U.S. War Resister from Vancouver goes AWOL again
Last Updated: Thursday, November 2, 2006 | 8:36 AM PT
CBC News
An American soldier who deserted the army for a life in Vancouver has gone into hiding in the United States, after an apparent deal to grant him a quick discharge went sour.
"Just don't come down. Don't trust it.
... if they're doing this on a case-by-case basis,
like they said, then it's not worth it."
Last week, he left Vancouver to turn himself in at Fort Knox, Ky. He was under the impression he had a deal that would see him quickly discharged with no jail time.
But he told CBC News that upon his arrival in Kentucky, he was told to rejoin his army unit in Missouri.
"All of a sudden, the people that had made the deal with us aren't available, which is weird, because a United States soldier doesn't just come down from Canada every single day," he said.
Snyder refused to report to his unit and said he is now in hiding in Kentucky.
He said if the matter isn't resolved soon, he'll return to Canada and apply for refugee status again.
Snyder also said he wants to warn other U.S. deserters to stay in Canada.
"Just don't come down. Don't trust it. I mean, if they're doing this on a case-by-case basis, like they said, then it's not worth it."
U.S. military officials could not be reached for comment on the case.
Snyder said if the matter isn't resolved soon, he'll return to Canada and apply for refugee status again.
Snyder also said he wants to warn other U.S. deserters to stay in Canada.
"Just don't come down. Don't trust it. I mean, if they're doing this on a case-by-case basis, like they said, then it's not worth it."
U.S. military officials could not be reached for comment on the case.
A n Army soldier who fled to Canada rather than return to his unit at Fort Leonard Wood and go back to Iraq has disappeared again, this time just a day after surrendering to the military.
Pvt. Kyle Snyder, 23, of Colorado Springs, Colo., told The Associated Press he was supposed to return by bus to the Missouri Army post from Louisville, Ky., on Tuesday but didn’t go. He said he went AWOL after Fort Knox officials told him he would be sent back to his unit, the 94th Engineer Battalion.
Snyder returned to the United States on Saturday, after his lawyer said he had reached a deal for Snyder to receive an other-than-honorable discharge. Being sent back to his unit wasn’t part of the deal, according to attorney James Fennerty.
“I came back in good faith,” Snyder said Wednesday by phone. “I put my trust in them one more time. Why should I put my trust in them again when I can just go back to Canada?”
He did not disclose his location.
Messages seeking comment were left with Gini Sinclair, a Fort Knox spokeswoman, but were not immediately returned Wednesday night.
Snyder, a former combat engineer, left the United States in April 2005 while on leave to avoid a second tour in Iraq. He said he worked as a welder and at a children’s health clinic in Canada.
Snyder has said he was put on patrol when sent to Iraq in 2004, which he said he was not trained to do, and that he began to turn against the war when he saw an innocent Iraqi man killed by American gunfire.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2006/11/02/bc-deserter.html
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