Feb 05 2009
Germany Hears Asylum Case of U.S. Army Deserter
Should U.S. military deserters be given asylum by foreign governments because of the war in Iraq? The German government is about to answer that question.
According to the New York Times, 31-year-old U.S. Army Spc. Andre Shepherd “made his case to the German government Wednesday that he should be given asylum because of his opposition to that war.”
Shepherd, who served a six-month tour in Iraq, went AWOL in April 2007 shortly after returning to his unit’s base near
Katterbach, Germany.
The American soldier says he decided to go to Splitsville, Germany, “because he didn’t want to return to an illegal conflict.”
”We were completely lied to,” he said of his fellow soldiers in the Army’s 12th Combat Aviation Brigade.
“Shepherd was among 71 Army soldiers to desert European bases in 2008, but he is the first known to have sought asylum in Germany,” reports the New York Times. “His success could open a new door for soldiers looking to escape the military, his supporters say. But rejection could find him handed over to military authorities, or deported to the U.S.”
”Since we’re in uncharted waters and the opponent is the United States of America, anything can happen,” said Shepherd, who hails from Cleveland, Ohio.
The American soldier made his case to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees in Karlsruhe at a closed-door hearing, which lasted nine hours. He related his personal story through a translator.
”I think it was well received,” Shepherd said when the hearing was completed. ”Now it’s up to them to make this decision.”
The migration office is expected to carry out its own investigation into the matter – a process that “will take months.”
According to Shepherd, the German government should give him asylum “because of the country’s vocal opposition to the conflict in Iraq both during and after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.”
Note: Although some of my younger readers may find this impossible to believe, there was actually a time when Germany was the last place American soldiers wanted to be.
“there was actually a time when Germany was the last place American soldiers wanted to be.”
poetically ironic if you ask me.