Portland’s Professional Protesters Still Seek Sanctuary For AWOL’s & Deserters

Still seeking to out lib the liberal Mecca’s of San Francisco and Seattle, Portland, Oregon is home to a class of professional protesters who live only to protest. Nothing energizes these moonbats more than the United States defending itself or fighting those who seek our total destruction.

It should come as no surprise that once again, the malcontents that have infested Portland are seeking to make Portland a Sanctuary City where those who desert the obligation they volunteered for in our Military can come to when they need a safe place to live.

The anti-war ilk in Portland desire the City Council to “instruct police officers to ignore federal arrest warrants if they make a traffic stop of a soldier absent without leave.” These neo-coms claim their desire is “in line with the city's withdrawal from the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force as well as its policy prohibiting Portland Police officers from assisting U.S. immigration agents” in apprehending ILLEGAL immigrants throughout the city.

This move by the leftist loons in Portland isn’t new, just the latest phase. As reported by Right In a Left World in March 2008, there was a move then to create a Sanctuary for Deserters and AWOL Soldiers when so called “peace groups” drafted a resolution to “make the city a sanctuary where Portland police officers refrain from arresting soldiers who refuse to return to duty because they oppose the war.”

It went nowhere when tried before, but that doesn’t stop this professional class of malcontents from trying again.

With an estimated population of nearly 600,000 people, these wusses are impressed with themselves for gathering some 3,000 signatures of support for their effort.

Portland’s KATU TV covered the meeting and the tearful display of a stud faced young lady crying about her brother who volunteered for the Military and has now changed his mind and wants a “get out of jail free card.”

Others claiming to be Veterans showed up in the obligatory Military Fatigues and BDU’s claiming their own “horrors” as reason for their current opposition.

23 year-old Benjamin Lewis, claiming two tours as a Marine translator whined about being recalled under his Individual Ready Reserve status and vowed not to go because he's opposed to the "open-ended war of aggression."

I guess Lewis doesn’t watch any news reports or he would see that the anti-war favored candidate won the presidential election last month. Of course, even he has begun to see and accept the absolute necessity of finishing the mission begun there amid the staunch opposition of the Democrats who initially voted to go to Iraq.

Sounding more like it was read out of John ‘F’in Kerry’s lies and deceitful “testimony” before the Fulbright commission over three decades ago than based on actual experience, Lewis claims, “Most Iraqis thought we were there for oil and business interests, and a lot of them thought it was a Christian crusade against Muslims.”
















Does the young Iraqi boy look fearful of the American Soldier to you?

Lewis must have missed the September 2006 interview of Iraqi Hajim al-Hasani, America, Don’t Leave Us.

While there no doubt are some Iraqi’s who see our Troops as invaders and occupiers, the claim of “most” just doesn’t wash. If it were, would they be cooperating with our Troops and not siding with terrorists? Tired old disproved DNC talking points are so typical of these leftists who work so diligently to undermine our Brave Troops. Very disturbing if they once served alongside those Troops and now sells them out.

Most disturbing coming out of Lewis is his words, “GI resistance is a very important part of questioning military legitimacy.”

Other than seditious activities, why would one volunteer to serve in our Military, especially knowing we are engaged in a war and then, “resist?”

Dan Shea of Veterans for Peace and who also claims to have served in Viet Nam as a US Marine claims, “This is an opportunity for the citizens of Portland and the City Council to support the soldiers who are coming back and their right to speak out.”

One is left wondering just how much support and what opportunity Shea’s Veterans For Peace would give those multitudes of returning Veterans to speak out in support of the mission and against his groups efforts at one of their small functions?

Shea further claims deserters and AWOL soldiers are “being persecuted” for “speaking their conscience.”

If Shea really wants to see persecution, try speaking out in support of the war, President Bush or any member of his administration in Pioneer Square in Portland.

Very surprising in this effort of theirs is an online poll administered by Portland’s KGW TV, showing nearly 84% of respondents opposed to the foolish call to make Portland a Sanctuary City for AWOL’s and Deserters.

The group is having difficulty finding support from the Portland City Commission as well. Commissioner Randy Leonard, outspoken critic of the war said,

“I think it’s a mistake to be in Iraq for a variety of reasons, including the fact that the president lied to us about the reasons for going to war. But to call for anarchy in the ranks and declare Portland as a free zone would be illegal.”

Besides the ridiculous and disproved claim of “Bush lied,” Leonard misses the hypocrisy in his statement given his support of Portland Police ignoring an ILLEGAL immigrants immigration status.

This is the same ilk that undermined us in Viet Nam, prolonging that war for 5 years until they caused the US to abandon the Vietnamese people. As events in Iraq wind down and efforts in Afghanistan will soon be increased to bring that theater to a similar peaceful time, it appears that these neo-coms are seeing their chances to cause another defeat for America dwindling.

Sadly, I doubt these cretins would support defending our country even if a terrorist attack happened in Portland and slaughtered thousands there. They would just blame Bush and seek someone to apologize to.