'Peace Mom' Cindy Sheehan supports American military deserters in Canada
dontcowerfromthetruth
'Peace Mom' Cindy Sheehan supports American military deserters in
Canada
Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan greets U.S. military deserters during a
rally in Fort Erie, Ontario, on Saturday. The person in the foreground
is wearing a U.S. military uniform. All the deserters had served in
Iraq. (CP/AP/Don Heupel)
FORT ERIE, Ont. (AP) - A group of American military deserters publicly
embraced their new lives in Canada on Saturday with the support of
"peace mom" Cindy Sheehan, who said she wished the son she lost in Iraq
was among them.
"I begged him not to go to Iraq," the anti-war activist said through
tears at a rally in support of the former soldiers, who wore black
T-shirts emblazoned with "AWOL." "And I wish he was standing up here
with these people because he didn't want to go."
Sheehan was making her second visit to Canada in support of sanctuary
for those fleeing the U.S. military.
Canada has so far denied political asylum to U.S. soldiers who have
sought it but appeals are pending.
"They're trying to deport me," said Darrell Anderson of Lexington, Ky.,
who arrived in Canada by way of Niagara Falls in January 2005. He spent
seven months in Iraq with the Army's 1st Armoured Division and received
a purple heart following a roadside bomb attack before deciding during
a leave he would not go back.
"When I was in Iraq, we were killing innocent people for oil. It was
obvious they didn't want us there," said Anderson, 24, who is
petitioning to remain in Canada.
The gathering at a park in the town of Fort Erie, across the border
from Buffalo, N.Y., was organized by peace groups on both sides of the
border.
About 20 former U.S. soldiers, referred to as war resisters, have
applied for refugee status in Canada. Organizers estimated there may be
as many as 200 soldiers in the country who have not yet sought formal
protection.
"They say we're traitors, we're deserters," said former Marine Chris
Magaoay, 20, of the Hawaiian island of Maui. "No, I'm a Marine and I
stand up for what I believe in, and I believe the Constitution of the
United States of America is being pushed aside as a scrap piece of
paper."
The soldiers thanked Canadians for their hospitality and were cheered
by about 100 in an audience that included Iraq veterans opposed to the
war and Vietnam-era resisters who sought refuge in Canada decades
earlier.
"I know that their choice has been difficult but I know that they made
the right choice," said Bruce Beyer, who spent five years in Canada as
a draft resister during Vietnam.
"I know that they miss their family and their friends that they're cut
off from," Beyer said. "But I know that you Canadians have stepped up
and stood behind them and I thank you from the bottom of my heart."
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http://www.slate.com/id/2124788/sidebar/2124791/
http://representativepress.blogspot.com/2005/08/cindy-sheehan-mother-of-spc-casey.html