This profile was posted to the War Resisters Support Campaign Website
Robin Long is from Boise, Idaho. He received orders in March 2005 to report to Iraq and meet up with his new unit 2-2 IN in May. "I still don't think that Bush has proven we have any reason to be over there, and I would be wrong to be a tool of destruction," Robin says.
He served two years as a tanker in the US army, at Fort Knox before he left and came to Canada in June of 2005. He traveled by hitchhiking from Tofino, BC to St. John's, Newfoundland, and as far north as the north shore of the St. Lawrence during the summer months. "I have really enjoyed this beautiful country, I'm reminded everyday by its wonderful people that I made the right decision. I remember that a soldier is just a uniform following orders, a warrior is the man or woman that follows their conscience and does the right thing in the face of adversity."
He applied for refugee status in Thunder Bay. On July 15, 2008, the Canadian government deported Robin to the United States where he was arrested and court martialled for desertion. Robin was sentenced to 15 months in military prison and received a dishonorable discharge from the military. The sentence is one of the harshest handed to US Iraq war resisters.
