Better Late Than Never?

Your tax money at work:

A man was being held in a US military prison yesterday for deserting from the marines 38 years ago after being caught on the American-Canadian border amid a new drive to track down Vietnam-era deserters.

Allen Abney, 56, who lives in British Columbia and who is now a Canadian citizen, had frequently crossed into the US without incident. His family was caught by surprise when he and his wife were stopped by immigration officials on Thursday on their way to a social event in Reno, Nevada.

"They were crossing British Columbia-Idaho border, and they handed in their passports and they were told they would have to come inside," Jessica Abney, the couple's daughter told the Guardian. "I don't think he'd been worrying about it, because he'd been in the states hundreds of times since he deserted. I don't think he lived his life that way."

Mr Abney is not the only ex-marine to have been tracked down for desertion recently. Since he took over the marine corps Absentee Collection Centre in 2004, chief warrant officer James Averhart has reopened cold cases and claims to have tracked down 33 deserters. "I have a different leadership style than the guys who have had this job. My job is to catch deserters. And that's what I do," he told Florida's St Petersburg Times.

Something tells me that this James Averhart character might not be playing with a full deck.

Of course, I'd feel much better about what he was doing if he decided to go after the Most Famous Viet Nam War Deserter of All Time, but that probably won't happen because (1) it's not his department, and (2) I have a feeling that this guy is an avid Bush supporter.