LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- As one of eight American soldiers who fled to Canada instead of going to Iraq, Cliff Cornell hopes he will be granted political asylum rather than be forced to fight a war he objects.

Now living in Toronto as a peace volunteer, Cornell had his bags packed in early January, ready to return to Fort Stewart, Ga., and join the rest of his battalion preparing to deploy. But the car stood in the driveway when he changed his mind.