Ivan Brobeck, AWOL Marine in Canada, to Return on Election Day
to Ask President, Congress to Bring the Troops Home

Ivan Brobeck while in Canada

"Since I was not willing to return to Iraq, the only option I saw was to go to Canada. I have spent nearly two years there living, working, and married to my wife (who is six months pregnant). Now I feel that I am ready to return to the US and face the consequences of refusing to participate in a war that I do not believe is right."

U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Ivan Brobeck, 20, of Arlington, Virginia, will return to the United States on election day to ask President Bush and Congress to bring the troops home now.

During a tour of duty in Iraq in 2004 Brobeck witnessed instances of abuse of Iraqi detainees and the killing of Iraqi civilians at military checkpoints. He chose Canada over a second tour in a war that he came to see as illegal and contrary to the interests and moral standards of most Americans.

"I was not willing to go back and fight a war that I did not believe was right, and I didn't want to put myself in a situation where I would possibly kill an innocent civilian," Brobeck explains. "Please, President Bush, do what is right; do everything you can to bring our troops home
from Iraq."

Ivan Brobeck intends to surrender to military authorities in Washington, DC on election day. He expects to be transferred to Quantico in Virginia where he may face a military court martial for his absence. He is returning in the same spirit that motivated him to enlist at age 17 - a desire to serve his country and to stand for what is right.