Ok, i'm sure you have all heard about the kid that ran away from the military to Canada to avoid going to Iraq. His first excuse was that he thought if he returned he'd be persecuted, but since that didn't fly, he decided to claim the war was illegal. Obviously because this wasn't his first opinoin he is jsut making up excuses. Also, he VOLUNTEERED FOR THE MILITARY!!!! It's not like he was drafted and is dodging. Holy cow, what kind of person volunteers for the military knowing he will probably go to Iraq, and after he sucks on my tax dollars, he chickens out a few days before departure and flees to Canada. I understand he's scared to go to war, i sure would be. But what a waste and dishonor!!!!!! Especially for just using the excuse that the war is illegal (which has yet to be proven). This boy has dug himself a HUGE hole, and i don't think he really knows what he's doing.

Chery

I will probably get razzed for this, but my exhusband stayed in college by the skin of his teeth to prevent Viet Nam or he would have gone to Canada too, he did not 'believe' in killing, ha ha, he was a sociopath and a wife beater, but did not believe in killing....

Then, since working for the military all of most of my career life, I've met soldiers who joined the Army and Air Force as a alternative to going to jail and being former gang members. So I guess it's OK to join a gang, go thru initiation of killing in your own streets, and beating up and/or robbing people, but it's not OK to do the job you are getting paid to do when you wear that uniform. I'm not for war or against it, just a scared human being on a planet with a lot of wars for many different reasons. This young man could have gone to his psychiatrist, taken drugs, or something else to get discharged on a Chapter instead of going from the frying pan into the fire, but that's life.

We are all experiencing WW III, in our own way, and it will probably get worse before better, but if you wear the uniform, don't expect to get paid sitting around at home.

I lost a lot of friends in Viet Nam, and Iraq, also in New York, and mourn for them all and can understand the stress and fears each and every soldier goes through. Unfortunately it's part of reality.

Fr_Chuck

Can we say long prison term, if he wants something that should really scare him.

No one forces anyone into the military. too many of the reserve in years past joined not beleiving they would have to go. But today, every even in the reserves have had to enlist or re-enlist since the war has been going on.

He should be punihsed to the full extent that the military can give him

fredg

Hi,
Whether he knows what is he doing or not, he made a really bad choice.
Now, he has to live with it for a very long time. Many make choices in life, then back out at the last minute.
I won't go into the Iraq war, cause it's being debated now among the American people, and Congress. Some did the same thing during the last wars, changing their mind at the last minute; some even beforehand, when the draft was still in effect.

NeedKarma

I can see someone joining the military just to get, say, a computer job in this tough market. That person just wants to repair PCs and not be blown up by resistance fighters. I'm sure the guy would have less of a problem if the war he was involved in was to directly defend the US but this Iraq invasion is not.

s_cianci

Very well said. It's a sad state of affairs when qualified young people don't want to take up arms and fight for their country. If this trend continues, our grandkids will be speaking arabic and our granddaughters will be keeping their faces veiled in public and categorically denied the right to even learn to read and write or choose their own husband. Incidentially, how doen one go about "proving" that a war is "illegal?" Did Cngress not authorize president Bush to use military force against Iraq? That makes the war perfectly "legal." Nothing in the military is illegal unless it violates the UCMJ or the Geneva Convention ; not that any other country besides the US pays attention to the latter. FREEDOM ISN"T FREE. It's time for all of you under 50 (most of you who are over 50 already know this) to wake up and smell the coffee. I personally am under 50 but I know my history even if I didn't live it firsthand. Frankly I don't want to give our enemies an open invitation to come and take our country because we're afraid to fight. But that's exactly the message we're sending out.

SSchultz0956

I would like to just add to the previous comment, that those who argue that congress and the President had different intelligence, well, how about president CLinton who also said that Saddam had WMD's? I think it's obvious that the previous claim is beyond any reason. IF there was flawed intel, we got the same stuff!!! The mere fact that Clinton, the democratic road scholar (in other words the man is a genious, and you have know idea how hard it is for me to type that) shows that the intel was more than just believable by all parties.

You think it's an illegal war, ask those who are there:
www.theotheriraq.com

It's your obligation to check this out.

ScottGem

Is the Iraq war illegal? How can it be when it was supported by Congress? If someone joins the military they have entered into a legal and binding contract. To breach that contract is illegal.

Those are irrefutable facts. While I can appreciate and understand anyone's disdain for this war, the force of that contract takes precendence.

But I have to comment on one other comment here:

"s_cianci disagrees: Every war is to directly defend the US, in one way or another"

That is so naive its almost laughable. If you had said "Every war is to further US interests, in one or another" I could agree. But there have been several wars or conflicts that had nothing to do with defending the US.

Scott<>

NeedKarma

So why are you not in Iraq, fighting the good war?

dimples

Until now, I dont full get it why a lot of money & men are wasted on the fight in Iraq. To consider that most evidence points out to Afghanistan. While I strongly believe that we should condemn terrorism, it is not right to waste so much innocent lives there. Our men & their children & women have died for this cause.