Well as the U.S. invasion of Iraq approaches its third anniversary, a
growing number of American troops are refusing to fight. USA Today
reports that since the war began, 8,000 U.S. soldiers have deserted the
military.

Now the military is doing something to try to stop the growing number
of soldiers going AWOL: it is arresting and jailing men who refused to
fight in the Vietnam War a generation ago.

Just last week, a former Vietnam war resister who has been living in
Canada since 1968 was arrested and jailed on desertion charges. Allen
Abney quit the Marines nearly 40 years ago to protest the Vietnam War.
The 56 year-old was arrested last Thursday at the Canadian-Idaho
border.

In January, Corporal Jerry Texiero was released from a military brig after serving five months on charges of desertion.

For more on this crackdown of Vietnam-era war resisters, we are joined
on the line by Ernest "Buck" McQueen. In November 1969 McQueen was
enlisted in the Marines when he left his North Carolina military base
and refused to serve because of concerns about going to Vietnam. He was
arrested and jailed two months ago, 40 years after leaving the
military. He joins us the phone from Texas. And in our firehouse studio
we are joined by Tod Ensign , a lawyer and director of Citizen Soldier,
a GI and veteran rights advocacy organization.