March 25, 2005

No Canadian Asylum for Deserter Hinzman

Poor Jeffrey Hinzman...he's the Army paratrooper who hightailed it to Canada last January as a so-called "conscientious objector" to the war in Iraq. His dreams of staying in the Leftist haven were shattered yesterday when an immigration board ruled against his request for political asylum.

"Immigration and Refugee Board member Brian Goodman, who wrote the ruling, said Hinzman might face some employment and social discrimination. But "the treatment does not amount to a violation of a fundamental human right, and the harm is not serious," said the report on My Way News.

Of course, Hinzman's lawyer is already planning an appeal, and there are at least seven other known military deserters hiding out in Canada who were no doubt quite interested in the results of this hearing.

Here are my two favorite parts of the story (not in order of appearance):

Hinzman also testified he had been willing to fulfill his full four-year obligation to the Army, but not to participate in combat. "I find Mr. Hinzman's position to be inherently contradictory," Goodman said in the ruling. "Surely an intelligent young man like Mr. Hinzman, who believes the war in Iraq to be illegal, unjust and waged for economic reasons, would be unwilling to participate in any capacity, whether as combatant or noncombatant."

We are an Army serving a nation at war," the Army said in a statement after Thursday's ruling. "Each of us volunteered to serve (emphasis added), and the vast majority serve honorably. AWOL and desertion are crimes that go against Army values, degrade unit readiness and, in a time of war, may put the lives of other soldiers at risk."

For once, someone in a legal capacity in Canada makes some sense! If Hinzman (who took off just weeks before his deployment to Iraq) hates war so much, why is he willing to continue on in the Army in some other capacity?

And as the Army said in its statment, each member has volunteered to serve. It's not like past wars (Vietnam comes readily to mind) when civilians were told they had to join up, like it or not.

Did Hinzman truly believe that any war that might come along would wait until he was done with his four-year contract?

People like me are sick and tired of these whiners who join the Army and then decide that they don't want to fulfill their end of the bargain. "Oh, I just joined for the training and the paid education afterward," is the excuse we hear so many times. Basically, these losers are looking for a free education ride, courtesy of Uncle Sam.

So keep on filing for asylum, Mr. Hinzman. It's not like you're seeking asylum from a country like Cuba, where you would be tossed in jail without a trial for seventy years or so. In spite of Canada's negative stance on many things the United States does, for once someone in the Great White North is doing the right thing.

(The link for the full story is below.)

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