Military Deserters Flee To Canada
Military Deserters Flee To Canada
About 6,000 Soldiers Deserted From Iraq War; 150 Fled To Canada
http://www.wesh.com/news/4534806/detail.html
POSTED: 10:24 am EDT May 26, 2005
TORONTO -- Thirty-five years after Vietnam, Canada is still a safe haven for those fleeing service in the U.S. military.
WESH 2 News's Raoul Martinez went to Canada to track down military deserters.
"I did it for the best of my family, for the best of my conscience," said Pfc. Joshua Key, of the U.S. Army.
The Keys are a typical, young, all-American family with four beautiful children.
"I felt like we (were) the most wanted family in America because you know everybody's eyes are looking for you," Key said.
Key and his family fled to Toronto.
"Now, we're technically refugees in Canada," his wife, Brandi, said.
"I know that I'll never be able to go home," Joshua Key said.
Key is a deserter from the Army.
"If you do get apprehended, if you do get caught, you're always going to be considered a coward, you're always going to be considered a deserter and that's going to follow you for the rest of your life," Key said.
He served eight months in Iraq's volatile Sunni triangle with the 43rd combat engineer company. He raided homes and flushed out terrorists. As a soldier, he decided the war in Iraq was unjustified.
"It's wrong, it's very immoral. We're there under lies and different pretenses that were fabricated," Key said.
To the Army, he's a wanted criminal.
"I went to fight for my country. To me, the Army, they lied to me from the beginning," Key said.
"My husband is not a coward for he went and fought," Brandi said.
During a two-week leave in 2003, Key abandoned his unit.
"I know I'm a deserter. I deserted my fellow comrades and everything," Key said.
Deserters Seek Refugee Status
Once in Canada, the Keys sought out immigration attorney Jeffry House.
"They shouldn't be punished because they are making a moral choice that has a lot to be said for it," House said.
Out of a small office in downtown Toronto, House sorts through mounds of paperwork for the 10 American soldiers he represents.
"These are people that to me seem so innocent of any wrongdoing that I feel like I have to go the last mile for them," House said.
"To be (absent without leave) or a deserter is indeed a crime," said Lt. Col. Pamela Hart, of the U.S. Army.
The Army downplays the exodus. They don't go out looking for deserters.
"We are an extremely busy Army, a nation at war. It's just a very small number of soldiers we're looking at," Hart said.
In fact, less than 1 percent have deserted. According to the U.S. military, there have been about 6,000 deserters from the Iraq war. Of those, about 150 have made their way to Canada seeking refugee status.
Canadian immigration officials said they can't play politics.
"Each claim for refugee protection is based on its own merits," said ReJean Cantlon, of Canada's citizenship and immigration program.
Anyone -- American soldier or not, deserter or not -- can make a refugee claim.
"We have an obligation to hear claims for protection and we take that responsibility very seriously," Cantlon said.
Army: Soldiers Choose To Take Oath, Obligated To Obey It
According to the U.S. military, orders must be obeyed, whether you agree with them or not.
"Desertion and AWOL are such self-serving acts that just go against completely what we believe as the Army values and the warrior ethos. We don't understand it," Hart said.
When Key enlisted, he took an oath to serve.
"All the soldiers who enlist raise their right hand and do so because they choose to," Hart said.
"How many U.S. soldiers have died for nothing? How many have been wounded for nothing? And somebody is going to start putting question marks and figuring out exactly," Key said.
Key must now figure out what's next. He knows the consequences of his actions.
"If I go to prison and I get out, I'm still going to be labeled what I am," he said.
And he may never be able to return home.
"The last thing we wanted to do was leave our country. That was the last thing I intended to do, the last thing I wanted to do," Key said.
"For people who judge my husband or judge us for the decision we made and think we are traitors to our country, we were proud of being Americans," Brandi Key said.
"We're refugees of Canada, that's how I see it," Key said.
House was a Vietnam draft-dodger, which is why he feels so close to the soldiers. Last month, Canada denied refugee status to the first of his clients, which leaves Joshua Key and his family in a kind of political limbo.
If Key comes back to the U.S., he would face a court martial, which could land him in prison for five years. Theoretically, the ultimate punishment for deserting could be death, although that is highly unlikely.
Copyright 2005 by WESH.COM. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
