Canada court: AWOL U.S. soldiers not refugees

Move to mobilize popular support
"We're disappointed about the decision (the Supreme Court) made, but I don’t think it’s the whole of Canada speaking," said Lee Zaslofsky of the Campaign.

The activists are banking on popular support for the soldiers and among opposition party parliamentarians, in the face of a harder line taken by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who is seen as a close ally of the Bush administration.

Zaslofsky said two opposition parties have expressed clear support for the war resisters and they are hopeful the Liberal party — the party of Trudeau — will take a similar position.

"What we need is for the (Liberal) party as a whole to take a stance on this," said Zaslofsky. "Together (the three parties) have a majority, and if they act together they can put something through the House of Commons."

In June, a poll in Ontario found that 64.6 percent of 605 respondents said U.S. soldiers should be allowed to settle in Canada, while 27.2 percent favored sending them home. The remainder of those surveyed said they were unsure or declined to answer the question.

More than 3,300 deserted last year
Today, the majority of U.S. military deserters are from the Army, according to statistics obtained by the Associated Press through a Freedom of Information Act request. In 2006, 3,301 soldiers deserted from the Army, compared to 2,659 in 2005, and 2,450 in 2004, it reported.

Under military law, desertion during war time is a crime punishable by death. In practice, though, a small percentage of deserters are court-martialed and sentenced to serve time in prison. Most are dishonorably discharged and leave the military without benefits and with a black mark on their record.

"If a service member were returned and apprehended by federal authorities, the person would then be turned over to the respective service for further action," said Defense Department public affairs officer Jonathan Withington. He referred other questions about the Canada-based U.S. deserters to the Department of Justice.

For Brad McCall, a 20-year-old American soldier who applied for refugee status after arriving in Canada in September, Thursday's rejection was a surprise and a blow. Though his own case and others technically remain in play, he sees grim writing on the wall. He's already looking into other options and possible destinations.

"If I was talking to a soldier considering Canada right now, I would tell him to research every other available place to go … that would accept him as a war resister, because it’s still not safe enough here," McCall told msnbc.com, speaking from Vancouver where he is staying with sympathizers. "The Canadian government is obviously not on our side."

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