Canadian reservist says he quit over Afghan policy
Source: Reuters
By Allan Dowd VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct 18 (Reuters) - A Canadian military reservist who quit in opposition to Canada's growing involvement in the fighting in Afghanistan says the soldiers deserve a public debate on the country's policy there. Anti-war activists are hailing Francisco Juarez as the first war resister within Canada's military, and liken his stand to U.S. soldiers who have deserted in opposition to the Iraq War -- some of whom have sought refuge in Canada. Military officials deny there is dissension in the ranks, and say no soldiers have refused duty in Afghanistan, where growing casualties have made the mission increasingly controversial at home. Juarez, 35, said he had wanted to serve in Afghanistan, but grew disillusioned over changes in Canada's mission, which he believes is focused more on fighting the Taliban rather than rebuilding the country. Juarez quit his summer training to be an infantry officer in the Army reserve, which he had joined after serving in the Navy. He is awaiting final paperwork on his discharged from his reserve unit. "I began to see how (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper was changing the Canadian Forces and also changing the direction of the foreign mission," Juarez said in an interview on Wednesday. He believes the Conservative government has changed the focus of the mission -- initiated by the previous Liberal government in 2001 -- without adequate public debate. "The members of the Canadian military who are giving their lives unselfishly deserve that," he said. Canada has about 2,300 troops in Afghanistan, mostly in the southern region around Kandahar, where they have had repeated clashes with insurgents in recent months. More than 40 soldiers have died in the conflict. Canadian troops have been best known in recent decades for international peacekeeping missions, but anti-war activists say that policy was abandoned in Afghanistan and Canada is now too closely aligned with U.S. foreign policy. Juarez's decision has been likened to that of U.S. soldiers who have deserted in opposition to the war in Iraq. About two dozen are formally seeking refugee status in Canada although none has been successful so far. "Just as we support U.S. war resisters seeking sanctuary in Canada, we support Canadian soldiers and their families taking a courageous stand against the misguided and failing war in Afghanistan," Bob Ages of the War Resisters Support Campaign said in a statement. Officials said Juarez cannot be considered a war resister, because under Canadian military policy a reservist has to volunteer to be assigned to Afghanistan and he had not made a request. "We can't force reservists to deploy," said Commander Denise Lavoilette, a spokeswoman for the Department of National Defence. Juarez said he had not formally requested Afghan deployment, but had planned to when he joined the reserves. He said he quit before deployment because he could not order people to risk their lives in a mission he did not support. Lavoilette said regular troops are also screened before being sent to the conflict zone, and some are turned down for a variety of reasons. "We have not had any soldiers refuse to go," she said.
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