Wasn’t non-fiction, either. But the military doesn’t have a reputation of willingly discharging those who decide it’s not for them. Instead, they try to beat them into submission, and I suggested that fictitious story as an illustration.
Canada doesn’t, but that doesn’t stop people from trying.
During the Vietnam War, Canada got a lot of draft-dodgers from the US, but it wasn’t a case of asylum. Our extradition treaty with the US didn’t cover draft-dodgers, because extradition is usually based on the principle of double criminality - the host country normally will only extradite to the requesting country if the alleged offence is also an offence in the host country.
Since Canada doesn’t have a draft, there was no Canadian equivalent to the offence of avoiding the draft that most of the Vietnam draft-dodgers were alleged to have committed, so they weren’t subject to the extradition treaty.
The situation is different for those serving in the US military who desert. Canada has that offence, so that is covered by the extradition treaty, and the US could apply to extradite.
See Unca Cec’s column: Could U.S. draft evaders be extradited from Canada now? (Note that it’s a very old column, probably from the 80s, based on the reference to the Canadian economy in the 70s, but it’s still accurate on the legal situation.)
Even simpler than extradition, the Canadian government can institute deportation proceedings against them, since they normally don’t have the proper immigration status under Canadian law.
That’s why the current crop of conscientious objectors who have deserted from the US military and come to Canada are having troubles staying - they can be extradited and/or deported. So they’ve been applying for refugee status - without success, as discussed in the older thread I linked to: Canadian Supremes: AWOL U.S. soldiers are not refugees
So these poor deluded innocents who get conned by the nasty recruiters,they are adults right?
Supposedly with an adults maturity and intelligence?
And they watch T.V. news,listen to the radio AND read newspapers but still they think that if they join the Army that they are’nt going to be required to fight or go to Afghan and Iraq?
And I wouldn’t be stunned with amazement if they’d seen one or two war movies in the past and who knows maybe even some documentaries on the subject?
No doubt they also think that they wont have to wear uniforms or do fitness or drill.
Or maybe once they’re out there they discover that they are a little bit too cowardly to risk their necks.
The military does have a reputation for willingly discharging those it decides is not for them. That’s why there’s General Discharges, Discharge Under Other than Honorable circumstances, and Bad Conduct Discharges. I have worked on several boards and processes that recommended General Discharges, one including a ‘Failure to Adapt’ clause for an Airman Basic who just didn’t quite get the drift of military life (repeatedly late to work, couldn’t show proficiency in just about anything, allegations of domestic violence, etc). I don’t know what you mean by “beat them into submission”, nor do I know where you get your misconceptions from.
Regarding your comment about Army Newswatch, you tell that anecdote like it’s completely onesided, as if they’re artificially inflating the reconstruction efforts. Yes, combat is taking place, but I think you far underestimate the volume of work and the support organizations that are doing the exact same medical, humanitarian, and construction missions you bemoan as ‘purely propaganda’.
Tripler
Been there, done that (but I bemoaned the lack of an occasional beer).
They most certainly do let people out during basic training all the time because the military wasn’t for them. I witnessed it countless times during boot camp and then again at OTS twice.
I want to say that if you get out during your first 6 months of service it is as though you were never in. I’ll have to research this a bit but I know, at least in the AF, if you get out before some cutoff time period you will have no record of ever having been in the military except in certain systems.
Hang on folks. We’re missing one key number here; viz., what was the desertion rate before we took it upon ourselves to make the world safe for high-rise buildings?
Five thousand per year doesn’t strike me as a terribly big number. If the American Armed Forces totals, say, 500,000 troops, that’s just one percent per year.
Anyone have some hard numbers? (I wonder if the DoD website has a suitable FAQ?)
1% a year in a volunteer army seems huge to me (though I think the armed forces is larger then 500k), YMMV of course. In anycase, the Army Times article says that it’s the highest rate since 2001 (when I presume a bunch of folks realized around September they’d be in combat next year and walked off) and up 40% from last year.
Somehow, I doubt that ANY recruit has ever watched Army Newswatch. I could be wrong though.
also, your last paragraph is quite a statement: “If the only views seen.”
Yes, If American Idol were the only show seen, people would think that all of the people that control your life are an Englishman in a black T shirt, a hot babe that ascts drunk every now and then, and a black man who has a weight problem. But, neither of them are ‘the only views seen.’
Given how many people I’ve known who wanted to major in biology or go to veterinary or medical school until they found out blood was involved… yeah, the amount of ~18yo people who live in a pretty dimension all of their own is quite high.
And yeah, the folks who wanted to be biologists because “animals are so pretty!” until they had to cut open an earthworm had thought biology was about feeding some species of rabbits which doesn’t reproduce like rabbits and doesn’t try to bite your fingers mistaking them for carrots.
You might be thinking of Ehren Watada, but if that’s who you have in mind, you should be advised that your facts are a little fuzzy. If you’re thinking of something else, then never mind.
Hrm. Some other vocations you might accuse of offering propaganda would include:
Nursing-helping others is emphasized over dealing with feces, vomit, death, and the potential for a needle stick carrying a bloodborne pathogen.
Law Enforcement-protect and serve is emphasized over wrestling with drunks, people high on drugs, and the friendly folks who will gladly shoot you merely because you’re wearing a badge.
Firefighting-more protect and serve with no mention of the abandoned houses set afire by people who just might have removed the lumber from the basement stairs for firewood, or the motel room fire that turns out to be a toxic and potentially explosive meth cook.
Most jobs have a downside that isn’t spoken of in newspaper ads or job fairs. Those who fail to recognize this are incredibly naive or foolish.
