Umanetz

MEMORANDUM *

Petitioners Nikolai N. Umanetz and Vera I. Muravskaia, citizens of Georgia, petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) affirmance of the Immigration Judge’s (IJ) denial of their application for asylum and withholding of removal. The Immigration and Naturalization Service initiated deportation proceedings against the petitioners on May 28, 1997. The permanent rules under the *813 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (“IIRIRA”) apply to deportation proceedings initiated after April 1, 1997. Martinez-Garcia v. Ashcroft, 366 F.3d 732, 734 (9th Cir.2004). We find that the IJ’s decision is supported by substantial evidence and therefore deny the petition for review.

To qualify for asylum based on political opinion, the applicant must show that he suffered, or has a well founded fear of suffering, persecution because of his political opinion. See Sangha v. INS, 103 F.3d 1482, 1487 (9th Cir.1997). The IJ correctly found that Umanetz provided insufficient evidence to establish that the incident where a superior in the Georgian armed forces pointed a A.K. 47 to his chest to force him to fly in the war against Abkhazia was politically…