Opinion - Whatcom View

POSTED: Saturday, Jun. 13, 2009

Sanctuary city Pro: Support for troops should mean all of them

There is no denying it: Bellingham is a city of peace.

In 2006, local government called for the troops to come home from Iraq. The citizenry officially withdrew its support of the military occupation. Since then, many troops have come home. Tragically, 4,311 returned home shrouded, and some took their own lives. The majority came home scarred beyond measure, the horrors of war branded into their skin and minds irrevocably. Some, not wanting to participate in what they believed to be war crimes, refused orders to deploy. Others decided not to go back to Iraq for a second or third tour.

These troops deserve our support: all of them.

Given Bellingham's reputation, it is an especially stinging affront that four AWOL soldiers of conscience have been housed in our jail. Most of us in this city consider people like Robin Long and Cliff Cornell heroes for their refusal to bear arms and kill.

Heroes do not belong in jail, especially our jail.

Conscientious Objectors sacrifice their freedom. They become stateless refugees and are criminalized for their refusal to kill. Many go through the costly legal process of seeking asylum in Canada . They are oftentimes unable to get jobs, go to school, or see their families. Many served in Iraq and were court-martialed and imprisoned as a result of their decisions.

Being afraid for one's life and the lives of one's comrades in combat is natural. Yet this is not the kind of fear that compels conscientious objection to war. Iraq veteran Camilo Mejia writes: "There was the fear of losing my soul in the process of saving my body ... I was afraid of waking up one morning to realize my humanity had abandoned me."

Mejia spent eight months in jail. "Behind these bars I sit a free man because I listened to a higher power, the voice of my conscience."

Robin Long and Cliff Cornell, who were apprehended at the border and brought to the Whatcom County Jail, are now serving sentences of 15 and 12 months respectively. Although not sentenced to prison, Iraq veteran Steven Casey writes, "Jail is not something you want to have on your record, but neither is unjustified murder. I would rather go to jail and not kill anyone than to go over there and have a chance to kill an innocent person again. I've been to war. I'm done."

Opponents of war resistance often use combat medals as a yardstick for honor. In this case, let's talk about Darrell Anderson who went AWOL after being awarded a Purple Heart for his service in Iraq . His unit's rules of engagement were so loose he was told that if fired upon in a public place to "just kill everyone there."

This disregard for human life was unacceptable to Darrell, so he left.

For soldiers, the choice to participate in violence is one that is made and re-made every day. Those who face such decisions deserve our respect, our compassion, and the efforts of our protection. We should not discriminate among which troops to support and which ones to abandon.

Christianity, alongside other religious traditions, asserts primacy of conscience as a God-given directive when deciding on matters of moral duty. The Geneva Conventions proclaim the citizen's responsibility to oppose that which he or she determines to be morally fraudulent.

Although it is oftentimes not easy, it is honorable to follow one's conscience. The lives of history's most heroic men and women affirm this.

This is what the Sanctuary City Ordinance is about.

If Bellingham is not in support of the Iraq War, as it has publicly stated, then it should not be using local tax dollars to subsidize it. The ordinance is not about adjudication. The Sanctuary City Movement, a broad coalition started by Iraq War veterans and students at Western Washington University, is not asking police to break the law.

As it stands, law enforcement is under no obligation to report AWOL soldiers to the military. We are asking our city to abstain from doing the military's job. These individuals have broken no law. Our local resources should not be spent on their apprehension and detention.

Will Bellingham back-up its stance and support those who are suffering from the wounds of war and the trials of conscience?

War robs people of their dignity and humanity, its violence is irredeemable. I do not blame anyone for turning away from it.

Marie Marchand is executive director of the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center.