How should Op Iraqi Freedom deserters be treated?

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onerifle

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Saw this on FoxNews...thought I would post a link to this guy's site.

How can anyone enlist in the Army, then desert, and run to Canada (where he's being acclaimed as a "hero"), claiming to be a conscientous objector, and that when he "realized he would be killing people", he decided he couldn't stomach anymore. While I do not have a problem with claiming CO status conceptually, I think it's a disgrace to use that as an out after you've enlisted.

I hope this guy comes back to the U.S. and does hard time. :fire:


http://www.jeremyhinzman.net/faq.html
 
I can respect a legitimate conscientious objector.


But some who enlists, then runs when the bullets fly, needs some hard time in my book.


Like 20 years or so.
 
You guys would let him off easy, I say Canada can keep him. If he comes back into the US, execution for treason. Sorry if this is harsh, but having served my self, I have zero tolerance
 
Well if Canada decides to keep them I say we invade & make the little pricks run down to Mexico. Bwahahahaha
 
Like everyone else, I have no problem with a CO that makes this known from the beginning. However, if you join the military expecting to get paid, take advantage of the GI Bill, VA home loans etc. then when you are asked to fulfill your end of the deal you back out you should have to face the music. The military has penalties in place for this behavior and I expect it to be enforced.
Desertion in the time of war.
He should face a firing squad.
 
The just penalty for treason is death. Consientious objector status is not relevent as the made their choice and cashed their checks. Non performance of a mortal obligation requires a mortal consequence.
 
To hell with him. The less cowards and malcontents we have here the better. His wife is ni better than he. She used this country a safty net until it came time to repay the debt. He used the Army for financial gain until it came time to earn the money.
My wife is also a Viet refuge to this country and has a totally different view. She believes that she owes a debt to this country and would be more than willing to send her husband off to war for it:D
 
Almost half of you guys think people who have commited violent felonies should be allowed to own guns (based on a poll) - and yet you think this non-violent criminal should be shot?!

Seriously - what the hell?

Yes, he should be punished, but certainly not executed.
 
Consciencious objectors who go through the proper, established procedures should be respected & reassigned to non-combat roles....

Deserters should be hunted down & brought directly to Leavenworth for 10 years hard labor & then resume their enlistment obligation where they left off....

If they resist, we treat them like Iraqi POW's...
 
i say let them go. i'd rather have someone who wants to fight for this country than someone who wont pull the trigger or drop the bomb when the time comes.
 
"Almost half of you guys think people who have commited violent felonies should be allowed to own guns (based on a poll) - and yet you think this non-violent criminal should be shot?!"

That sums up my feeling exactly.
The violent felon was sentenced to prison. He did the time. Someone decided that he was ready to be released into society. He should have ALL his rights restored. If you don't trust him enough to make him a free man, keep him in prison or execute him. If he isn't 100% safe, I don't want him living next door to me.
He did the crime, he did the time.
This clown did the crime and more than likely will get away with it.
Again, he committed a crime and the penelty for that crime is death. Now it is time to pay up.
 
Personally, I say let him stay in Canada. No since letting his gene's taint the part of America's gene pool that does have a backbone. I've got nothing against CO's, two of my uncles were during Vietnam and I respect both their actions and their beliefs. From what I gather this guy was trying to use the military for school money and didn't like it when the SHTF so he ran. If he wants to follow his religion of not killing right up until he is being shot at, well, that's not CO, that cowardice. I think we should put a "Get out of Jail Free Card" on his head if he returns to the US. Instead of wasting money on a trial and deportation and the like, simply let him know that if he ever enters the US again whoever shoots him won't be prosecuted and will be reimbursed whatever their ammo costs were.
 
He's a deserter. I don't care what his motivations are, be they seriously changed values or simple cowardice. You don't get into the damned Airborne Infantry not knowing you might have to kill people. They make that pretty clear from day 1 in Army Basic Training.

A soldier deserting his post is more than "breaking a contract". I honestly and truly don't expect some folks on this board to understand that, but it's much more than contractual non-fulfillment. You're breaking an oath. For such actions there must be consequences. Desertion in a time of war, abandoning your comrades in arms, is a very serious offense. If you've never been in the military, you're probably not going to understand.

He's not a civilian, nor should he be subject to civilian punishments for breach-of-contract cases (what would that be, a fine?). He's a soldier. He took an oath.

So what's he doing now? Living in Canada as a celebrity, profiting from his cowardice.

He should face a firing squad.
 
I would like to see us send a company from his old unit to go get him and defy the Canadians to do anything about it.
 
and yet you think this non-violent criminal should be shot?!
Click to expand...
No, they think a traitor should be shot. Both Aldrich Ames and John Walker are "non-violent" criminals too.

IMO, if you run to another country seeking asylum, you have renounced your citizenship and whether or not they accept you, you ain't coming back to the US. Go find some other country to live in or come back and pay the piper.

Good thing Carter isn't around to pardon them.
 
My wife is also a Viet refuge to this country and has a totally different view. She believes that she owes a debt to this country and would be more than willing to send her husband off to war for it
Click to expand...


So, is that patriotism or just looking for an excuse to get rid of you? :neener:

:D



Just kidding. You've got a good one.




I would like to see us send a company from his old unit to go get him and defy the Canadians to do anything about it.
Click to expand...


Yeah, what are they gonna do, tell us to "leave, eh?" :neener:


(I can say that - I was born there! :D )
 
The Canadians have a long history of giving aid and comfort to our enemies.
 
fair?

Make him complete all obligations (time he was supposed to serve) from hard labor. Make the rest of his "enlistment" breaking rocks in some hole like the old chain gangs.
 
Once he was in, there was a plan for him. He was a guy with a gun that was supposed to be protecting his buddies.

When he left, he left his buddies in the time they will need him the most, staring down teh barrels of a bunch of AK-47s.

Simply Put: He left his friends to die.

Uniform Code of Military Justice is pretty clear on hoe he should be treated.

PS: no, it dosen't take a member of the military to get this, I'm a civie. One who's not entirely sure we should even be in this war at all. But that dosen't mean I abandon my friends to face death alone.
 
Tamara's right. UCMJ by the book. That is the standard to which a person is held when they take the oath of enlistment. Since the UCMJ is a legal code wich defines criminal acts and penalties, and we have an extradition treaty with Canada, the Canadian government should hand deserters over to us.
 
http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/ucmj2.htm#885. ART. 85. DESERTION

885. ART. 85. DESERTION
(a) Any member of the armed forces who--
(1) without authority goes or remains absent from his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to remain away therefrom permanently;
(2) quits his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to avoid hazardous duty or to shirk important service; or
(3) without being regularly separated from one of the armed forces enlists or accepts an appointment in the same or another on of the armed forces without fully disclosing the fact that he has not been regularly separated, or enters any foreign armed service except when authorized by the United States; is guilty of desertion.
(b) Any commissioned officer of the armed forces who, after tender of his resignation and before notice of its acceptance, quits his post or proper duties without leave and with intent to remain away therefrom permanently is guilty of desertion.
(c) Any person found guilty of desertion or attempt to desert shall be punished, if the offense is committed in time of war, by death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct, but if the desertion or attempt to desert occurs at any other time, by such punishment, other than death, as a court-martial may direct.
Click to expand...

For an abject coward to claim to be a "Conscientious Objector" is insulting to genuine Conscientious Objectors, many of whom exhibited extreme bravery in combat as non-shooters like medics and so forth, or volunteered for other forms of service. Conscientious Objectors have, in fact, won Medals of Honor for saving lives in combat as medics.
 
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