War deserter released from U.S. prison
http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/01/16/cliff-cornell.html
January 16, 2010
An American soldier who had been serving time in a U.S. military
prison for desertion and who was granted an early release on
Saturday said he stands by his decision to oppose the war in Iraq
and wants to return to Canada.
"If I had to do it again I would, because I'm not killing innocent
people," Cliff Cornell told CBC News on the phone from Fayetteville,
N.C. "I still stand behind my decision 100 per cent.
"I am going to spend a few months with my family and then try to head
back to Canada. I have friends up there and a whole community for me
to come back to," he said.
Cornell, who held the rank of specialist, pleaded guilty to desertion
last April and was sentenced to one year behind bars at a prison at
the U.S. Marine Corps base at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
"Prison was rough," he said.
At the time of his sentencing, Cornell said he fled to Canada in
January 2005 a month before his 3rd Infantry Division unit was
scheduled to deploy to Iraq because he feared for his life and
couldn't stomach the thought of killing anyone.
Cornell, 28, spent four years in British Columbia before the Canadian
government denied him asylum as a war objector.
On Saturday, his Canadian supporters said they believed that a letter
writing campaign on Cornell's behalf helped shorten his time behind bars.
"Canadians successfully campaigned for the U.S. military to reduce
Cliff's sentence," Michelle Ribidoux of the War Resisters Support
Campaign said in a media release on Saturday.
The statement said the letter writing campaign began last May and
helped win "a slight but important reduction for Cliff."
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U.S. Army deserter says he'd do it again
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/01/17/US-Army-deserter-says-hed-do-it-again/UPI-60421263767988/
Published: Jan. 17, 2010
A U.S. soldier who opposed the Iraq War and was jailed for desertion
says he stands by his decision.
Cliff Cornell was released Saturday after spending less than a year
in prison on desertion charges. He told the Canadian Broadcasting
Corp. he would do it again because he is opposed to "killing innocent people."
The CBC said Cornell, 28, spent four years in British Columbia
starting in 2005 after deserting the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry
Division as it was readying to deploy to Iraq. The Canadian
government in February denied him asylum as a war objector and he was
imprisoned at the U.S. Marine Corps base at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Despite that, Cornell said from Fayetteville, N.C., "I still stand
behind my decision 100 percent," adding, "I am going to spend a few
months with my family and then try to head back to Canada. I have
friends up there and a whole community for me to come back to."
"Canadians successfully campaigned for the U.S. military to reduce
Cliff's sentence," Michelle Ribidoux of the War Resisters Support
Campaign said in a release issued Saturday.
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Army deserter who fled to Canada freed from U.S. prison
http://www.kelowna.com/2010/01/17/army-deserter-who-fled-to-canada-freed-from-u-s-prison/
Sunday, January 17th, 2010
An American army deserter who was deported from Canada thanked his
supporters in this country Saturday as he was released from a U.S.
prison adding he hopes to return to B.C.
Clifford Cornell was let out of his yearlong jail sentence about a
month early on the weekend following a letter-writing campaign that
he says probably helped secure his freedom.
"The support I got has been really overwhelming," Cornell told
Canwest News Service on Saturday.
"I very much want to try to come back to Canada."
Cornell, 28, made headlines as an army deserter and critic of the war
in Iraq while seeking refuge in Canada.
The 28-year-old grew up in the depressed Ozark mountain region of
northern Arkansas.
In 2002, while looking for work, he said he was lured by slick army
recruiters with money and the promise he wouldn't have to fight in a
war. He spent almost two years at Fort Stewart, Ga., before finding
out his 39th Artillery Regiment was about to ship out for Iraq.
Saying he didn't want to kill Iraqis, Cornell deserted and headed to Canada.
In this country, he spent nearly three years working at a grocery
store on Gabriola Island in British Columbia, making fast friends
with residents there.
Cornell applied to stay in Canada but was deported, then subsequently
jailed in the U.S. for desertion. He was sentenced to a one-year jail
term, a felony conviction that would have blocked his re-entry to Canada.
However, the U.S. Military Clemency and Parole Board granted him a
rare clemency reducing his sentence by a month after his lawyer
submitted an application with 63 letters of support from Canadians attached.
"I really think it helped," he said Saturday of the Canadian support,
several hours after his release.
"It's a bit overwhelming," he said. "It's been eight months of being
told what to do 24/7."
One of his first orders of business after his release was a meal and a movie.
"I went out to see the movie, Avatar, in 3D," Cornell said.
The time behind bars didn't change his mind about the war, Cornell said.
"I support the troops, but I don't support the war. I don't think
being over there in Iraq or Afghanistan is helping."
Cornell said he has no immediate time frame for when he might be able
to move back to B.C. First, he's headed home to Arkansas.
But he says he definitely wants to come back.
"I got a job waiting for me back in Gabriola," he said. "I have
really good friends, who are like family."
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