Come out, come out, where ever you are.

Hey guys, please take a moment to think about this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7444116.stm

The question is:

Should US deserters from Iraq be given refuge in Canada, a country that welcomed tens of thousands of Vietnam draft-dodgers and deserters?

In case you're feeling too lazy to read the full article, I'll sumarise it for you here:

The article is about a 25-year-old guy named Corey Glass who joined the army in major pursuit of humanitarian work. He was told that he would "only be in combat if there were troops occupying the United States". However, in 2005, he was deployed to Iraq.

There, he worked in military intelligence. Through his duties, he "realised innocent people were being killed unjustly", and tried to quit the military. However, his commander insisted he was just "stressed out". He went home on leave, and later went to Canada - planning to never again return to the army.

Should he now be sent back to the United States to face punishment?

I think it's a heartbreaking story. Personally, I think war is the disease that has thrived in the hearts of men for centuries - a disease that should be cured, by all means.

In my opinion, everything about the war should come to an end. Right now.

I could not disagree more with Jonathan Kay, even though he is "managing editor for comment at Canada's National Post newspaper". I respect the man and his work, but this time, I beg to differ.

Corey Glass shouldn't be punished for "abandoning" the military - he already spent so much of his precious time on earth doing something he found despicable. He joined the army for noble reasons - he wanted to help people, like the victims of Hurricane Katrina. He didn't want to be the cause of more death and destruction. Why should he be thrown out of Canada? Furthermore, even if he was sent back to the U.S., why should he be punished? I understand that "desertion is punishable by death", but times have changed - and so should these archaic laws of war.

If that argument doesn't hold water against all the big names disagreeing with my two cents, then all Corey Glass can do is appeal to mankind's better nature. He was only 19 when he enlisted. I'm 19. I know that 19-year-olds can be idiots. We make mistakes. And sometimes, they're big mistakes we need to pay the price for later. But sometimes, it's okay to make mistakes - and we should be forgiven for them.

Jonathan Kay wrote that: "Six years ago, Corey Glass picked the wrong career. Three years ago, he picked an illegal way to abandon it. It's time for this ex-soldier to go home and pay the price for what he's done."

Is that really the example we want to set for our children, our generations to come? Is that really how we want to live, as people? Don't we want to forgive and forget - or try to understand, and empathize?

Is that really the kind of world we dream of living in?

Punish someone, because he made a mistake when he was a teenager?

:(

Come on, guys. I want to believe you're better than that.