Desertions Decreasing?

The Chicago Tribune, the least slanted of the Chicago newspapers, had a decent article Monday on folks who go AWOL or UA from the military:


Iraq War Spurs Few Deserters

American soldier Levi Moddrelle returned on leave from Iraq on Christmas Eve 2003, his mind and body scarred from war. A few weeks later, scheduled to deploy to Iraq again and telling friends he didn't want to die, the Kentucky helicopter mechanic went missing.

"Something happened to him over there that made him run away," said his mother, Susan Tileston, from her home in Stanford, Ky.

Moddrelle, 22, is one of more than 9,500 enlisted military personnel--from all branches of the service, including the National Guard--who have abandoned their service since the start of the war, according to military statistics.

Moddrelle, however, is part of a diminishing minority, not a growing trend. The number of desertions has dropped every year of the Iraq war, despite rising opposition to the conflict at home. More...