Fuck the Deserters!

What a long strange trip it's been...

I don't really consider myself a prolific weblog commentator. After all, when you're too busy with life off the grid, it's next to impossible to play in the information super-highway.

Since my offline life currently sucks a bit, the online life has become secondary - I just had to sort some of the real-life bullshit out before I could jack myself back into this alternate universe of 1s and 0s.

But anyways, for this post, some goddamn foreigner is telling us Canucks how to treat those who volunteered then fucked off because they realised that they have to fight in some godforsaken foreign country.

Retired California state senator Tom Hayden will meet with NDP Leader Jack Layton and members of the Bloc Quebecois. He'll bring up cases such as those of Jeremy Hinzman -- a former U.S. soldier who went AWOL before being shipped off to Iraq.

Tom Hayden - ex-Hippie, ex-Californian Demonic Rat. That tells you something right there, eh?

After the Chicago Seven trial, Hayden married (and later divorced) activist actress Jane Fonda.

That statement also tells you a bit on where Tommy-boy stands on this whole "war resister" affair.

But anyways... read on.

"There are all kinds of soldiers who are dissenting, who are deserting. There are 6,000 according to the Pentagon -- and some of them are in Canada," he said on Canada AM.

Hayden said he hopes Canada will provide a safe haven for resistors of the Iraq war, similar to the way it did 35 years ago during the Vietnam War.

"Looking back, it was a proud chapter in Canadian history, and relations between the United States and Canada were not damaged at all."

Well... back in the day, the guys that my home and native land™ accepted were draftees (conscripts) escaping from the war: they were called-up, so they simply fucked-off.

This current batch of poor-fucks volunteered to join the armed services, then fucked off.

Correct me if I'm plain wrong, but I see a slight difference between draft-dodging and desertion, don't you?

If you volunteer to serve for a certain period of time, you essentially saying that you are available to undertake any required tasking. If you refuse to honour that commitment, you may be charged with anything, from insubordination to desertion.

These deserters commited a crime. Canada, as humanitarian as it can be, can't afford to harbour any more criminals - we have more than enough of our own, and then some.

Jeremy Hinzman learned that the hard way. After all, he is considered an illegal immigrant according to our (lax) immigration laws.

Enter fellow moonbat traveller Celeste Zappala...

"I believe that this war in Iraq is a betrayal of our military, and of the noble causes that they have fought for," she said.

Zappala adds that young U.S. soldiers who have decided they won't fight in Iraq deserve support -- and that Canada is a good place to get it.

"I've always admired the Canadians for the human rights positions they've taken, for that conscience that they have always displayed," she said.

She also said she admires people like Hinzman who take courageous positions.

"It's difficult for our soldiers to say no," she said.

Well... ask yourself this, Celeste.

Why did your son join the military in the first place? Why didn't you stop him.

Why did Thomas Hinzman join the military? What was his motivation? What was he expecting?

Aside from economic considerations, why would any American join the military?

If it is for a shot at a college education, they could've had a better chance serving time in jail - and getting that college diploma.

For for those who have joined - and are still serving - they knew what they were getting into, and they knew of the consequences of being part of such an organization.

They knew about the commitment demanded of them and the price of achieving that rare level of excellence required to carry out the task.

I should know - I went through all the trouble trying to achieve that level. Sadly, my body couldn't handle it, as much as my heart, mind and soul crave the challenge.

In a nutshell - send the deserters back to where they came from. If they were men enough to join, they should be men enough to face the music.