Two U.S. Army deserters who fled to Canada and sought refugee status on grounds of their opposition to the war in Iraq have lost their bids to have the Supreme Court of Canada hear their cases.

The court refused Thursday to hear the appeals of Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey, who were rejected by Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board in 2005.

The board ruled they would not be at risk of their lives if they returned to the United States, nor were they at risk of “cruel and unusual treatment or punishment.”

Hinzman and Hughey deserted the U.S. Army in 2004 after learning their units were to be deployed to Iraq to fight in a war they have called immoral and illegal. The men argue that serving in Iraq would force them to commit crimes against civilians, and that they would be persecuted if forced to return to the United States.

Both the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal have refused to review their cases.

It ain’t over yet. A few of Hinzman’s moonbatty friends in high places will fight to keep him from being deported. Knock yourselves out:

If deported, Hinzman, who works as a Toronto bike courier, and Hughey, who works in British Columbia, face court martial and possible imprisonment for desertion.

Last night, protesters with the War Resisters Support Campaign said with legal remedies failing, they will concentrate on pressuring Canadian politicians to take action.

New Democrat immigration critic Olivia Chow said she plans to submit a parliamentary motion calling for hearings on the issue and will ask Minister of Immigration Diane Finley to intervene immediately.

“To deport courageous war resisters who oppose the illegal invasion of Iraq is saying yes to George W. Bush’s war and no to supporting and protecting people seeking peace,” Chow said through an assistant at the protest.

Attended by a handful of other deserters and their families, the Toronto demonstration was one of eight scheduled in cities across the country yesterday.

Lee Zaslofsky, who himself deserted the U.S. Army in 1970 to avoid deployment to Vietnam, said it is time for the federal Liberal Party to follow in Pierre Trudeau’s footsteps and support a provision allowing deserters to remain here in Canada.

If there’s a Canadian version of DLTDHYOTWO, let me know.

Sen. Patty Murray and Congressman Jay Inslee are lobbying legislators to cancel this week’s hearing on a resolution calling on Congress to investigate and consider impeaching President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Inslee and Murray, both Democrats who voted against the war, think state lawmakers holding hearings and voting on impeachment is a distraction from what Democrats are doing in Congress, including their efforts to end the war.

…”Jay called and he said, ‘Darlene, don’t do this,’” said Sen. Darlene Fairley, D-Lake Forest Park. She is chairwoman of the Senate Government Operations and Elections Committee, which is scheduled to hold a hearing on two measures Thursday. One is Sen. Eric Oemig’s joint memorial calling for Congress to investigate and consider impeachment of Bush and Cheney. The other is Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles’ measure opposing Bush’s troop increase in Iraq.

“I said, ‘Jay it’s all over YouTube. I can’t un-ring that bell,’” Fairley said. There are a number of videos posted to the site featuring Oemig and the impeachment measure….

…The hearing at 3:30 p.m. Thursday is looking to be a major spectacle. The Washington Legislature’s anti-Bush moves have become, at least temporarily, a center of attention of anti-war forces around the country. At an impeachment forum in Olympia last week where Oemig spoke, according to reports, the audience included Rachel Corrie’s parents, Lt. Ehren Watada and James Yee.

Coming to Olympia to testify in favor of Oemig’s impeachment resolution are Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, a growing voice in the anti-war movement, and Mary Ann Wright, a retired Army colonel who resigned from the U.S. State Department in 2003 to protest the invasion of Iraq. She has since worked closely with Cindy Sheehan and others in the peace movement.

Kohl-Welles told me she invited retired Chairman of the Joint Chief Gen. John Shalikashvili, who lives near Gig Harbor, and actor and activist Sean Penn. She said she was waiting to hear back from Penn’s publicist.

The hearing is turning into just what Democrats in Congress worry about.

Yep. More on that in today’s Washington Post, which has a parallel article on the Dems’ Murtha headache.

***

Dan Riehl has background on the impeachment drive.

Undaunted by an initial mistrial, the Army on Friday refiled charges against 1st. Lt. Ehren Watada, a Fort Lewis officer who faces up to six years in prison for failing to deploy to Iraq and alleged misconduct.

“These are serious charges, and the next step will be to set a trial date,” said Joe Piek, a spokesman at Fort Lewis, where Watada continues to serve as an active-duty officer.

Watada is the first Army officer to face court-martial for refusing to serve in Iraq, and his case has drawn international attention as the Hawaiian-born officer has allied himself with peace groups and repeatedly attacked the Bush administration’s conduct of the war.

Watada’s defense counsels are hoping to derail or at least delay a new trial, which they claim constitutes double jeopardy that violates Watada’s constitutional rights to only be tried once for a set of crimes.

The defense counsels appeared caught by surprise by Friday’s re-filing of charges.

Good for the Army for not lettting this slide.

Previous Watada blogging.

Just in tonight from Ft. Lewis via the Seattle P-I:

The court-martial of 1st Lt. Ehren Watada ended in a mistrial Wednesday.

The case’s judge, Lt. Col. John Head, declared the trial over after a day of wrangling over a stipulation of facts that Watada had signed before the trial and that would have been part of the instructions to the jury. The judge decided that Watada never intended when he signed the stipulation to mean that he had a duty to go to Iraq with his unit.

Again the issue was Watada’s views on the Iraq war — opinions that kept him from going with his unit to the conflict and that the judge didn’t want brought up at the court-martial.

Watada, a Stryker Brigade soldier, is the first commissioned officer to refuse to be deployed to Iraq. Watada’s unit left this sprawling base for Iraq in June, but Watada remained behind. He said he believes the war is illegal and that his duty is to not abide by illegal orders.

But Head tried to keep the court-martial from becoming a tribunal on the war and its legality and has ruled that Watada’s attorney cannot present witnesses to question the war’s legality. Outside the base, that has been the issue as peace activists from across the country have rallied to Watada’s side.

Watada is charged with missing movement to Iraq and with two counts of conduct unbecoming an officer. Those last two charges result from statements Watada made against the war in a video tape released to reporters after he made his refusal to go to Iraq public and to a Veterans for Peace convention at the University of Washington.

He had been charged with two other counts of conduct unbecoming for interviews he gave. Prosecutors dropped those charged in return for Watada’s signing a stipulation that he had given the interviews. He also acknowledged in the stipulation that he didn’t go with his unit to Iraq, though he didn’t admit his guilt to the missing movement charge…

… “I see there is an inconsistency in the stipulation of fact,” the judge said Wednesday. “I don’t know how I can accept (it) as we stand here now.”

Because much of the Army’s evidence was laid out in the document, rejecting it would hurt its case, Head acknowledged. He granted the prosecutors’ request for a mistrial, which Watada’s lawyer opposed.

Seattle Times has more:

Head said the prosecutors could move to reopen their case which had already been completed on Tuesday. However, they declined to reopen the case, which would have been complicated by the jury already seeing the agreement that now had problems.

Instead, the prosecution moved for a mistrial which the judge then granted and tentatively scheduled a trial for mid-March.

In a new trial, Watada, 28, could face up to six years in prison if convicted of all the charges against him.

Watada and his cheerleaders are the subject of my column today, reprinted here with links.

***

Angry, left-wing Washington Post blogger William Arkin considers American troops in Iraq who believe in their mission “mercenaries” who are “naive” and should be thankful they haven’t been spit upon yet. Curdled Democrat Sen. John Kerry thinks those soldiers, who volunteer for service, didn’t “make an effort to be smart” and are “stuck in Iraq” because of their intellectual deficiencies. At the last anti-war spasm in Washington, liberal peace-lovers vandalized a military recruitment office — repeating an act of destruction taken by rock-wielding thugs across college campuses and at ROTC headquarters nationwide.

So, who inspires these troop-bashers? Whose courage do they cheer? Whom do they call “hero”?

Not the American soldier on the battlefield, willingly and freely putting his life on the line for his beliefs, his family, our country, security and freedom.

No, their idea of a military hero is Army Lt. Ehren Watada. Did Watada take a bullet for his comrades? Rescue innocent civilians from insurgent forces? Throw himself on a grenade? Ambush a terrorist sniper nest? No.

Watada’s the soldier who went on trial this week for defying orders to be deployed to Iraq — after volunteering for duty. For those deficient in English, here’s the meaning of volunteer: “To perform or offer to perform a service of one’s own free will.” Hundreds of anti-war groupies, including actor Sean Penn, showed up to cheer Watada.

Watada was scheduled to leave Fort Lewis, Wash., for his first tour of duty in Iraq last summer. Instead of getting on the bus with his fellow soldiers, he announced he would not go and denounced the war as “unjust” and “illegal.” He was the only military officer to refuse deployment to Iraq with Fort Lewis’ 4,000-member Stryker Brigade. The anti-war propaganda machine kicked into full gear for Watada, with coordinated press conferences in Tacoma, Wash., and Honolulu, where Watada grew up.

Some of Watada’s hometown neighbors are sick of his intellectual disingenuousness. Writing in Watada’s hometown newspaper, the Honolulu Advertiser, retired Col. Thomas D. Farrell, who served as an Army intelligence officer in Iraq in 2005-2006, retorted:

“How can anyone seriously claim that our military involvement in Iraq is illegal when both Congress and the U.N. have taken the steps to authorize it, and allow it to continue to this day? Lt. Watada argues that he has the right to make his own personal assessment, notwithstanding whatever Congress and the U.N. may do. If he’s right, why not make our personal assessments about how fast is safe to drive, or how much tax is our fair share? The answer is obvious: Anarchy would prevail, and the rule of law — the basis of all real freedom — would cease to exist.”

The only thing illegal here is Watada’s willful refusal to obey orders. Watada is just the latest in a line of losers abandoning their men, their mission and the rule of law. The left calls this “dissent.” The rest of us call it what it is: Desertion.

Many military observers say they smelled a rat when they first heard of Watada’s story. Watada graduated from Hawai’i Pacific University in 2003, joined the Army shortly after, went to Officer Candidate School and incurred a three-year obligation. Wrote Navy Officer Robert Webster:

“This guy graduated from college and then joined the Army, going to Officer Candidate school, after we had already started the Iraq campaign just to claim it was an ‘illegal’ war when his unit is called to go. Smells funny to me. In my mind, either the Army gave a commission to an idiot not aware of current events or he planned this all along.”

Soldiers making calculated political statements against their own troops?

Wouldn’t be the first time — cough, cough, John Kerry. Idiot or schemer, Watada deserves a stiff, strong penalty for his lawlessness. An excellent proposal put forth at the military blog Op-For:

“Relieve him of operational duties and send him to work at Walter Reed, to handle the in- and out-processing of wounded veterans.”

Yes, where the real heroes are.

***
Previous:

A deserter, not a “dissenter”
Hakuna Watada
Anti-American idol Ehren Watada

Note that fake Iraq vet Jesse MacBeth’s publicists are the same ones now disseminating Watada propaganda.

At least they picked one of the right colors–yellow–for their banner:

Seattle Times coverage of the pro-deserter rallies here.

***
Previous:

A deserter, not a “dissenter”
Pablo Paredes – convicted for refusing to deploy – more
Where in the world is Wassef Ali Hassoun?
Jeremy Hinzman: AWOL and AINO
Jeremy spoke in Canada today – Loser of the day
Deserter Kevin Benderman

Zarqawi is dead–no thanks to the likes of 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, who refused to deploy with the Stryker Brigade this week to protest the “illegal” and “unjust” war.

Get the lowdown on Watada and his Bush-bashing father by watching the latest Vent.

Previous: A deserter, not a “dissenter”

More news coverage: AP * Seattle Times

***

Great timing: The ImpeachBush loons had an ad in USA Today.

1st Lt. Ehren Watada: The face of a deserter

The Seattle Times heralds the moonbat left’s new hero:

In a rare case of officer dissent, a Fort Lewis Army lieutenant has refused orders to head out to Iraq this month to lead troops in what he believes is an illegal war of occupation.

“Dissent?!” He’s defying his orders.

1st Lt. Ehren Watada’s Stryker brigade is scheduled to make its first deployment to Iraq this month. His refusal to accompany these troops puts him at risk of court-martial and years of prison time.

“I feel that we have been lied to and betrayed by this administration,” Watada said Tuesday in a telephone interview from Fort Lewis. “It is the duty, the obligation of every soldier, and specifically the officers, to evaluate the legality, the truth behind every order — including the order to go to war.”

In making his decision, Watada has reached out to peace groups, including clergy, students, some veterans opposed to Iraq and others. Some war critics are raising money for his legal defense as they seek to galvanize broader opposition to Bush administration policy in Iraq.

“There has been an outpouring of support in the Puget Sound area,” said David Solnit, who works with the anti-war group Courage to Resist. The group and others are helping organize a press conference today in Tacoma to launch the support campaign.

A military reader e-mails:

This guy graduated from college and then joined the Army, going to Officer Candidate school, AFTER we had already started the Iraq campaign just to claim it was an “illegal” war when his unit is called to go. Smells funny to me. In my mind either the Army gave a commission to an idiot not aware of current events or he planned this all along.

And another retired military reader adds:

I don’t think that this lieutenant knows how much trouble he could be in.

First, he stated, “It is the duty, the obligation of every soldier, and specifically the officers, to evaluate the legality, the truth behind every order — including the order to go to war.” This is wrong It is not the duty of every soldier to evaluate the legality of every order. It is the duty of every soldier is to follow all LAWFUL orders.

It sounds as if he has been planning this. If it can be proven that he is doing this to encourage other soldiers to do this, he would be guilty of formenting a mutiny – a capital offense. This is Article 94 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice:

ART. 94. MUTINY OR SEDITION
(a) Any person subject to this chapter who–

(1) with intent to usurp or override lawful military authority, refuses, in concert with any other person, to obey orders or otherwise do his duty or creates any violence or disturbance is guilty of mutiny;

(2) with intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of lawful civil authority, creates, in concert with any other person, revolt, violence, or disturbance against that authority is guilty of sedition;

(3) fails to do his utmost to prevent and suppress a mutiny or sedition being committed in his presence, or fails to take all reasonable means to inform his superior commissioned officer or commanding officer of a mutiny or sedition which he knows or has reason to believe is taking place, is guilty of a failure to suppress or report a mutiny or sedition.

(b) A person who is found guilty of attempted mutiny, mutiny, sedition, or failure to suppress or report a mutiny or sedition shall be punished by death or such other punishment as a court- martial may direct.

Steven Burt
1LT, FA, USAR (ret)

Milblogger Bubblehead adds:

Expect the evening news tomorrow night to be filled with stories of a “brave” Army Lieutenant. The actions he’ll be lauded for don’t fit the traditional definition of bravery, but you’ll see pundits far and wide hailing his actions. Here’s what he’ll be celebrated for: refusing to deploy with his unit to Iraq.

1st Lt. Ehren K. Watada says, through his lawyer, that he cannot “participate in a war that he cannot justify or support legally and morally”. Many of us have probably thought about what we’d do if given what we felt was an illegal order — we all got training when we first came into the military that we weren’t obligated to follow such an order. I always figured I’d explain to the person who gave me the order why I felt it was illegal, and then take it up the chain of command if that was available. If worse came to worse, I’d probably get my Congressman involved. One action I wouldn’t take, though, was holding a “coordinated news conference”. His parents apparently support his decision; his father is fairly well-known in Hawaiian political circles.

Watada claims that the current war is illegal. Interestingly, he joined the Army in June 2003, after we had invaded Iraq (so the concept that he might have to go there shouldn’t have come as a surprise to him); his obligation ends in December of this year. I’m interested to know where he gets the idea that our current occupation of Iraq is illegal; not only has Congress supported the continued action through appropriations, the United Nations Security Council specifically authorized (unanimously) the current coalition military operations in Iraq.

Kim at Wizbang has extensive coverage:

This is more than just one man refusing to deploy. It’s a coordinated effort by the anti-war left to undermine our troops, our war effort, and President Bush, and Lt. Watada is its pawn.

More on the media circus from the Army Times. And John Stephenson.

Here’s left-wing Alternet extolling Watada’s “courage.”

Watada’s website crashed earlier today. Here’s what’s posted there now from his donation-seeking supporters:

Our primary website is currently offline.
We are working very hard to bring it back.

June 7, 2006
FAMILY & FRIENDS OF LT.
www.ThankYouLt.org

Press Advisory

FIRST U.S. MILITARY COMMISSIONED OFFICER TO REFUSE DEPLOYMENT TO UNLAWFUL IRAQ WAR TODAY

Today U.S. Army First Lieutenant Ehren Watada will become the first commissioned officer to refuse deployment to the unlawful Iraq war and occupation. The lieutenant will announce the intention to disobey the illegal order to deploy to Iraq in coordinated press conferences in Tacoma, Washington and Honolulu, Hawaii. Veterans, religious leaders, military families, students, faculty, peace and justice organizations and community members will announce a national public campaign of support for the Lieutenant.

12:00pm, Wednesday, June 7th
Associated Ministries
1224 South I Street
Tacoma, Washington
(at the intersection of 12th & I)

11:00am, Wednesday, June 7th
Hawaii State Capitol
Senate Conference Room 224
Honolulu, Hawii

DONATE to Lt. Watada’s Legal Defense Fund

KOMO TV Seattle coverage.

KHNL coverage – interview with Watada’s father, Bob, a Vietnam War protester who supports his son.

Nathan Goulding at The Media Blog has more on Bob Watada–a Bush Derangement Syndrome sufferer:

I decided to find out if Lt. Watada or his father have had any associations with anti-war groups or anti-war movements. After a short time on Google, this turned up—a posting on a forum at the University of Hawaii:

During the past year, [Bob Watada] confided to me his opposition to the War in Iraq.

He likened Bush Two to be equal to Adolf Hitler.

Although I don’t have any strong feelings about the subject, I generally side with the national political establishment.

In recent years, I’ve been mildly criticizing the truth about how Europe began conquering the Planet starting in the 15th Century.

Of course, America’s empire is just an extension of Europe’s exploits.

When I was just out of high school, Robert taught me frosh college economics at Kapiolani Community College on Pensacola Street.

This appears to have been posted by someone named Mike G. H. Chun. Sadly, it seems you can’t trust anyone these days. If Mr. Watada’s Bush/Hitler sentiments are accurate, this could help illuminate why he’s so proud of his son for opposing the war.

***

Update (via Kristinn T): Military families speak out…

MILITARY FAMILIES REBUKE ARMY LT. WATADA FOR REFUSAL TO SERVE AND ALLIANCE WITH ANTI-AMERICAN GROUPS

(Washington) Rebecca Davis, Cofounder of Military Families Voice of
Victory (www.mfvov.org), issued the following statement today on the
announced plans by Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada to disobey orders to serve
in Iraq:

“On behalf of the members of Military Families Voice of Victory, and as
a mother of three sons who have served honorably in Iraq and
Afghanistan, I am demanding the Army prosecute Lt. Watada to the fullest
extent under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

“The refusal by Lt. Watada to obey lawful orders to serve in Iraq as
part of Operation Iraqi Freedom will surely encourage al Qaeda in Iraq
to continue terrorizing the Iraqi people and attacking U.S. and
coalition forces, and encourage al Qaeda and allied terrorist forces
around the globe to wage war against America and Western civilization.

“Lt. Watada has chosen to ally himself and accept financial aid from Not
in Our Name, a front group for the Revolutionary Communist Party. He has
also accepted aid from other anti-American organizations that have
expressed support and/or given material aid to terrorists in Iraq.

“Lt. Watada is not standing on principle, nor is his stand valiant. He
is a coward and a traitor. His actions will only serve to get his fellow
soldiers killed so that he can save himself and become famous.”

-30-

***

Update: Here is some registration information concerning the proprietor of the Watada support website…

Domain ID:D123530763-LROR
Domain Name:THANKYOULT.ORG
Created On:31-May-2006 18:02:32 UTC
Last Updated On:31-May-2006 18:30:39 UTC
Expiration Date:31-May-2007 18:02:32 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:Nettuner Corp. dba Webmasters.com (R1310-LROR)
Status:CLIENT UPDATE PROHIBITED
Status:TRANSFER PROHIBITED
Registrant ID:WM06053189dd
Registrant Name:Jeff Paterson
Registrant Organization:Not in Our Name

Paterson is a “a former Kane’ohe Bay Marine who refused to board a transport in 1990 heading to the Gulf War and now works as an anti-war activist with the organization Not In Our Name.”

Dan Riehl has more on moonbat papa Bob Watada.

John Donovan
:

Note that Watada is not seeking conscientious objector status, because he does not oppose all wars, only this particular one.

Which puts Lieutenant Watada on the horns of a dilemma.

Let us assume that Lieutenant Watada is sincere. We owe him that much.

If so, he is taking the high road. His sole defense of his actions is going to be “Refusing an illegal order.” Absent a *stunning* action on the part of a Courts Martial panel, he’s going to get convicted. His defense team is going to have to be miracle workers to successfully assert that the war in Iraq is illegal in terms by which it will excuse his actions – and, by extension, condemn every other serving officer as a war criminal for not having refused. Oh, there’s room to maneuver in there, but when you strip it down to the essentials – that’s it.

***

Previous:

Pablo Paredes – convicted for refusing to deploy – more
Where in the world is Wassef Ali Hassoun?
Jeremy Hinzman: AWOL and AINO
Jeremy spoke in Canada today – Loser of the day
Deserter Kevin Benderman