As the war in Iraq drags on, support for the disastrous occupation thins out.
According to a recent CBS poll, nearly three quarters of American Democrats want to end the occupation of Iraq, and bring the troops home immediately. But it’s not only the Democrats.
Surprisingly, there is a growing wave of dissent amongst the very same American conservatives who, only a couple years ago, supported the war and occupation almost unanimously.
According to the aforementioned CBS poll, nearly half (45 per cent) of American conservatives, and more than a third (36 per cent) of registered Republicans think the war was a mistake and want the troops out as soon as possible.
As evidence of the barbarity, deceit and senselessness of the dubiously named ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’ piles up, many American soldiers are also standing in opposition to the war, speaking out about their experiences and beliefs at anti-war rallies, and sometimes even refusing to fight.
Since the American-led assault on Iraq began in March of 2003, hundreds of American soldiers have broken their ranks, deserting the military. Many of these soldiers have fled to Canada rather than staying underground in the U.S., where they would be subjected to lengthy prison sentences and even the possibility of the death penalty (still on the books as a punishment for desertion in a time of war) if they got caught.
History seems to be repeating itself. American war resisters once flocked to Canada by the thousands in order to avoid fighting in the Vietnam War. Times were different then; the Canadian government was officially opposed to the war in Vietnam, and mass amnesty for all draft-dodgers and war resisters became the official government policy once Prime Minister Trudeau declared, “Canada should be a refuge from militarism.”
Lee Zaslofsky, one of the estimated 50,000 American soldiers who came to Canada in the Trudeau era, is still resisting war.
Today he is known as the founder and coordinator of the War Resisters Support Campaign, “a broad-based coalition of community, faith, labour and other organizations and individuals that have come together to support U.S. soldiers seeking asylum in Canada because they refuse to fight in the illegal war in Iraq.”
But this time around the Canadian government isn’t rolling out the red carpet. Instead they are dragging these conscientious objectors through the gauntlet of the legal system, and pushing through with deportation proceedings. This, despite the fact that Canada is ‘officially’ opposed to the war in Iraq for the same reasons that the war resisters are (violation of international law, aggressive nature, deceitful justifications), and that the majority of Canadians, including, according to the war resisters, 65 per cent of Ontarians, believe they should be allowed to settle here. Even the majority (53 per cent) of Conservative-voters in Ontario believe they should be allowed to stay.
We cannot allow our government to undermine the will of Canadians by deporting war resisters to the U.S. where they will face harsh punishments and prison sentences. Resist the war. Support the resisters. More details at resisters.ca
Darius Mirshahi
