Report: War resister ordered back to Iraq

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TORONTO, May 26 (UPI) -- The U.S. military illegally used a "stop loss" order to send a war resister seeking asylum in Canada back to Iraq, GQ Magazine reported Thursday.

War resister Phil McDowell was returned to Iraq under the discontinued "stop loss" program, investigative journalist Wil Hylton writes in GQ.

"This article is a clear illustration of why Canadians so strongly support Iraq War resisters," Carolyn Egan, a spokeswoman for the War Resisters Support Campaign, said in a statement Thursday.

"War resisters like Phil McDowell, who was illegally retained in the military through the stop-loss program, cannot get fair treatment within the U.S. military. He and others did the right thing in refusing to participate in the Iraq War … and the [Canadian] government should ensure that each war resister's case is considered fairly, on its own merits, instead of flagging them for deportation as they have done."

Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney in July issued a directive that assumes any former U.S. soldier seeking permanent residence in Canada is a potential "military deserter" and criminally inadmissible to the country.

"By issuing this directive to immigration officials, Minister Kenney has put his thumb on the scales and prejudiced what should be an impartial process," Egan said. "We call on the minister to immediately rescind Operational Bulletin 202."