One day after the American death toll in Iraq reached 2,000, Darrell Anderson, a decorated combat veteran of the US military, spoke at McGill about his decision to flee to Canada rather than face a second deployment overseas.
The 23-year-old from Lexington, Kentucky joined the US military in 2003 to earn money to pay for his education. Two months later the war in Iraq broke out, and Anderson served for seven months in downtown Baghdad. He was awarded the Purple Heart after being wounded by a roadside bomb.
In his speech at Thomson House, Anderson explained his dilemma.
"I can't go back to Iraq, but I can't sit in prison for five years," he said.
Anderson described the conditions he witnessed upon arrival in Iraq and the interactions he had with civilians.
"The people you're supposed to be freeing are the people you're fighting," he said. "I talked to Iraqis and they told me, 'This was a beautiful place before you came. Now, how I remember the days of Saddam.'"
Anderson crossed the border in January, disregarding orders to report back to his unit, the 23rd Field Artillery Division. He has applied for refugee status in Canada on the basis that the war is illegal and awaits the decision of the Immigration and Refugee Board. If his claim is rejected, he could be deported back to the US.
The War Resisters Support Campaign is a grassroots movement that is lobbying the government to support Anderson and other soldiers like him who have decided to go AWOL. Chris Brown, a member of the campaign, estimates that about 15 soldiers are officially in Canada and says many more may be living underground. He hopes the Martin government will pass legislation along the same lines as what former prime minister Pierre Trudeau did during the Vietnam War, condemning the conflict and allowing US military deserters to become immigrants.
"One of the most critical things we can do is to open the Canadian border and let disgruntled soldiers come in," Brown said. "Let [US President] George Bush send his two daughters to fight instead."
In a blow to the War Resisters, an IRB panel refused to consider the legality of the war in the claim of another deserter, Jeremy Hinzman, and rejected his application for asylum in late 2004. Hinzman is currently appealing the ruling in federal court.
Meanwhile, Anderson is residing in Toronto and trying to raise awareness about the war in Iraq and his application to the IRB.
"I could go underground, but then I wouldn't be doing anything to stop the war," he said. "I know how many innocent people I saw die in the seven months I was there."
