Presented for your information - Anti-war letter campaign flirts with illegality
June 11, 2007 · By Joel
* Antiwar protesters are appealing directly to Quebec soldiers to refuse deployment to Afghanistan later this year
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The letter tells soldiers that if they go to Afghanistan they will be complicit in war crimes and torture. Signed by four Quebec-based anti-war groups, it tells the soldiers they will become “cannon fodder” in the war-torn region.The letter urges soldiers not to participate and offers support for those who refuse the mission.
(a) interferes with, impairs or influences the loyalty or discipline of a member of a force,
(b) publishes, edits, issues, circulates or distributes a writing that advises, counsels or urges insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny or refusal of duty by a member of a force, or
(c) advises, counsels, urges or in any manner causes insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny or refusal of duty by a member of a force,
is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.
But what are the odds charges will actually be filed? 1/100? 1/1000?
there are some brave people from quebec in the forces these ass hats do them a great diservice.
These activists are asking soldiers to “refuse to go”. In fact, deployment to Afghanistan is voluntary. They don’t seem to know this basic fact. That in itself is perplexing.
They also imply they will help soldiers who get into trouble for not going. Again, no soldier would be punished because it is voluntary they have no soldiers to protect.
I think they should be charged under the criminal code section you kindly provided.
Thanks for your concern.
Hey, all it takes is for a citizen to lodge a complaint against these letter writers indicating the criminal offense they have committed for the wheels to be put in motion. Most people — the police included — would be oblivious to the law you quoted. And as such, talking about the odds as if it is a complaint about the police not doing their job is really pointless.
But, if you file a complaint and request a follow up be mailed to you, at least you’ll have actually made a realistic attempt to ensure that the law is enforced. Then, talking about the odds would really mean something.
Louise: are you sure about that? I thought it was only voluntary for reservists.
In any case, the act certainly fits the description of the crime, and I wouldn’t feel sorry to see them charged and convicted. But, I don’t think it will happen for PR reasons. It would appear heavy-handed and anti-freedom of expression, and would be a publicity headache. The easier approach would be to ignore it and wait for the stupidity to go away on its own.
These leftists need a hard lesson in the rule of law. The authorities had better take this matter seriously because it’s a direct assault on the foundations of civil order. Ignoring it will only make it worse as they’ll step up their sordid antics if left unchallenged.
Cherenkov, that’s my understanding. I think this is because, so far, they have so many soldiers volunteering for deployment, they don’t have to order soldiers to go. Some request a second and third tour.
I bet these activists will increase the soldiers’ resolve in their commitment to the mission. They are a dedicated lot. We’re so fortunate to have them.
It’s quite disgusting. I voiced my own displeasure on my blog as well. Dissent is acceptable political will, but its place is not in the letters to soldiers. That is callous and perhaps even treasonous.
The anti-war activists are feeding on press coverage that our soldiers turned over detainees to Afghan prisons and that the detainees were then tortured by Afghan jailers.
These activists and the opposition are really claiming that this is torture by proxy. Nothing has been proven, but they are trying to drum this message into the psyche of Canadians. Why? To discredit Harper’s government. It’s a sad state of affairs.
All is fair in love and war.
For the record, I don’t really think they should be charged for this (though it is certainly a slimy practice). My point was that these anti-war types are always the first to cry that we’re living in a Harper-led police state or other such nonsense, but if that were actually the case, they would already be behind bars.