Deserter Rejected

From the DW:

"German court rejects US soldier's asylum application"

Andre Shepherd deserted his military base in Katterbach in 2007 after being told he would have to do a second tour of Iraq. A Munich court doubted Shepherd's motives for deserting, but his lawyer has said he will appeal.  A Munich court on Thursday rejected a US soldier's application for asylum in Germany.  Andre Shepherd, 39, deserted the Katterbach Kaserne military base in southern Germany in 2007 after he was ordered to do a second tour in Iraq. Shepherd had told the court he feared he would be forced to become involved in war crimes if he went. The court dismissed Shepherd's case, however, ruling that he had not exhausted all available avenues to leave the military before deserting.

The presiding judge, Josef Ruber, also said Shepherd was unable to prove he would have been confronted by war crimes had gone back to Iraq.  The ruling is a long time coming. Shepherd initially applied for asylum in 2008, but after seeing his first claim denied by the Federal Ministry for Refugees in 2011, he appealed on the back of a European directive that protects military deserters who have witnessed human rights violations in combat and, as a result, feared persecution. The case eventually made it to the European Court of Justice, which last year remanded the case back to the German court saying it was its duty to prove whether US soldiers were commiting war crimes in Iraq and whether Shepherd risked being involved in such crimes if he went. Ruber, however, reportedly did not focus on the war crimes accusation. Instead, he questioned whether Shepherd's argument was credible. Ultimately, the judge ruled that Shepherd had not seriously considered terminating his military service before he was ordered to do a second tour. He also made no attempt to join a different military unit before deserting. On the question of human rights, Ruber said it was not for the Munich court to decide whether the US invasion of Iraq had violated international law or whether the military had committed war crimes there.  Shepherd's lawyer, Reinhard Max, said his client would appeal the court's verdict. The ruling does not mean that Shepherd has to leave the country. He has a permit to remain in Germany as his wife is German.

^ The US Military has had an all-volunteer military since 1973 (43 years) and so any man or woman who has joined since 1973 has done so by their own free-will. The purpose of the US Military has always been to protect the interests of the US around the world and while the soldiers may not agree with a certain action or war they can not "pick and choose" their assignments. They can only decide whether to enlist and then whether to re-enlist or not. Shepard joined willingly, knowing what the Military stands for and then decided to change his mind. Rather than get discharged he decided to desert. I'm glad the German court rejected his asylum case. Had he been Drafted and forced into the Military then I could understand the case, but since we have no Draft he joined willingly. He is a deserter and should be treated as such by other countries as well as the US. ^

http://www.dw.com/en/german-court-rejects-us-soldiers-asylum-application/a-36428165