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A U.S. Navy deserter nabbed at the border is being shipped back to his base in California to face charges of desertion. At the same time, rallies were staged in Toronto and Vancouver yesterday to try to prevent Robin Long, a failed refugee claimant and deserter, from being deported to the U.S. In the first case, naval officer Jeffrey Mitchell, 24, was crossing the Peace Bridge late Saturday with his wife after a two-day Niagara Falls getaway when he was nabbed in a computer check, said Chief Kevin Corsaro, of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Corsaro said Mitchell had been...

A US soldier who deserted to Canada and sought refugee status for opposing the war in Iraq has been extradited to the United States, officials said, in Canada's first such case since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. "I can confirm that he has been expelled from Canada and returned to his country of origin," Shakila Manzoor, a spokeswoman for the Canada Border Services Agency (ASFC) said. US citizen Robin Long, 25, fled to Canada in 2005 and demanded refugee status, claiming he would suffer irreparable harm if he were sent back to the United States. He also argued that he...

VANCOUVER - A U.S. Army deserter who fled to Canada three years ago has been deported back to America to face possible court martial. The Canada Border Services Agency confirmed Robin Long was removed from Canada Tuesday. Long claimed refugee status in Canada, saying he didn't want to take part in a U.S. war in Iraq he called "an illegal war of aggression." Sarah Bjoknas, a co-ordinator for the War Resisters Support Campaign, says Long will be returned to his unit based in Fort Knox, Kentucky. She says Long's punishment for deserting will be up to the company commander and...

James Corey Glass, apprentice mortician and United States Army deserter, was keeping an unusually close eye on the text messages coming into his cellphone. He was hoping to hear that a court had blocked the Canadian government’s attempt to send him back to the United States. On Wednesday afternoon, the message came: Mr. Glass, 25, could remain in Canada while he appealed his removal order by the country’s Immigration Department. It was a welcome reprieve, he said, but well short of a guarantee that he and other deserters could make Canada their new home. The Canadian government’s effort to remove...

OTTAWA, July 5 (UPI) -- A Canadian federal judge has decided Canada's refugee board made a mistake when it rejected a U.S. soldier's request for asylum. Justice Robert Barnes said the Immigration and Refugee Board was incorrect when it decided Joshua Key was unable to seek asylum in Canada because the military actions he was dodging weren't extreme enough to be considered war crimes. The Friday ruling may pave the way for other American deserters who try to claim refugee status in Canada, The Globe and Mail in Toronto reported. The judge said evading military orders that are "contrary to...

Since deserting his unit in Iraq and fleeing to Canada two years ago, Corey Glass has become the poster boy of the war resisters movement. Thursday in Toronto, supporters are planning to protest his scheduled deportation back to the United States. Corey Glass, 25, who deserted the U.S. Army while his unit was in Iraq and fled to Canada has become a cause celebre there. The American's impending deportation has led to protests and a parliamentary resolution. (ABC News Photo Illustration)But it turns out Glass has had little reason to be on the lam, ABC News has learned. Unknown to...

‘Illegal Occupation’: US Soldier Refuses To Deploy To Iraq A month after US army reservist Matthis Chiroux publicly refused to deploy to Iraq, the former sergeant on Sunday set himself up for possible prosecution by failing to report for active duty with his unit in South Carolina. "Tonight at midnight, I may face further action from the army for refusing to reactivate to participate in the Iraq occupation," Chiroux told reporters in Washington. "I stand here today in defense of those who have been stripped of their voices in this occupation, the warriors of this nation...", Chiroux read from a...

Canada is set to deport in June the first of possibly hundreds of American soldiers who sought asylum to avoid military duty in Iraq, a group backing the US deserters said Wednesday. Corey Glass, 25, came to Canada in August 2006 after serving in Iraq as a military intelligence sergeant. Authorities told him on Wednesday that his application to stay in Canada was rejected and he would be deported in early June, a spokeswoman for the War Resisters Support Campaign told AFP. According to the group, several hundred Iraq War resisters are currently in Canada, many of them living underground....

US military finds sailor in slain taxi driver's case: report Weekend March 22, 2008 The US military Saturday took into custody a deserter in Japan wanted for questioning over the killing of a taxi driver, a report said.The US military, which has been looking for the sailor since early this month, informed Japan early Saturday that he was found in the military hub of Yokosuka near Tokyo, Kyodo News said, quoting police sources. The report said the sailor's credit card was found Wednesday in a parked taxi in which the 61-year-old driver was stabbed to death with a kitchen...

BERLIN (Reuters) - A U.S. Army medic jailed for desertion after refusing to return to Iraq is on a mission to tell young Americans about the grim realities of war before they join the military. Mexican-born combat medic Agustin Aguayo, in Germany to receive a peace award, told Reuters that U.S. Army recruitment methods were unfair as young people got a one-sided, positive picture of combat. "I want to bring young people awareness. We ask them to sacrifice so much yet we don't educate them about the realities of war," said Aguayo, who describes himself as a conscientious objector, in...

Canada's top court will not hear the case of two Americans who sought refugee status here after deserting the U.S. army in 2004 to avoid being deployed to Iraq. In a decision released Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected a bid by Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey to stay in Canada as refugees. The court's ruling backs previous ones by the Federal Court, the Federal Court of Appeal and the Immigration and Refugee Board. Before Thursday's ruling, the Federal Court of Appeal last rejected the claims by Hinzman and Hughey, who crossed the border rather than face possible court...

Fort Lewis deserter arrested in crash that killed young boy Joshua Beadle is seen in this undated police booking photo. YouNewsTV™ Story Published: Aug 8, 2007 at 12:56 PM PDT Story Updated: Aug 8, 2007 at 5:06 PM PDT By KOMO Staff Watch the story WESTMINSTER, Colo. -- Investigators here say an Army soldier who deserted from Fort Lewis, Wash. is suspected of crashing into another vehicle and killing a 10-year-old boy. Westminster police arrested Joshua Beadle, 21, for investigation of vehicular homicide and driving under the influence. Officials say Beadle ran a red light on Friday and slammed into...

The Iraq War has its own generation of deserters. Today’s runaway soldiers are casualties of two relentless voices--that of their own fear and that of political appeasement. Before recruitment, health and education benefits should be partnered with a reality check: the bloody baggage of war. These young volunteers could then inventory themselves and judge if they can attack their fear. America’s present-day “Neville Chamberlains” account for the second shrill voice. Appeasement is naïve and blind to evil’s intent, which has always been the subjugation or destruction of others. The constant public yammering of the appeasement crowd undercuts the mental focus...

The Keys are living in a van because of Joshua Key's opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq. While many opponents of the Iraq war base their opposition on media reports, Key's opinion is based on what he witnessed when he fought for eight months in Iraq's Sunni Triangle. Key never thought he'd end up in Iraq in the first place. When he first enlisted, he signed up to be a bridge builder in a non-deployable unit. Despite this, the army trained him in explosives and landmines, and sent him to Iraq in April of 2003. Key describes himself as...

SEATTLE, (AP) -- The Army has set a second court-martial for July 16 for an officer who refused to deploy to Iraq and spoke out against the war and the Bush administration. The first military trial for 1st Lt. Ehren Watada ended in a mistrial Feb. 7, when the judge said he didn't believe Watada, 28, fully understood a pretrial agreement he'd signed. On Friday, the Army refiled charges of missing movement and conduct unbecoming an officer.

'I'm so sick of running' Canada says no to U.S. deserter By PATRICK MALONEY, FREE PRESS REPORTER London Free Press Mon, January 29, 2007 Matt Lowell is one of the unlucky 13. That's how many U.S. soldiers have bolted their homeland in protest of the Iraq war and applied for refugee protection in Canada, Ottawa says. So far, all the claims have been rejected. Lowell, a quiet Michigan native who arrived in London by accident, just received the Immigration and Refugee Board's decision on his case. Matt David Lowell of Michigan is a deserterfrom the U.S. army who lives...

By MELANTHIA MITCHELL, Associated Press Writer Thu Nov 9, 5:20 PM ET SEATTLE - An Army lieutenant who challenged the Bush administration's reasons for going to war in Iraq and then refused to deploy to the country will face a military trial, the Army said Thursday. Fort Lewis commander Lt. Gen. James Dubik recommended that the Army proceed with a general court-martial against 1st Lt. Ehren Watada. Watada, 28, was charged with missing troop movement, conduct unbecoming an officer and contempt toward officials for comments he made about President Bush. The Army later added another specification of conduct unbecoming an...

RADCLIFF, Kentucky (AP) -- An Army soldier who fled to Canada rather than redeploy to Iraq surrendered Tuesday to military officials after asking for leniency. Spc. Darrell Anderson, 24, said he deserted the Army last year because he could no longer fight in what he believes is an illegal war. "I feel that by resisting I made up for the things I did in Iraq," Anderson said during a press briefing shortly before he turned himself in at nearby Fort Knox. "I feel I made up for the sins I committed in this war." Anderson, of Lexington, returned to the...

Lexington's Darrell Anderson crossed the border back into the United States yesterday afternoon, almost two years after deserting from the Army and fleeing to Canada, and started for home in Kentucky, where he plans to turn himself in at Fort Knox on Tuesday. But Anderson's stay at Fort Knox apparently could be brief, according to his attorney. Chicago lawyer Jim Fennerty, who is representing Anderson, told reporters in Canada yesterday that an officer at Fort Knox told him by phone last week that the Army has decided not to court-martial Anderson, and plans to release him within three to five...

LEXINGTON, Kentucky (AP) -- A soldier who fled to Canada two years ago after serving in Iraq said he would return home to face consequences from the U.S. Army.

SAN DIEGO A man who deserted the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War was arrested as he entered the United States from Mexico, authorities said Friday. Victor Aguirre, 63, was wanted on a 1966 felony warrant for desertion, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection bureau. He was arrested Thursday at San Diego's San Ysidro border crossing. Aguirre will likely be taken to Camp Pendleton Marine base, about 50 miles north of San Diego, for processing and release, said Capt. Jay Delarosa, a Marine spokesman. He will likely be discharged without facing formal charges. The circumstances of Aguirre's desertion...

Darrell Anderson, the young Lexington soldier who deserted to Canada last year after being wounded in Iraq, wants to come home. Anderson, now 24, has been an outspoken critic of U.S. policy in Iraq while living in Canada, appearing at peace rallies and attacking the Bush administration in interviews with international publications. Earlier this year, he married a Canadian woman, which his mother said should guarantee him permanent residency in Canada. But Lexington's Anita Anderson confirmed that her son now wants to return to the United States sometime within the next few weeks. He could be arrested as soon as...

We hear from a soldier who is refusing to fight in Iraq. Mark Wilkerson has been AWOL for more than a year and is turning himself in at Fort Hood in Texas today. In a taped video statement he says, "I am not willing to kill or be killed for something I don't believe in. My morals said going to Iraq was not the right thing to do." I was not going to live a life of violence." [includes rush transcript]

Spc. Mark Wilkerson already had made the decision to serve in the military when airplanes were flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. He had joined the Army the summer before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks but was even more inspired to serve after his nation was attacked. "I found a new resolve after (the attacks)," Wilkerson, 22, said Thursday morning before returning to Fort Hood – the place he began losing faith in the ideals with which he was raised – after being absent without leave for 18 months. "I felt I could avenge the people...

Remember this moonbat hero? When thousands of Fort Lewis troops prepared to deploy to Iraq this man refused to obey his orders and the anti-war groups rallied around him. A little flashback from the Seattle Times: 1st Lt. Ehren Watada's Stryker brigade is scheduled to make its first deployment to Iraq this month. His refusal to accompany these troops puts him at risk of court-martial and years of prison time. "I feel that we have been lied to and betrayed by this administration," Watada said Tuesday in a telephone interview from Fort Lewis. "It is the duty, the obligation of...

SEATTLE - An Army officer who refused to serve in Iraq because he believes the war is illegal was steadfast in his resolve ahead of a military court hearing, saying the decision was "my obligation to this country." "I made this decision a long time ago," Watada said during a telephone interview. "It is my obligation to this country. I‘m not happy about it and I didn‘t want to do it, but I had to." His lawyer, Eric Seitz, said he has lined up two witnesses to support the soldier‘s claim that the war violated domestic and international law: University...

SGT Ricky Clousing at RDU on Friday. MORRISVILLE, N.C. -- A Fort Bragg soldier is in military custody after being AWOL for more than a year.Sergeant Ricky Clousing went absent without official leave from Fort Bragg in 2005. Last week he turned himself into military authorities at Fort Lewis in Tacoma, Washington after attending a “Veterans for Peace” convention.Instead of wearing his military uniform, Clousing wore a T-shirt that said “Free Speech” and said it’s with a clear conscience that he turned himself into military custody."Because it was always my intention of turning myself in I decided that now...

Shortly after returning from Iraq last year, Army Sgt. Ricky Clousing gathered a few belongings and sneaked out of Fort Bragg, leaving only a note quoting Martin Luther King. After six months spent seeing the "daily physical, psychological and emotional harassment of civilians," the 24-year-old said he was confused and disenchanted with the United States' role in the war.

Published on Friday, August 11, 2006 Army interrogator to return to military custody SEATTLE The Associated Press Shortly after returning from Iraq last year, Army Sgt. Ricky Clousing gathered a few belongings and left Fort Bragg in the middle of the night, leaving only a note quoting Martin Luther King. Less than six months in Iraq, seeing the "daily physical, psychological and emotional harassment of civilians," had left him confused and disenchanted with the United States' role in the war, he said. "My experience in Iraq really made me second-guess my ability to perform as a soldier and also forced...

NORFOLK — A petty officer has been in the Norfolk Naval Station brig for more than four months facing espionage, desertion and other charges, but the Navy has refused to release details of the case. The case against Fire Control Technician 3rd Class Ariel J. Weinmann is indicative of the secrecy surrounding the Navy military court here, where public affairs and trial court officials have denied access to basic information including the court docket – a listing of cases to be heard. After months of requests, the Navy this week provided The Virginian-Pilot with Weinmann’s name, rank and the charges...

Captain Amir Pastar, called up by army in recent days to join fighting in Lebanon, declares Sunday he refuses to take part in war, sentenced to 28 days in military jail. 'He thinks Israel's operation hurts civilians on both sides,' his girlfriend explains Captain Amir Pastar, 32, a reserve Armored Corps officer, was sentenced to 28 days in military prison Sunday for refusing to take part in IDF operations in the framework of the fighting in Lebanon. Pastar, who has been called up in the recent reserve mobilization, stated that "participating in the war contradicts the values I was brought...

Army charges officer for refusing to fight in Iraq Wed Jul 5, 2006 08:28 PM ET By Daisuke Wakabayashi SEATTLE (Reuters) - The U.S. Army filed three charges on Wednesday against an officer who refused to fight in Iraq due to objections over the legality of the war. First Lt. Ehren Watada, who supporters say is the first commissioned U.S. officer to publicly refuse to serve in Iraq and face a military court, remained at Fort Lewis base in Washington state when his unit shipped out to Iraq on June 22. Watada called the war and U.S. occupation of Iraq...

On July 5, 2006, the Army brought three charges against an officer who refused to deploy to Iraq because he believes the war is illegal, according to officials at Fort Lewis, Wash. First Lt. Ehren Watada, of 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, at Fort Lewis was charged with missing movement, contempt toward officials and conduct unbecoming an officer. His unit deployed to Iraq on June 22. He has since been reassigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, I Corps. Eric Seitz, Watada’s attorney, said he’s not surprised that his client was charged with missing movement. The other two charges were unexpected,...

The Army filed three charges today, including conduct unbecoming an officer, against a lieutenant who refused to deploy to Iraq last month because he believes the war there is illegal. Military lawyers calculated that 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, 28, could face nearly eight years in prison and a dishonorable discharge if convicted, said his attorney, Eric Seitz of Honolulu. The other charges are missing movement and contempt toward officials.

A Fort Lewis-based officer who declared that he would not accompany his unit to Iraq followed his promise this morning. Lt. Ehren Watada was not present when his battalion, part of the 3rd Brigade 2nd Infantry Division, gathered at 5:13 a.m. Instead, Watada remained within his headquarters building. Watada, who joined the Army in 2003, said he came believe the Iraq war was illegal and immoral, and he had a duty not to follow orders. No charges against Watada will be filed until the commander has had a chance to review all of the facts of the case and consult...

TORONTO (CP) - A "trigger-happy" U.S. army squad leader shot the foot off an unarmed Iraqi man and soldiers kicked a severed head around like a soccer ball, a U.S. war deserter told an Immigration and Refugee Board hearing Thursday. Joshua Key, the first U.S. deserter with combat experience in Iraq to apply for refugee status in Canada, told the board he witnessed numerous atrocities committed by U.S. forces while serving eight months as a combat engineer. Key, 27, said he was never trained on the Geneva Convention and was told in Iraq by superior officers that the international law...

YAHK, British Columbia (AP) -- A Vietnam war-era deserter who was caught crossing into the United States and held for a week says he made a mistake when he fled the Marine Corps in 1968. "When I was 18, I wasn't aware that duty and honor would mean as much to me as they do now," Allen Abney, 56, said Monday in this southeast British Columbia town. "Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have done what I did 38 years ago," he said. "It wasn't worth it, all the pain I caused my family." Abney was arrested March 9...

YAHK, British Columbia — A Vietnam war-era deserter who was caught crossing into the United States and held for a week says he made a mistake when he fled the Marine Corps in 1968. "When I was 18, I wasn't aware that duty and honor would mean as much to me as they do now," Allen Abney, 56, said Monday in this southeast British Columbia town. "Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have done what I did 38 years ago," he said. "It wasn't worth it, all the pain I caused my family." Abney was arrested March 9 while...

A B.C. man who was arrested last week in the U.S. for deserting the Marines in 1968 was freed from a military jail Thursday evening. Allen Abney, 56, has been granted an administrative discharge after being held in a military prison in Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego, since his arrest last Thursday. "The Marine Corps determined that it would be in the best interest of justice, the Marine Corps and Mr. Abney to separate him administratively," said Lt. Lawton King. "He's been discharged from the Marine Corps so he's no longer a Marine." King said privacy laws prevented him...

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- A man who deserted from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1968 likely will be freed within a week without a court martial, a marine corps spokesman said. Allen Abney, 56, was arrested last Thursday when he and his wife tried to cross into the United States from their home in Kingsgate, B.C. A routine computer check revealed an arrest warrant for the father of three, officials said. He was being held in the Camp Pendleton brig north of San Diego in a private room with a window and access to television, Lieut. Lawton King, a marine...

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) - A man who deserted the U.S. Marine Corps in 1968 was being held at the military prison here following his arrest as he tried to enter the country from Canada, officials said. Allen Abney, 56, was arrested Thursday when he and his wife tried to cross into the United States from their home in Kingsgate, B.C., for a trip to Reno, Nev.. His daughter, Jessica Abney, said he had crossed into the United States hundreds of times without incident. But officials said a routine computer check this time disclosed an arrest warrant. Allen Abney was...

A B.C. man spent the weekend detained at a military base in California after being arrested for deserting the U.S. Marine Corps four decades ago during the Vietnam War. Allen Abney, who was born in the United States but became a Canadian citizen in 1977, was arrested at a border crossing on Thursday while trying to enter Idaho from southeastern British Columbia. In 1968, Abney was a 19-year-old marine when he fled to Canada because he didn't want to fight in Vietnam. He is the third marine from the Vietnam era to be arrested this month, and Toronto lawyer Jeffrey...

SALT LAKE CITY During her visit to Lebanon last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sought extradition of five men–one of them missing Utah Marine Wassef Ali Hassoun, a Lebanese newspaper reported. The Daily Star said in a story posted on its Web site Monday that the Lebanese government has refused persistent U.S. requests to hand over the five Lebanese citizens. However, it quoted an unidentified Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying the refusal was not final, and the request was currently under study by officials. "We have no official final comment at this point,'' the spokesman told the newspaper. A...

Anti-war demonstrators gathered outside a Toronto court Wednesday where it was decision day for a U.S. military deserter who fled his post rather than serve in Iraq is asking to be allowed to remain in this country. On Wednesday morning, the Federal Court began reviewing the case of former soldier Jeremy Hinzman, 27, who fled the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, N.C., in January, 2004, to avoid service in Iraq and sought refuge in Toronto with his wife and son. Outside the courthouse, protesters held up signs and banners declaring: 'Let war resisters stay.' The court — which is...

FORT WORTH -- At 17, Ernest McQueen thought he had it all figured out. The honor student quit high school and joined the Marines. He planned to go to school to become a payroll clerk. "I was gung-ho when I went in," McQueen recalled about his January 1968 enlistment. Then came news of the March 1968 My Lai massacre by U.S. soldiers. Hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians, mostly women, children and elderly men, were killed. McQueen heard about the protests. He heard about the stories from fellow Marines who'd come home. "I thought it was a crazy world. All the...

Without question, Jerry Texiero doesn't look like most who find themselves locked in the Camp Lejeune brig. But that's where the 65-year-old man now finds himself, charged with deserting from the Marine Corps more than 40 years ago. It's a place his lawyers are trying to argue him out of, claiming that he is being held unlawfully. Accused of deserting from his Camp Pendleton-based unit in 1965 when he was a 24-year-old corporal, Texiero began using the name Gerome Conti and took up residence in Florida. But the Marine Corps Absentee Collection Center - which investigates desertion cases - eventually...

Pennsylvania Rep. John ‘Jack’ Murtha, a Vietnam veteran, told ABC News this week that because of the Bush administration’s Iraq policy, he would not serve in the U.S. military today, and he discouraged others from enlisting. The 73-year-old Democrat lawmaker could not be reached for comment, as colleagues speculated that he already may have entered Canada to ride out the remainder of the U.S. military occupation of Iraq. A Pentagon spokesman said the government would not pursue Rep. Murtha on draft-dodging charges, since there is no military draft. “We respect Jack Murtha’s experience as a former Marine,” the unnamed Pentagon...

NEW YORK : A US Army deserter said the one thing he did right during his 40 years in North Korea was to leave the country, which was training his daughters as spies, in an interview. "I made a big mistake of my life, but getting my daughters out of there, that was one right thing I did," Charles Robert Jenkins told Time magazine 40 years after he downed 10 beers and wandered across the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea. Jenkins, a GI from North Carolina, said North Korea wanted him to have Western-looking children that they could...

Four decades after he vanished into North Korea, an American soldier today pleaded guilty before a US military court to desertion and tearfully recounted how depression and fear of death drove him to defect. Sergeant Charles Robert Jenkins, now a frail 64-year-old, was given a light 30-day jail term in a case that had pitted American demands for justice with Tokyo’s call for leniency so Jenkins could settle down in Japan with his Japanese wife. In gripping court-martial testimony that shed light on a long-standing Cold War mystery, Jenkins said that he never intended to stay in North Korea, and...

RALEIGH, N.C. - A U.S. Army deserter who spent decades in North Korea says his communist keepers abused him and controlled every aspect of his life, down to telling him how often to have sex. "It was the worst mistake anyone ever made," Charles Jenkins said. "In words, I cannot express the feelings I have towards North Korea, the harassment I got, the hard life." In an interview airing Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes, Jenkins said he was given no painkillers when a tattoo on his forearm that read "U.S. Army" was cut off with a scalpel and scissors. ...........