U.S. Iraq War Veteran, Andre Shepherd, Refuses to Redeploy, Seeks Political Asylum in Germany

international | anti-war / imperialism | other press Tuesday December 23, 2008 05:34 by Courage to Resist

André Shepherd is the first American GI to have applied for political asylum in Germany. Shepherd, who deserted to avoid going back to fight in Iraq, argues that the war there is in violation of international law.

There are more pleasant places than the buildings used to house asylum applicants in Germany. Many were once military barracks or camps for refugees from the two world wars, built decades ago as detention facilities, complete with thick walls and steel doors.

Last Wednesday, André Shepherd, a Specialist in the US Army, who loves the onion-shaped towers on Russian Orthodox churches and German Leberkäs dumplings with Emmentaler cheese, was standing in front of the gate of a detention center in the central German city of Giessen, flanked by the barrier, his attorney and two suitcases. Shepherd would never have dreamed that his 19-month escape from being redeployed to Iraq would end in these barracks. Continued.........
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,594250....html

AUDIO INTERVIEW with Andre Shepherd in Germany
http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/content/blogcategory/4...9/95/