It takes courage to say that you will not fight -- especially if you are a soldier. The courage demonstrated by war resisters over the last four years has been a critical part of efforts to end the war in Iraq. As more soldiers step forward for peace, the peace movement must step forward to support them.

Here is an incomplete list of war resisters' cases (please visit their websites for the latest information and details on how you can help):

Army medic Spc. Agustín Aguayo was released in May 2007 after serving seven months of an eight-month sentence after the Pentagon denied his application for discharge as a conscientious objector. Aguayo could have served up to seven years in jail for going AWOL to resist redeployment to Iraq. He is appealing that denial of conscientious objector status and the two felonies he now has on his record to the U.S. Supreme Court. Click here to find out how you can support Aguayo and his family.

Darrell Anderson was released from Fort Knox on October 6, 2006, after turning himself into military custody on Oct. 3. He was given an "other than honorable" discharge without facing court martial. This outcome is what encouraged Kyle Snyder to believe that he had secured a similar deal for a discharge without court martial. Darrell still suffers from PTSD and other health issues related to his service in Iraq. He needs and deserves VA benefits that his "other than honorable" discharge prevent him from obtaining.

Kevin Benderman served 13 months in an Army prison after being convicted of missing movement in July 2005. He was demoted from sergeant to private and lost all pay. He is appealing that conviction and requesting an honorable discharge. "Letters from Fort Lewis Brig," by Kevin Benderman with Monica Benderman, was released on October 1 by Lyons Press.

While stationed in Iraq, Ivan Brobeck was assigned to security at checkpoints in the city of Mahmudiyah and Fallujah. While in Iraq he witnessed the abuse of Iraqi detainees and the killing of civilians by the United States military. Brobeck completed his seven-month tour in Iraq with his unit and returned to the United States in October 2004. Upon returning from Iraq, he suffered symptoms of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and went UA (Unauthorized Absence) in March 2005. In April 2005 Ivan Brobeck fled to Canada to seek sanctuary. On Election Day 2006, Brobeck returned to the U.S. and turned himself in to the custody of the Marines. (See below for more information on war resisters in Canada and how to support them.) After serving three months, he was released from a military brig on Feb. 5, 2007, just days before his son was born; however, he is not permitted to leave the U.S. and return to Canada until the Marines officially discharge him. He is also fighting to upgrade his "bad conduct" discharge.

After being denied recognition as a conscientious objector, on July 11, 2007, U.S. Army Captain Peter D. Brown asked a federal court in Washington, DC, to order the Army to discharge him because he sincerely believes that Christian principles compel him not to kill or cause injury to others, even his enemies. Captain Brown was denied conscientious objector status despite the recommendations of the Army's Investigating Officer, an Army chaplain, and a retired senior Navy chaplain.

Ricky Clousing pled guilty to charges of going absent without leave on October 11, 2006, and was sentenced to three months in jail. He also received a reduction in rank, forfeited two-thirds of his pay while he was in prison, and will receive a bad conduct discharge. His plea allowed him to avoid a much harsher sentence for desertion. Clousing returned home on Dec. 23, 2006. He is available to speak to groups. For more information, contact Laurel Albina at (206) 419-3811.

Cliff Cornell, an Arkansas native, was stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia. He joined the Army with the promise from a military recruiter that he would receive a $9,000 sign-up bonus and job training. "Ninety per cent of what the recruiters tell you is a pack of lies," says Cornell. "Army recruitment techniques amount to entrapment, targeting young men from poor families." His unit was to be deployed to Iraq just after Christmas. On January 8, 2005, against the wishes of his family, Cornell arrived in Toronto seeking asylum. He faces charges of desertion and prison if he returns to the U.S., and his status in Canada is unclear.

Dan Felushko is a 23-year-old war resister seeking asylum in Canada. Felushko has dual citizenship in the U.S. and Canada, so he will be able to stay in Canada, but he faces arrest if he ever returns to the United States.

Patrick Hart fled to Toronto on August 21, 2005, after serving 9-1/2 years of active duty in the U.S. military. He served in Operation Iraqi Freedom from April 2003 to March 2004. "With an impending second deployment, young soldiers were asking me about the war. I didn't have answers, and I didn't want their blood on my hands," he says. In September 2005, Hart was joined in Toronto by his wife Jill and young son Rian. They are currently awaiting their hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB).

Jeremy Hinzman fled to Canada in January 2004, and has since been seeking refugee status, which was denied by Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board in March 2005. On March 31, 2006, the Federal Court (Canada) dismissed judicial review of the Board's decision, but granted Hinzman leave to appeal. In Nov. 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear the appeal for refugee status by Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. He faces arrest and court-martial if he is deported to or returns to the U.S.

Brandon Hughey fled his Army unit before it shipped out to Iraq in March 2003. It was, he says, his obligation to leave. He is now in Canada; his claim for refugee status was rejected in June 2005 and his the Supreme Court of Canada decline to hear his appeal in November 2007. He faces arrest and court-martial if he is deported to or returns to the U.S.

Spc. Eleonai "Eli" Israel re-enlisted after September 11, 2001, feeling that he "owed something more to [his] country after [his] years of training." After realizing "the carnage that has been brought on the Iraqi people" by the US occupation, Israel decided he could no longer participate in the War. He says, "The day I saw myself in the hateful eyes of a young Iraqi boy who stared at me was the day I realized I could no longer justify my role in the occupation." After telling his chain of command of his beliefs and his decision to file as a conscientious objector, he "was aggressively disarmed, confined, ... shut off from contacting anyone, including family or an attorney," and sent to Camp Arifjan in Kuwait to serve 30 days in a military prison. The military also typed up fabricated "counseling statements" to retroactively discredit his military record and demanded all of his online user names and passwords to try to find something to use to charge him with giving out classified information in order to discredit Israel. Although they could find nothing, Israel received an "other than honorable" discharge. After serving his 30 days, Israel returned to the US and began working with Courage to Resist and other organizations working to end the War in Iraq. He is also fighting for a discharge upgrade and to regain his veteran's benefits.

With few job options, at age 22, Ryan Johnson enlisted in the army in November 2003, and went to basic training in March 2004. He had been led to believe by a military recruiter that he would be given a non-combat job, and that he would receive $40,000 for college. He soon learned that these promises were untrue. Johnson crossed the border into Canada with his wife Jenna in June 2005. He faces arrest and court-martial if he ever returns to the U.S.

Joshua Key served eight months in Iraq before going AWOL. He arrived in Toronto in March 2005, with his wife Brandi and their four young children. Asked what led him to desert, he says: "The atrocities that were happening to the innocent people of Iraq. I didn't want to be part of it no more. I came home and I deserted." He faces arrest and court-martial if he ever returns to the U.S. Nonetheless, he was denied refugee status in Canada.

Robin Long, from Boise, Idaho, served two years as a tanker in the Army, at Fort Knox before he left and went to Canada in June 2005. "I still don't think that Bush has proven we have any reason to be over there, and I would be wrong to be a tool of destruction," he says. On Nov. 30, 2005, he applied for refugee status. On Oct. 1, 2007, he was arrested and detained in British Columbia. After public outcry, he was released following an immigration board hearing but faces a pre-removal risk assessment, which could lead to deportation at a later time. He faces arrest and court-martial if he ever returns to the U.S.

Christopher Scott Magaoay deserted the Marines in March 2006, after becoming troubled by instructions he received during training in preparation for deployment in Iraq. He says a senior officer told him not to take responsibility for any civilian deaths in Iraq, whether the Marines caused the deaths or not. He is now in Canada. Although he could gain Canadian citizenship through his wife, who is a Canada native, he wants to gain refugee status to make a statement against the war.

Kyle Snyder had been in Canada for over a year, but turned himself in at Fort Knox, thinking he had a deal for discharge from the army without having to face a court-martial. When he got to Fort Knox, the Army said he would have to rejoin his unit at Fort Leonard. Kyle went AWOL again and returned to Canada. Despite being illegally arrested on February 23, 2007, detained in British Columbia for 7 hours, and threatened with deportation at the request of the U.S. Army, Kyle is now free and his legal situation is arguably more solid than ever. He will be married to his companion, a Canadian.

Suzanne Swift refused redeployment to Iraq because she would have been forced to serve under the command of the same individuals who allowed her to be raped and sexually harassed during her first tour of duty. Suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, she went AWOL. Arrested by the Army, she was held at Fort Lewis, WA, pending investigation of her claims. The Army ultimately denied her allegations and subjected her to court-martial, sentencing her to 30 days in prison and stripping her of her rank. She is suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.  After serving her sentence, Swift put in for a different military career and was transferred to another base.  She will stay in the military until January of 2009.

Ehren Watada is facing up to six years in prison for refusing orders to go to Iraq and for speaking out against the war. A charge of "contempt for the President," added after a speech he gave at the Veterans For Peace convention in August 2006, was dropped following public outcry. On Feb. 7, 2007, Watada's first trial was declared a mistrial and halted over the defense's objection. An Army judge ruled on July 6, 2007, that trying Watada again will not violate his constitutional right not to be tried twice for the same charge and scheduled a second trial to begin on July 23, 2007, which was later postponed multiple times. On Nov. 8, a U.S. federal court granted a preliminary injunction in favor of Lt. Ehren Watada, preventing a second court-martial from proceeding. The Army had been proceeding with a second court-martial, even though Lt. Watada's appeal based on double jeopardy was still pending.

Mark Wilkerson turned himself in at Fort Hood, TX, on September 1, 2006, after spending a year and a half AWOL, following the denial of his application for conscientious objector status. On Feb. 22, 2007, he was sentenced to seven months in prison and a "bad conduct" discharge.

For information on other public war resisters, visit TomJoad.org.

More war resistance resources:
www.girights.objector.org
www.couragetoresist.org
www.ivaw.org
­www.centeronconscience.org
www.resisters.ca

War Resistance in Canada
In 2004, Jeremy Hinzman was denied conscientious objector status by the U.S. and went to Canada to seek refugee status. He was the first U.S. soldier to resist the Iraq war by going to Canada; there are now more than 20 service members who have applied for refugee status. According to War Resisters Support Campaign, at least 200 U.S. service people are currently in Canada, considering filing claims for refugee status, and an unknown number are AWOL in Canada while they decide what to do next. The Canadian immigration board has denied four cases for refugee status, and two cases have been denied on appeal in Canadian federal courts. Since WWII, Canada has been obligated under international law to accept refugees from illegal wars. There are many progressive Canadians and other war resisters from the current and past wars who are ready to help war resisters.

War Resisters Support Campaign provides support to U.S. war resisters in the following ways:

1. A place to live, food to eat, money, friends and emotional support. It takes almost 6 months to get a work permit, so war resisters have no way to work legally, to gain access to health care, or to secure permanent housing. Individuals offer short-term and long-term housing. Fundraisers are held to raise legal fees.

2. Legal support. Legal cases are difficult and long. There are many appeals, and so far, no one has yet to be successful in getting Canada to grant refugee status.

3. Working to change refugee laws to welcome and accept U.S. war resisters. A petition gathering effort has begun to change Canadian refugee laws, led by Quakers, Unitarians, and labor unions. War Resisters CA supports Canadian efforts to "hold US feet to the fire" on following international war laws and treaties.

For more information on war resisters in Canada and how to support them, visit: www.resisters.ca

Sources: Courage to Resist, Veterans For Peace, Tomjoad.org., War Resisters Support Campaign, Wikipedia, and a report compiled by Liz Rivera Goldstein.­