Ms. Smith(Green) has processes available to her even within the US Military where she can refuse to deploy and have her case brought forward to the Judge Advocate General for examination where she may be found guilty of dereliction of duty or desertion with just cause and receive an immediate dishonorable discharge.

She may (or may not) have to spend time in custody/jail, but that is not grounds for a refugee claim.

Concepts are like tools. Sexual orientation is one such concept. It has a specific purpose for explaining individuals who view their sexual desires as necessarily problematic or beyond intelligent moral constraint. Not all people have a sexual orientation. It’s a concept that isn’t intended to simply explain preference, like, say, which flavour of ice cream do you like, but, rather offer up some “diagnosis” (the concept emerges from psychiatry) for why certain desires to do certain acts are seemingly irresistible. … It’s not exactly comfortable being so afflicted, which is why people still seek out psychiatric therapy for understanding some sexual orientation or another.

Whether or not Canada should comply with extradition depends on how much Ms. Smith did, before coming to Canada, to establish her level of personal danger; how her chain of command assessed her case.

Some things should be left to the discretion of commanding officers, commanding officers who take responsibility for their decisions. A risk assessment is necessary. Whether or not Ms. Smith can safely serve before being discharged, or should be discharged straight away, is of primary concern.

This is what Canada should expect in any extradition hearing. Ms. Smith is a self-identified “war resister” which also raises suspicion that she may have other motives for her claims of harassment.

I, too, think we should assume that law and order will be upheld in the U.S. (generally), but in this situation, we see that it hasn’t been. That is why I suggest we should protect his woman. If something nefarious were to be committed against Ms. Green by her fellow soldiers (or if there were to be malicious neglect of Ms. Green’s well being), causing her injury (or worse), justice brought upon the perpetrators wouldn’t absolve of us of our willful ignorance of her danger and our callous disregard for her well being.

I think the assumption has to be that law and order will be upheld in the US fighting ranks. Death threats, or any other crime committed against this woman should be prosecuted to the fullest extent.

it should be noted that the United States has a constitution that protects ALL of its citizens, regardless of the circumstances. If she is getting threats, there are a number of American agencies she can contact to help.

Savant, this isn’t true. The agency that was to help her was the U.S. Army. They decided that they’d rather wait until after she was sent to Afghanistan with a bunch of people that wanted her dead before they would look into it. This woman was afforded no suitable protection.

Furthermore, Obama is preparing to revoke “don’t ask, don’t tell” – which makes the entire debate moot. The armed forces now will have to deal with this on a wide scale, and so this one person will quickly become forgotten.

Obama says he is going to revoke Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, but that doesn’t really mean anything in this situation. She is still being put in unreasonable danger by the army. Nice rhetoric won’t save Ms. Green’s life.

Further, are we to decide that if someone can be quickly forgotten we need not worry about their lives?

Frankly, there should NEVER be anyone who is accepted as a ‘refugee’ from the United States since the U.S. is a country that rivals our own for democracy and legal protections. It’s a joke to suggest that anyone needs to be ‘protected’ from America.

I hope Canada is not the type of democracy that feels homosexuals are of less value and more disposable than heterosexuals.

Furthermore, Obama is preparing to revoke “don’t ask, don’t tell” – which makes the entire debate moot. The armed forces now will have to deal with this on a wide scale, and so this one person will quickly become forgotten.

Frankly, there should NEVER be anyone who is accepted as a ‘refugee’ from the United States since the U.S. is a country that rivals our own for democracy and legal protections. It’s a joke to suggest that anyone needs to be ‘protected’ from America.