatants is a major principle.

His newly found pacifism and the birth of his son were among the reasons he cited for applying for Conscientious Objector status in August 2002. A little too late, perhaps, since his unit was deployed to Afghanistan shortly thereafter while his application was still under
consideration. And since his superior officers claimed to have no record of his application, he was ordered to go with.

So off they went, with Hinzman being assigned duty in a non-combat role there while the powers that be mulled over his request. After returning, he learned that his application had ultimately been denied and he was subsequently ordered to return to and serve again with his regular unit.

Then came the edict that it was time to pack the duffel bags once again, rack up some additional frequent flier miles, and head on over to Iraq, proliferating democracy.

Hence the family road trip, due north. A secret journey to avoid an illegal and controversial war, no doubt, since such blatant desertion is a felony punishable by death.

Really. Desertion and even disobedience carry the death penalty in a time of war. I kid you not.

Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, 15 offenses can be punishable by death, though many of these crimes — such as desertion or disobeying a superior commissioned officer’s orders — carry the death penalty only in time of war.

So anyway, he applied for refugee status once on Canadian soil. I can’t say that I blame him. I wouldn’t be hankering to return stateside, either, all things considered!

Hinzman’s hearing was held in December of 2004.

The argument was made by him and his attorney that invading Iraq constituted a violation of international law, and that the subsequent occupation violates international human rights, as specified by the Geneva Convention.

They also argued that, in fact, his failure to refuse participation in such illegal activities would clearly be a breach of the Nuremberg Tribunal, turning Hinzman into a potential war criminal.

In March of 2005, Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board determined that he was not a conscientious objector and was thus ineligible for refugee status.

Hinzman’s team challenged, but, alas, a year later in March of 2006, the Federal Court dismissed the request for a review of the previous year’s decision.

A last-ditch effort last month to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada didn’t go so well, either. They refused to even hear the case.

Read Jeremy’s and other war deserters’ commentaries from 2005, about why they opted to hightail it to Canada in lieu of further participation in George W. Bush’s illegal bloodbath that is Iraq.

Of course, thousands of other soldiers have followed suit. These are troops I can unequivocally say that I truly support. What happens to them now that Canada seems to be in cahoots with Bushdom, I don’t know. Still, I admire their bravery and courage to take a stand against the atrocities of this administration. Heroes indeed.

iraq war, soldiers, troops, deserters, jeremy hinzman, anti-war, anti-bush, army deserters, george bush