Supporting Troops .... Who Desert

I guess we'll have to revise our opinion of Cindy Sheehan. She supports the troops alright, just as long as they're deserters or otherwise seek to leave the US because they no longer want to be constrained by the US Armed Forces and the terms of their service.

About 20 former U.S. soldiers, referred to as war resisters, have applied for refugee status in Canada. Organizers estimated there may be as many as 200 soldiers in the country who have not yet sought formal protection.

"They say we're traitors, we're deserters," said former Marine Chris Magaoay, 20, of the Hawaiian island of Maui. "No, I'm a Marine and I stand up for what I believe in, and I believe the Constitution of the United States of America is being pushed aside as a scrap piece of paper."

The soldiers thanked Canadians for their hospitality and were cheered by about 100 in an audience that included Iraq veterans opposed to the war and Vietnam-era resisters who sought refuge in Canada decades earlier.

"I know that their choice has been difficult but I know that they made the right choice," said Bruce Beyer, who spent five years in Canada as a draft resister during Vietnam.

"I know that they miss their family and their friends that they're cut off from," Beyer said. "But I know that you Canadians have stepped up and stood behind them and I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Sheehan, who energized the anti-war movement last summer with her monthlong protest outside President Bush's Texas ranch, said she has spent time with many of the resisters.

"They're moral human beings who don't want to go to Iraq and kill innocent people to line the pockets of George Bush and the war machine," she said.

So, we know she supports as many as 200 soldiers - those who have refused to serve.

UPDATE:
Charles at LGF notes the following:

“Fleeing the US military.” Of course, there’s no draft in the US, so these people are “fleeing” the US military they volunteered for.

Did some of these people not realize that by volunteering for military service that they could be sent into combat somewhere around the world? Did they not know that those who sent them into combat might have a different take on the world than they do - based on having more information at their disposal than they do?

There are a couple of pieces of information that are lacking in the coverage - how many soldiers and marines go AWOL or otherwise desert in any given year and whether the current figures deviate from the averages.