Michelle Malkin reports on the activities of Jeremy Hinzman, a deserter who ran to Canada rather than fulfill his obligation to the Army. Already a darling of the anti-war Left, Hinzman apparently wants to crank up a career in politics, John Kerry style, by reviling his former comrades of the 82nd Airborne (the ones who didn't run squealing into the Great White North) as war criminals:

Hinzman and his lawyer plan to argue to Canadian immigration officials that American soldiers are guilty of war crimes and that forcing Hinzman to fight in Iraq would have likely made him a war criminal. Among the witnesses testifying on Hinzman's behalf is former U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Jimmy Massey, the Winter Soldier of the 21st century, who claims his platoon killed “a bunch of innocent civilians.” Massey has been making the rounds in the French media and other America-hating swamps.

Beautiful, isn't it? At least Kerry made it to Vietnam, somewhat briefly, before returning to smear his fellow sailors and officers as murderers and criminals. Hinzman served a tour in Afghanistan, only after being denied conscientious-objector status, and bugged out before the Army deployed him to Iraq. The Canadians embraced him as a hero, a refugee from the oppressive and warmongering Bush administration.

However, as Malkin points out, the conscientious-objector status was designed for draftees, not those who enlist of their own free will. Its implementation recognized that the involuntary nature of the draft swept into uniform a number of people who truly opposed military action of any kind, regardless of provocation or circumstance. Those with CO status received clerical, stateside postings instead of combat assignments.

Hinzman did not get impressed into service; he joined the Army of his own free will, fully knowing that war always remained a possibility. As Malkin says, he "happily cashed in his Army paychecks" until that possibility became a certainty with the 9/11 attacks. He tried to argue that he opposed the Iraq war for reasons of conscience, but that's not the way CO status works -- and the voluntary enlistment makes that argument moot.

It boils down to this: Hinzman gladly took the money and benefits that the Army offered until such time as we needed him. When that time came, Hinzman wants us to believe, he suddenly discovered his inner pacifist. And when that ploy failed, he settled on crapping all over the rest of the men and women serving in our armed forces as a strategy to avoid his freely-made obligations.

In other words, Hinzman is a disgusting coward, a low-life who should be serving a long stretch in Leavenworth for his desertion during wartime. His absence could easily have cost lives in Iraq, as the 82nd Airborne (like all military units) trains as a group, with each member having their own specific responsibilities. Losing a good soldier because of operational degradation due to Hinzman's cowardice would amount to the bitterest irony I know.

Canada should expel Hinzman immediately. If not -- if Canada truly wants to stand as a beacon for the craven and unfaithful -- then we should rethink our border and trade policy with our northern neighbors.

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» Jeremy Hinzman You Are Simply A Coward, Nothing More, Nothing Less from Hyscience
Talking about his politics, his opinion, his legal issues, these things are of little importance in the overall scheme of things. Jeremy Hinzman is a coward, nothing more, nothing less. [Read More]

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Meet our future U. S. Senator and Presidential candidate former staff sergeant Jimmy Massey. Link via Drudge. A former United States marine told a refugee hearing for an American war dodger Tuesday that trigger-happy U.S. soldiers in Iraq routinely [Read More]

Tracked on December 8, 2004 11:16 AM