Don't Deport War Resister Kimberly Rivera

[Deleted]

What sayeth, CEP?
I hope that Harper grants her refugee status, personally. I can't see why they wouldn't, but its certainly an interesting precedent.

www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/dont-deport-war-resister-kimberly-rivera/article4544856/

DESMOND TUTU
Don’t deport war resister Kimberly Rivera
DESMOND TUTU
The Globe and Mail
Published Monday, Sep. 17 2012, 2:00 AM EDT
Last updated Friday, Sep. 14 2012, 11:33 AM EDT

When the United States and Britain made the case in 2003 for the invasion of Iraq, it was on the basis of a lie. We were told that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, and that these weapons posed an imminent threat to humanity.

For the millions around the world who took part in peaceful protests opposing the war, there was certainly profound skepticism about the deeply flawed evidence presented to support the illegal invasion.

MORE RELATED TO THIS STORY

U.S. war resister who fled to Canada may appeal deportation ruling
Iraq war resister Kimberly Rivera ordered to leave Canada by Sept. 20

EDITORIAL CARTOONS: SEPTEMBER, 2012
Italy, eh
But those who were called to fight this war believed what their leaders had told them. The reason we know this is because U.S. soldiers such as Kimberly Rivera, through her own experience in Iraq, came to the conclusion that the invasion had nothing to do with weapons of mass destruction. Indeed, the presence of U.S. forces only created immense misery for civilians and soldiers alike.

Those leaders to whom soldiers such as Kimberly Rivera looked for answers failed a supreme moral test. More than 110,000 Iraqis have died in the conflict since 2003, millions have been displaced and nearly 4,500 American soldiers have been killed.

There are many people who, while they may have believed the original justification for the war, came to a different conclusion as the reality of the war became more evident. Prime Minister Stephen Harper himself came to the conclusion that the Iraq war was “absolutely an error.”

It is large-hearted and courageous people who are not diminished by saying: “I made a mistake.” Not least among these are Ms. Rivera and the other American war resisters who determined they could not in good conscience continue to be part of the Iraq war.

Ms. Rivera, who is from Texas, joined the U.S. Army when she was 24 and was stationed in Baghdad. She believed the U.S. efforts would make her country safer. Disillusioned by the reality of civilian casualties, she came to Canada in 2007 and applied for refugee status. She felt she could no longer participate in a war where she was contributing to causing harm and death to innocent people.

The Canadian government has notified Ms. Rivera that she is scheduled for deportation to the U.S. on Sept. 20. Her lawyer says she faces a prison sentence of two to five years on her return. Ms. Rivera lives in Toronto with her husband and four children (two of whom were born in Canada); these are people of courage and peace, and they should be granted asylum.

Canada has a long tradition of giving refuge to people of conscience. During the Vietnam War, more than 50,000 young Americans came to Canada. Many of them volunteered and, like Ms. Rivera, later developed moral objections to a war they could not ignore.

Public opinion polls have shown that most Canadians want their government to continue that tradition today. A 2008 Angus Reid poll showed that 64 per cent of Canadians want U.S. conscientious objectors to the Iraq war to remain in Canada. And Parliament has voted twice to allow American conscientious objectors to the Iraq war to stay.

The deportation order given to Ms. Rivera is unjust and must be challenged. It’s in times when people are swept up in a frenzy of war that it’s most important to listen to the quiet voices speaking the truth. Isn’t it time we begin to redress the atrocity of this war by honouring those such as Ms. Rivera who had the courage to stand against it at such cost to themselves?

During the struggle against the apartheid regime in South Africa, we were sustained by the knowledge of the support we had in the international community. Ms. Rivera has my support and the support of all those who desperately want humanity to move along a path of peace.

Despite all of the ghastliness in the world, human beings are made for goodness. The ones who are held in high regard are not militarily powerful nor even economically prosperous. They have a commitment to try to make the world a better place. I truly believe that Kimberly Rivera is such a person, and that Canada can only benefit from allowing her to stay.

[cattledogkisses]

I'm sorry, but I have no sympathy for deserters. She should be deported and go through the US military justice system. She made a commitment and chose not to honor it, so now she needs to face the consequences of that choice.

[basilosaurus]

I have no sympathy. Not because I so strongly believed in Iraq, or because she signed up and should do the damn job (comments I've heard elsewhere), but because there is actually a process to become a conscientious objector within the military. There was a route that was legal, and she didn't take it. Hence, no sympathy.

[Deleted]

Sept 17, 2012 19:33:26 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

I have no sympathy. Not because I so strongly believed in Iraq, or because she signed up and should do the damn job (comments I've heard elsewhere), but because there is actually a process to become a conscientious objector within the military. There was a route that was legal, and she didn't take it. Hence, no sympathy.

Interesting. If the article mentions that option, I missed it. Would it apply to any circumstance? Like, is it possible for whatever reason that wasn't an option?

[basilosaurus]

I don't know much about it, but it's a difficult process. It's not just for people to get out of deploying. I would assume, just speculating on military preferences, that it would require a religious conversion.

But, still, even if there weren't that process, she broke a law. Canada would extradite for other law breakers, right? So, what's different?

[Deleted]

I'm with Sibil. She should have gone through the process. Although, honestly, I tend to fall on the no sympathy side simply because one can finish their term and not reenlist. I find it highly unlikely she had much time left or that she would have had much time left after finishing the process.

[Deleted]

Sept 17, 2012 19:37:40 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

I don't know much about it, but it's a difficult process. It's not just for people to get out of deploying. I would assume, just speculating on military preferences, that it would require a religious conversion.

But, still, even if there weren't that process, she broke a law. Canada would extradite for other law breakers, right? So, what's different?

I *think* the biggest reason is that we say that we're anti-war, and a lot of Canadians were really strongly against the Iraq war. So she's garnered a LOT of public sympathy. I would actually think it could be a political move by our PM to let her stay - it would win him some brownie points.

[Deleted]

You know, I'm browsing the comments section on the article, and actually, most people dont' seem that sympathetic to her. I will be curious to see what Harper decides.

[basilosaurus]

OK, quick googling shows me she probably wouldn't be approved as a conscientious objector because she objects to a particular war, rather than a general anti-war stance. So if she would go to Afghan but not Iraq, she doesn't qualify. But, still she could have started the process which likely would have delayed her long enough to get out properly.

I don't know what rank or job she had, but I know that they've been making cuts to personnel for awhile. It seems every year H has had the potential to apply for voluntary separation.

[LoveTrains]

Stan, I had a colleague whose husband got called up from the inactive ready reserve. It was really hard on them and he was PISSED about it. I think he had done ROTC years ago - does that sound like a reason that he might have been on the inactive ready reserve? It was like a backdoor draft.

[Deleted]

I'm sorry but I think you have to be something of a ding ding to join the military and think you get to opt out of certain wars.

And not every one was stoplossed. Depends on your MOS and what you were doing. From what I understand, most of the stoplosses that happened were due to contracts ending during a deployment.

[ttt]

Yeah I don't know. I have sympathy for people who were drafted during Vietnam and who fled to Canada to avoid that, but not really for people who actively and knowingly signed up to serve and then decided they didn't want to anymore.

[Deleted]

And to add to TTT's point, I think it's difficult to discern between someone who really has had a massive change of heart to the point where they are plagued by their service and someone who is glomming onto the CO title to get out of a life they don't like, especially when we're dealing with deployments.

[casmgn]

I don't understand why the article is focusing so much on 2003. According to an article posted on MM, she enlisted in 2006. She did one tour and ran away because she didn't want to do a second.

[Deleted]

Sept 17, 2012 20:20:32 GMT -5 ttt said:

Yeah I don't know. I have sympathy for people who were drafted during Vietnam and who fled to Canada to avoid that, but not really for people who actively and knowingly signed up to serve and then decided they didn't want to anymore.

Is it not possible she realized, while on duty, that she didn't like what the military was doing in the ME because of her first tour? We have criticized military recruitment on the board - perhaps she honestly thought she was signing up for something different.