Fantastic News: U.S. War Deserter Allowed to Stay in Canada
November 20, 2009 · By Jonathan McLeod
It’s not a final decision, but a federal court has ordered the Refugee Board re-consider the case of Skyler James (previously known as Pte. Bethany Smith). Ms. James is a U.S. war resister, who was to have been deployed to Afghanistan as a mechanic.
I won’t get into all the arguments for allowing Ms. James to remain in Canada (I previously wrote about her case here), but for those of you who have missed this story, Pte. Smith was serving at Fort Collins. A lesbian, she enlisted via the offensive and illiberal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) policy, and was outed by her fellow soldiers. Consequently, her life was threatened.
Under DADT, a soldier who is outed is to be granted a discharge. The U.S. army, needing more bodies for their various wars, decided that could wait until after her tour… after she was shipped to Afghanistan to serve with people who wanted her dead.
Until the United States repeals this sexuality-based caste system, Canada should welcome any deserters who were forced to flee after being outed. In the meantime, I’m happy Ms. James is safe in my hometown. I’m proud that my country is protecting her. It is now up to the Refugee Board to stand up against injustice.
By the way, Kyle at Vogue Republic presents a good argument against DADT here.
The problem with all this is that the proper forum for Pte. Bethany Smith is in the U.S. legal system. Granting refugee status to ANYONE from the United States makes a mockey of our immigration system.
Can you imagine if the U.S. granted refugee status to Canadians on the basis that they felt they would be ‘percecuted’ in Canada? If anything the legal system in the U.S. better protects its citizens than in Canada. What’s more Obama is in the process of doing away with DADT, which makes this entire arguement moot.
A refugee is a person who has a well-founded fear of being persecuted based on their beliefs, and their country will not protect them. The United States will protect its citizens from such persecution, which means this refugee claim will fail. The day we start approving refugee claims from the United States is the day we close the border.
I disagree with you. A deserter is a criminal under military law, so this person is a fugitive from justice, not a legitimate refugee. She should be extradited, not given refuge.
‘fraid I gotta agree with Aviator. Lesbian or not she enlisted knowing full well she could be deployed at some point. She should be extradited immediately.
I disagree with you. A deserter is a criminal under military law, so this person is a fugitive from justice, not a legitimate refugee. She should be extradited, not given refuge.
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And she will be (extradited). Can you imagine the American reaction if we started granting military deserters Canadian citizenship? The people who think this is a good idea are in deep denial; that South African guy we rejected recently as a ‘refugee’ claimant had a better case than this woman does…
I agree with both Aviator and Bob. She VOLUNTEERED to join the Army and was fully aware of al its policies and the fact she could be deployed anywhere in the world. She should have brought the whole thing to the attention of her chain of command and sorted it out that way.
She is not a refugees, but a fugitive from justice since she decided to desert.
A lesbian? Sure! let her stay.
I do not understand you guys.
we all know how to spell stupid.
She volunteered for the military,knowing full well how the military felt about gays and lesbians.By the same token the military needs to adhere to the constitution which forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation.Let her prove the discrimination and fear for her life in court.Thats what a lawyer would ask her.
Another example of our left-plunging CINO government appoiting far left-wing whack-job judges to the bench.
Why would any non-moronic judge allow this cowardly piece of terrorist hugging garbage to allow in this country?
Next these far-left, terrorist sympathizing, often affirmative action bimbo judges will be inviting Taliban terrorists to come to Canada.
It’s always an interesting exercise to apply a rhetoric filter to responses like Machiavelli’s – just remove the inflammatory vocabulary to see what actual thought. Surprising often, once you take away the polemic, there’s not much left. Here’s Mac’s, stripped down to its actual substance:
“,,,,,”.
balb,
It’s an anger vent. The point is not to deliver substance, but to blow off enough steam until the next thing he doesn’t agree comes along.
That’s part of the point. The other, I think, is to ensure that an otherwise calm discussion is amped up to levels of rage – which, of course, ensures that we’re not talking calmly about uncomfortable truths.
I wonder what the response would have been if the deserter had deserted because he/she did not believe Barack Obama was born in the United States?