Deserters And Draft-Dodgers Flee Syria

New Syrian army recruits carry their plates as they march before heading for their Iftar (breaking fast) meals at a military training camp in Damascus, Syria June 26, 2016. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki/File Photo

Reuters: Seeing No Future, Deserters And Draft-Dodgers Flee Syria

Nasser lifts another cigarette to his mouth with a scarred left hand, chain smoking and watching action films on a grainy TV at his friend's flat in a Beirut suburb. Since deserting President Bashar al-Assad's army he mostly avoids venturing outdoors.

Shrapnel from a rebel shell ripped into his knuckles when he was serving on a front line of the Syrian conflict in Mouadamiya near Damascus. The blast means his vision is impaired at night, the light-framed 24-year-old said.

"When it's dark I can't see much from far away. I wouldn't know if there was a checkpoint at the end of the road."

He limits his movements to a few hundred yards from this temporary accommodation, fearing arrest for squatting in Lebanon illegally. Nasser used an alias for fear of identification by Lebanese or Syrian authorities.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: The focus on this story is on the Syrian military, but I suspect that on the rebel side the numbers are the same.

These Are The Reasons Why Thousands Of Soldiers Have Deserted The Syrian Military

Syrian civilians who volunteered to join local Self Protection Units to protect their neighborhoods alongside the Syrian army attend training near a picture of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his father, the late former president Hafez al-Assad, near Damascus on Dec. 5. (Omar Sanadiki/Reuters)

Washington Post: The Syrian military has thousands of deserters. New research tells us why they left

The recent series of attacks by the Islamic State in the Sinai, Beirut and Paris could well be a game changer in how the international community deals with the Syrian conflict. And yet, the Islamic State and other extremist groups are only one side of a more complex conflict pattern in the Syrian civil war. The regime of Bashar al-Assad is blamed not only for indiscriminate repression of an initially Arab-Spring-like popular uprising, but also for the vast majority of casualties, both among civilian and opposition fighters. That the regime could rely on loyal security security forces to confront the uprising and continues to do so in the context of the ongoing civil war thus significantly shaped the course of the crisis. Yet loyalty and disloyalty in the Syrian military remain poorly understood.

WNU Editor: Why do Syrian soldiers desert .... no surprises in this report .... we have covered it more than once in this blog. But it is a good summary on why soldiers desert the Syrian military .... and why rebel groups like the Islamic State are able to recruit Syrian fighters to their cause.

After 28 Years, U.S. Air Force Deserter Comes Out

David Hemler. Photo from Special Investigations, US Air Force

U.S. Deserter In Sweden Steps Forward After 28 Years -- Reuters

A U.S. Air Force deserter who has lived secretly in Sweden since 1984 has revealed his identity and contacted his family in the United States who were overwhelmed to hear he was still alive, a Swedish newspaper reported at the weekend.

Dagens Nyheter said David Hemler had deserted aged 21 while serving at a U.S. Air Force base in Germany, after getting involved with a pacifist church and becoming disillusioned with the policies of former President Ronald Reagan.

Read more ....

My Comment: While reading this story I was telling myself .... after living for 28 years under an assume name .... aside from a file in the U.S. Air Force .... who would really care. But I also know that in the mind of a military deserter .... they will always be afraid. (I know someone who deserted the Soviet Army right after the Second World War .... is still alive in Canada .... and is still fearful of returning back to Russia for a visit even though he is 90 years old and the war ended 67 years ago).

But what irked me about this article was the last sentence ....

.... "My dream scenario is that the responsible authorities realize I have already been punished quite severely for my actions ... I have been living 28 years in lies," Hemler said.

In short .... he is the victim even though it was his decision to desert.

Sheeeesssshhhhhh ....

The ones who have really suffered are the family members who were abandoned by him with no news or information.

If Afghans Are Not Willing To Fight For Their Country .... Why Should We?

FILE: Air traffic controllers from the 37th Operations Support Squadron prepare to navigate F-16 Falcons down the runway on Lackland Air Force Base. U.S. Air Force

EXCLUSIVE: 10 of 17 Afghans Who Deserted U.S. Air Force Base Remain Missing -- FOX News

Ten of 17 Afghan military deserters who walked away from a training program on a U.S. Air Force base in Texas remain at large, sources close to the situation told Fox News on Friday, and seven of the men have been accounted for.

The 17 deserters went AWOL from Lackland Air Force Base, where foreign military officers who are training to become pilots are taught English, according to a "Be-on-the-Lookout" (BOLO) bulletin issued on Wednesday.

Read more ....

My Comment: I am old enough to remember the argument that anti-war protesters were using during the Vietnam war .... why should GIs fight for a country when many young South Vietnamese men had no interest to get involved.

It is obvious that many in Afghanistan are of the same mindset .... and so the question is legitimate .... if so many Afghan officers and military men are not interested in fighting for their country .... why should we?

Afghan War Unlawful, Says 'deserter'

Lance Corporal Joe Glenton went absent without leave from the Royal Logistics Corps for two years and six days. AFP / GETTY

From the Independent:

A soldier facing court martial over his refusal to serve in Afghanistan is expected to claim in his defence that the war is unlawful.

Lance Corporal Joe Glenton, who appeared in court for a preliminary hearing into his case yesterday, maintains that British soldiers are dying in the interest of American foreign policy and should be brought home.

L/Cpl Glenton, 27, of the Royal Logistic Corps, did not enter a formal plea during proceedings in Wiltshire yesterday, where he was charged with desertion. He had been active in a campaign organised by the Stop the War Coalition and delivered a protest letter to Downing Street. The soldier's counsel, Hugh O'Donoghue, indicated that his client would deny the charge and may call an expert witness to give evidence on the lawfulness of the war.

Read more ....

My Comment: If there ever was a media stunt .... this is it. He is not going to win his case, my bet is that he will probably kicked out of the army (dishonorably) asap.

But antiwar sentiment is increasing in the U.K., and this case will be used as a symbol for those who are opposed to the war in Afghanistan.

U.S. Deserter 'Having Time of My Life' as He Seeks Asylum in Germany

Photo: U.S. Army deserter André Shepherd, left, is seeking asylum in Germany with the help of peace activist Ulli Thiel, right. His hearing is Wednesday. Mike Esterl/ The Wall Street Journal

From The Wall Street Journal:

KARLSRUHE, Germany -- Germany has been very good to Spec. André L. Shepherd since he deserted the U.S. Army.

The 31-year-old former mechanic of the 601st Aviation Support Battalion is enjoying perks that eluded him back home in Ohio: a bed, a bank account, a cellphone and friends.

Best of all from his standpoint, he isn't back in Iraq.

"I'm having the time of my life," says Mr. Shepherd, the only American bunking at a refugee-processing center in southern Germany.

The U.S. deserter enters uncharted legal territory on Wednesday, when Germany begins weighing his request for political asylum. The case will put to the test a 2004 European Union directive requiring member countries to grant asylum to soldiers protesting unlawful wars.

Read more ....

My Comment: Thousands of American servicemen killed and injured fighting against the worse of the worse human beings on the planet .... Al Qaeda, Bathists, Taliban ..... and this "soldier" is having the time of his life at the expense of the public dole.

The U.S. military is a volunteer organization. Signing up and then making excuses on why he does not want to respect his agreement with the U.S. Army is silly at best, pretty stupid and irresponsible at the worse.

If the Germans want to have him .... I say good riddance.