*crosspost because I think it's interesting.*

Draft-dodger monument ignites rage among vets
Americans beg Bush to oppose tribute to 'cowards' who fled

By Joe Kovacs
? 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

Plans to build a memorial to draft-dodgers from the Vietnam War is sparking outrage from American veterans, and President Bush is being urged to oppose the project.

A private Canadian group is sponsoring the bronze monument, which is slated for display in Nelson, British Columbia, in the summer of 2006.

"This will mark the courageous legacy of Vietnam War resisters and the Canadians who helped them resettle in this country during that tumultuous era," said Isaac Romano, director of Our Way Home.

Now, the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is hoping President Bush will get involved and express displeasure to Canadian officials.

"We urge the President and Congress to do whatever is necessary to communicate to the Canadian government that this exercise of free expression is an absolute slap in the face to every man and woman who ever served in uniform ... both in our military and theirs," said John Furgess, the national commander of the VFW.

He says the VFW fully supports freedom of expression and the arts, "But to honor draft-dodgers, deserters, people who brought grief to the families they left behind and anguish to those American men who took their place, is an abomination. You can say what you want about the war ? we all did and some still do ? but do not dishonor the warrior by memorializing cowards."

Dennis Klein, a sculptor and teacher at Kootenay School of the Arts, and artist Naomi Lewis reportedly have been selected to design and construct the monument, depicting Canadians embracing the hands of American war opponents.

Ordinary citizens are also blasting the project, posting comments on the city of Nelson's community bulletin board.

"I will make sure I don't spend another cent in Canada. Why don't you chai-sipping libs do something constructive? Pathetic." (John Cislo, Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.)

"This disrespects all of those who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It dishonors the service of all American veterans and will bring shame upon your community. This reopens old wounds that will probably never heal. I have traveled to British Columbia. I have a daughter who lives in Edmonton, Alberta. Be assured that if your community builds this disgraceful monument, I will never again travel to B.C., your city, and most likely your country." (William P. Schettino, Jr., Austin, Texas)
Some remain supportive of the idea.

"My view of the whole event/monument was not so much to honor the war resisters, rather to honor the Canadians for lending a helping hand during a time of an illegal, immoral and undeclared war. The resisters do not need honoring any more then the vets need honoring. I thought the Canadian [government] did the right thing in dealing with those 125,000 leaving the U.S. at that time. This opportunity for Canada to do the right thing could well be just a few years away again." (Michael Donner, Canada)

Organizers from Our Way Home say despite the hot rhetoric, they're not backing away from their plans, which also include a concert and a host of speeches by members of the anti-war movement.

It's been estimated some 125,000 Americans fled to Canada during the Vietnam War to avoid the U.S. draft. About half returned to the U.S. when President Jimmy Carter granted them amnesty in 1977.

Joe Kovacs is executive news editor for WorldNetDaily.com.

from here

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response:

Cowards, eh?

By PETER PRONTZOS
Globe and Mail Update

When you have no reasonable arguments to make, throw insults.

That's what some Americans, including the "national commander" of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, have done regarding the plan by residents of Nelson, B.C., to build a monument to the 125,000 men and women who escaped from the United States rather than participate in its invasion of Vietnam.

These Americans call such war resisters "cowards." Canada is a "country of cowards," according to one American, and "Yanks" like him are "smarter than you, tougher than you, and we will kick your inbred ass."

Of course, not all Americans share this particular view. A woman from Maryland has written that parents in the United States "bless" Canada, the "land of the truly free." In 1967, Noam Chomsky dedicated his first book to those "brave young men who refuse to serve in a criminal war." When Michael Moore spoke in Vancouver in 2002, his suggestion that a statue should be put up for war resisters received thunderous applause from the audience.

But some U.S. veterans are asking President George W. Bush to "communicate" with Prime Minister Paul Martin in hopes that the proposed monument is scrapped.

This issue is important, not only in its own right, but primarily because the United States is currently fighting a war in Iraq, and history is repeating itself.

In Vietnam, then-president Lyndon Johnson fabricated a phony attack on American destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin as his excuse to escalate the war and bomb North Vietnam in 1964. Although the United States lost the military conflict, more than three million Indochinese were killed, with more than 58,000 Americans dead or missing.

By the standards established by the United States and its allies after the Second World War at Nuremburg and in the UN Charter, Mr. Johnson and his advisers would be considered war criminals.

As everyone now knows, the current Bush administration made two serious allegations as their excuse to begin what UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called an "illegal" war: that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and that ties existed between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.

This act of "preventive" war is a violation of international law, and George Bush, Vice-President Dick Cheney, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and others in that circle may also be considered war criminals.

There is another ominous parallel between the attacks on Vietnam and Iraq. Retired U.S. general William Odom, former head of the National Security Agency, has said that the war in Iraq "is far graver than Vietnam," and that it is "achieving bin Laden's ends." The war has been a boon to fanatics who use it to recruit more terrorists. Richard Clarke, former U.S. anti-terrorism chief, says that the invasion of Iraq has actually increased the threat of terrorism, not only against the United States, but around the world. "I've never seen it so bad between the office of the Secretary of Defence and the military," says Mr. Odom. "There's a significant majority believing this is a disaster."

One of the many ironies is that Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney, Mr. Rumsfeld and others in the administration were the true draft dodgers. They supported the war against the Vietnamese - as long as other people, disproportionately poor and non-white, fought and died.

On the other hand, millions of Americans who opposed the Vietnam War put themselves on the line out of moral principle - refusing orders to ship out, demonstrating, organizing peace networks, burning draft cards, and going to jail. Surely these people are more properly called "war resisters."

Now, as then, a number of U.S. troops are refusing to fight in Iraq, and some are again seeking asylum in Canada.

When I escaped from the U.S. Marine Corps and arrived in Canada (exactly 35 years ago), I was overwhelmed by the generosity and support from everyone that I met here. When I received my Canadian citizenship, the magistrate congratulated me on my decision. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Canada for providing sanctuary to those of us who did not want to kill Vietnamese people.

I hope that we Canadians will continue our tradition of accepting those who, today, "refuse to serve in a criminal war."

Peter G. Prontzos teaches political science at Langara College and is a member of the Peace and Justice Committee of the City of Vancouver.

from here