December 12, 2008

AWOL US Soldier Seeks Asylum in Germany Over Returning to “Illegal” War in Iraq


Democracy Now interview with Specialist Andre Shepherd
Amy's interview adds to our earlier posting on the 9th.

A US soldier who went absent without leave a year and a half ago to avoid returning to Iraq has applied for asylum in Germany. Specialist Andre Shepherd served in Iraq between September 2004 and February 2005 as an Apache helicopter mechanic. When his unit was called up to return to Iraq in early 2007, he went AWOL to avoid redeployment, calling the war “illegal.” He lived underground in Germany for a year and a half before applying for asylum two weeks ago. We speak with Shepherd in his first international broadcast interview. [includes rush transcript]

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