An American who deserted the U.S. Army to protest the Iraq War and who
has been ordered deported back home will file a new appeal in Federal
Court. Jeremy Hinzman is the first U.S. deserter in recent years to
apply for refugee status in Canada. Immigration authorities determined
that he did not face persecution or hardship if he were returned to the
United States and told him on Wednesday he had until Sept. 23 to leave
the country. He faces a possible court martial and up to five years in
prison.The above is from "
Canada in Brief" (
24 Hours Vancouver) and
AP files another story where they quote Jeremy:
"I
went through all the training. I served honorably in my unit. I used
army provisions to try become a noncombatant and remain in the army as
a medic or something, but I still would be subject to going on combat
missions as a medic," Hinzman said.
"I can't bring myself to shoot
another person. If people want to criticize me for that, then I'm
honored to be criticized because I'm not a killer."We'll again note
this from Courage to Resist:
| Jeremy Hinzman ordered deported from Canada |  |  |  |
By Courage to Resist and War Resisters Support Campaign (Canada). August 13, 2008
The
first U.S. war resister to apply for refuge in Canada has been ordered
deported by September 23rd. Jeremy is in Canada with his wife Nga
Nuyen, and their two young children. This decision flies in the face of
the motion adopted by Parliament on June 3, 2008 which calls on the
government to allow US war resisters to apply for Permanent Resident
status in Canada. Supporters are calling on Hon. Diane Finley, Minister
of Citizenship and Immigration, to intervene. Phone 613.996.4974 or
email finley.d@parl.gc.caAnd
this is the War Resisters Support Campaign:
Jeremy Hinzman ordered deported
The
first U.S. war resister to apply for refuge in Canada has been ordered
deported by September 23rd. Jeremy is in Canada with his wife Nga
Nuyen, and their two young children.
This decision flies in the
face of the motion adopted by Parliament on June 3, 2008 which calls on
the government to allow US war resisters to apply for Permanent
Resident status in Canada. It also rejects the will of Canadians who
have demonstrated in various polls that they want war resisters to stay.
The
War Resisters Support Campaign is calling on the federal government and
the Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, to
intervene to prevent the Hinzman family from being sent to the U.S. to
be punished. And this from
Iraq Veterans Against the War:
US
Iraq War resister Jeremy Hinzman was informed on August 13th that his
application to stay in Canada has been rejected. Jeremy served a tour
in Afghanistan in a non-combat role after applying for conscientious
objector status. When his unit, the 82nd Airborne Division, was to be
deployed to Iraq Jeremy and his family decided to come to Canada.
Jeremy is the first U.S. war resister to apply for refuge in Canada. He
has been ordered to be deported by September 23rd. Jeremy is in Canada
with his wife Nga Nuyen, and their two young children.
The
decision to deport Hinzman comes just two months after the Canadian
Parliament passed a motion calling on the government to allow US war
resisters to apply for Permanent Resident status in Canada.
To
support Jeremy, call or email Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of
Citizenship and Immigration, and ask her to intervene in this case.
Phone: 613.996.4974 email: finley.d@parl.gc.ca.
Hinzman appears today on
Democracy Now!
and, in reply to a question about where he goes next, states that "if
my lawyer can find errors in the . . . decision that the Canadian
Border Services rendered than we can appeal"; however, he is preparing
for what may be the return to the US. Amy Goodman wrongly states Robin
Long was deported last month (he was extradited) and then asserts that
he "is now serving a jail term in Colorado". Really? I must have missed
Robin's court-martial -- which everyone says will take part in
September.
In other DUMB ASS news, don't miss Janine Jackson's
fact-free 'commentary' in CounterSpin this week. Remember, you just
have to laugh. FAIR went off the rails some time ago (probably when
they decided a few years back that a gala was just the thing to throw
in the midst of a war? Bette Davis would have slapped their slack-jawed
faces), so just laugh as Jackson sports Extreme Stupidity (and cites
Village Idiot Air of
The Nation). (We covered
the reality of Mrytle Beach Tuesday.)
Jeremy
Hinzman and Robin Long are two US war resisters who went to Canada.
They are not the only ones. Darrell Anderson went to Canada and was the
first to publicly return to the US. James Burmeister made the decision
to return this year.
Evan Kornfeldt "
Sentenced for resisting war" (US
Socialist Worker):
On
July 17, a military court sentenced James Burmeister to six months in
prison for going AWOL. Burmeister, who fled to Canada last year rather
than return to Iraq, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).Burmeister,
originally from Eugene, Ore., went to Iraq in September of 2006 as a
gunner in Unit 118 First Infantry Division. Burmeister took part in
"small kill teams" that used "bait and kill" tactics.[. . .]The
Eugene Weekly has pointed out that of the 4,698 soldiers who have been
charged with desertion in 2007, only 108 have been convicted. Eric
Burmeister, James' father, believes that his son was prosecuted as
punishment for speaking out about the bait and kill teams.After
the trial, at which he testified on his son's behalf, he said, "I
obviously now believe that James has been made an example to the rest
of the soldiers and to the rest of those who dare think about what
James did, that the punishment can be quite severe."Eric
Burmeister and his wife Helen have been speaking out about James' case
and about the Iraq war. Eric told the Eugene Weekly, "I can never be
quiet until they all come home. It seems like they are all my children
now."PBS notes. Tonight (in most markets, check local listings),
Bill Moyers Journal addresses the imperial presidency with guest Andrew J. Bacevich. The
Journal's Michael Winship notes:
Bacevich
speaks truth to power, no matter who's in power, which may be why those
of both the left and right are eager to hear his views. Perhaps it's
also because when he challenges American myths and illusions, he does
so from a genuine patriotism forged in the fire of his experiences as a
soldier in Vietnam and the death a year ago of his son, an Army
lieutenant in Iraq. The Limits of Power is dedicated to the young man
but the senior Bacevich, a man of quiet, solid gravitas, holds his
grief privately between himself and his family.
"Our foreign policy
is something that is concocted in Washington, D.C., but it reflects the
perceptions of our political elite about what we the people want," he
told Moyers. "And what we want, by and large is... this continuing flow
of very cheap consumer goods. We want to be able to pump gas into our
cars regardless of how big they may happen to be... And we want to be
able to do these things without having to think about whether or not
the books are balanced at the end of the month, or the end of the
fiscal year."
To that end, he says, "One of the ways we avoid
confronting our refusal to balance the books is to rely increasingly on
the projection of American military power around the world to try to
maintain this dysfunctional system or set of arrangements that have
evolved over the last 30 or 40 years."
"... I think historians a
hundred years from now will puzzle over how it could be that the United
States of America, the most powerful nation in the world, as far back
as the early 1970’s came to recognize that dependence on foreign oil
was a problem, posed a threat, compromised our freedom of action. How
every president from Richard Nixon down... declared, 'We’re going to
fix the problem.' [But] none of them did."
He continued, "The
clearest statement of what I value is found in the Preamble to the
Constitution. There is nothing in the Preamble to the Constitution
which defines the purpose of the United States of America as remaking
the world in our image, which I view as a fool's errand... I believe
that the framers of the Constitution were primarily concerned with
focusing on the way we live here, the way we order our affairs. To try
to ensure that as individuals, we can have an opportunity to pursue
our, perhaps, differing definitions of freedom, but also so that, as a
community, we could live together in some kind of harmony. And that
future generations would also be able to share in those same
opportunities... With the current crisis in American foreign policy,
unless we do change our ways, the likelihood that our children, our
grandchildren, the next generation is going to enjoy the opportunities
that we've had is very slight because we're squandering our power. We
are squandering our wealth."
Bacevich believes, "The Congress,
especially with regard to matters related to national security policy,
has thrust power and authority to the executive branch. We have created
an imperial presidency. The Congress no longer is able to articulate a
vision of what is the common good. The Congress exists primarily to
ensure the reelection of members of Congress."PBS tonight (and throughout the weekend depending on when your local station airs it) will also feature
Washington Week. Janine Zacharia (
Bloomberg News)
will be among the guests. She's been doing a ton of research on
refugees so she should be able to pull that into her topic (the
positions of Barack and McCain), Todd S. Purdum (
Vanity Fair) will discuss the upcoming Democratic National Convention (will Gwen or anyone mention
the Nadar Super Rally that will take place in Denver August 27th?), and Jeffrey Birnbaum (
Washington Post) will be among the guests (Birnbuam will be addressing campaign monies and laws). And
NOW on PBS explores the US and Mexican border.
Ralph's Daily Audio is the web page for the Nader-Gonzalez campaign featuring audio.
Marci asked that we again note "Outsourcing:"
This
is Ralph Nader. You know how often these big corporate executives, when
they're shipping jobs of American workers to fascist or communist
dictators abroad who know how to keep their workers in their place . Do
you know how often they say "Well we have to do this to keep up with
the global competition"? But one thing they don't do to keep up with
the global competition is to outsource themselves, outsource their own
CEO jobs or their own faluting commentators and editors jobs.
Let's start with the New York Times
editorial page. It would be hard to replace Maureen Dowd, no doubt. But
Thomas Friedman? He of the rah-rah, pro-corporate, globalization,
cheesy metaphors? Well he could easily be replaced by a hard working
Indian or Chinese bi-lingual columnist at a much lower rate. And how
about Wall Street? All those investment bank executives, the executives
of Citigroup or Merrill Lynch. Imagine how many first rate Indian or
Chinese executives could have done a much better job than Bob Rubin who
helped drive the giant Citibank into the ground. I'm sure good
executives from India or China could replace Rick Wagoner as CEO of
General Motors at a much, much lower salary. That's the way to meet the
global competition: Outsouce CEOS.
"What's
good for the worker," says the CEO, "is not good for the CEO." The
shareholders know better thye've got to demand outsourcing CEOS for a
new fresh. energetic start for the management of their country. I'm
Ralph Nader.
Along with the audio and the Nader
Super Rally, the independent presidental campaign has a great deal of
activity and movement. Sam notes
this from Team Nader:
Health Care Politics
One
of my favorite monthly publications is Registered Nurse – the journal
of the fast growing, progressive California Nurses Association (CNA) –
a union that stands up for patients rights and well-being.
The
June 2008 issue contains stories that illustrate how this nurses group
takes stands. On June 19, the CNA sponsored street rallies for its
Medicare for all (single-payer with free choice of doctor and hospital)
in San Francisco and a dozen other major cities around the nation. For
over a decade these nurses have made full Medicare for all their major
goal. They have run voter initiatives, lobbied legislatures and have
opposed sweetheart labor-management deals like those embraced by the
Service Employees International Union – SEIU. (SEIU also opposes
single-payer health insurance which is supported by a majority of
physicians and the American people.)
The
June magazine describes the autocratic native of SEIU toward its
members and how its leader, Andy Stern, cuts labor deals with large
corporate employers that shockingly deprive workers of normal union
rights.
Here is an example of what CNA says:
"In
exchange for access to more dues units, SEIU gave California nursing
home operators the 'exclusive right' to set all pay rates, working
conditions, speed up and reassign work, eliminate jobs at will, and
outsource union work."
"SEIU also
agreed to support legislation limiting patient’s right to sue over care
abuses, to oppose reforms to require better staffing for patients
safety, and to never report health care code violations."
Stern
rejected single-payer health insurance at his recent union convention.
Senator Barack Obama has declined to propose single-payer as well. SEIU
is pouring tens of millions of dollars to elect Senator Obama
President. CNA works to eliminate "the insurance nightmare through
establishing a high-quality, single payer healthcare system. (See: http://www.guaranteedhealthcare.org/blog)
The
current health care industry is a wasteful, redundant, defrauding mess
costing Americans over 2.2 trillion this year and hundreds of thousands
of avoidable injuries, fatalities and serious infections a year. The
honest, competent caregivers are on the edge of despair, unable to do
their best work due to the domination and control of commercial-profit
priorities which include denial of care by these corporations.
People
die or get sicker sometimes when they are denied health care. People
die when they cannot afford health insurance -- 18,000 Americans a year
according to the Institute of Medicine
Corporate
billing fraud and abuse costs over $200 billion a year. Ask Malcolm
Sparrow of the Kennedy School at Harvard University or read his book
License to Steal.
Do you ever hear John McCain or Barack Obama focus public attention on these tragedies and rip-offs of consumers and taxpayers?
The
employers of health insurance companies, hospital chains and drug
industry are pouring money into the coffers of these two men and their
parties.
Strange as it many seem, on
June 26, 2008 even the principled, independent California Nurses
Association fell in line with the AFL-CIO. The CNA endorsed Senator
Barack Obama.
Well, Senator Obama
doesn't have to worry a minute about CNA's nurses putting up one of
their famous critical demonstrations at his events. He can continue
dialing for corporate dollars.
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Added:
Kimberly Wilder encourages people to check out
this video of Asa Gordon "explaining his electoral college lawsuits" which is about "proportional apportionment of presidential electors."
The e-mail address for this site is
common_ills@yahoo.com.
iraq
james burmeister
jeremy hinzman
robin long
evan kornfeldtbill moyers journalpbsmichael winship
janine zacharia
todd s. purdum
jeffrey birnbaum
washington week
now on pbs
asa gordon
kimberly wilder
