Ehren Watada
I've not written about Lt. Watada, the young officer who refused deployment to Iraq, as I was not quite sure where this was coming from. Instinct says it smells more questionable than John Kerry's medal toss.
The original charges against Watada were one charge of missing movement with his unit and two charges of conduct unbecoming an officer. The conduct charges were dropped a week before trial.
Watada had refused the offer of a desk job in Iraq as a way of avoiding direct combat involvement, but he did offer to fight in Afghanistan. Huh? Killing Afghanistan under the guise of getting Osama bin Forgotten is more legal and moral than the Iraq War? But military brass, in typical wisdom, preferred Watada go public as the first commissioned officer questioning the legality of the Iraq war - when his butt could have been shipped to Kabul?
Watada states "wholesale slaughter and mistreatment of the Iraqi people with only limited accountability is not only a terrible moral injustice but a contradiction to the Army's own Law of Land Warfare." But Afghanistan slaughter is okay?
Lt. Watada enlisted in the summer of 2003, months after "Operation Iraqi Liberation" began. He did not see the illegality of the war at that time. Watada now says he had believed GW when Dubya claimed Iraq had WMD and ties to Al Queda. After finishing basic training and OCS, which isn't easy to get into, and serving in Korea, Watada decided Bush lied, was deceitful.
In June 2006 the awakened Watada stepped forward to announce his refusal to deploy to Iraq with the men he trusted and trained with. Excuse me for not believing it took this intelligent young man this long to "wake up".
It's not as if Watada is a clueless boy of modest family means who struggled for a college education and then enlisted in the fervor of post 9/11. His father, Bob Watada, is a mover and shaker in Hawaii, fighting political and corporate corruption for years. Bob was a former Peace Corp member in Latin America during the '60s, an era when many suspected the CIA of using Peace Corp members. Lt. Ehren grew up in a politically active household. Surely around dad's dinner table there were a few discussions on the deceit of politics and war.
Not to pee on the parade - but it could be this whole officer-takes-a-stand scene is a staged op from the other faction of the ruling elite. In an environment of national news dominated by celebrity lives/death and sex junk – any anti-Iraq war "news" or personality, is questionable. Remember too, it's not that the other "faction" of the ruling elite are good guys when in power, they just prefer the appearance of legal slaughter.
This past week's mistrial in the Watada case has been hailed as a "blow to the Pentagon." It's not the Pentagon getting this blowjob folks. Don't look for any retrial; this will end as it began, nice and neat.
It now seems likely Ehren will resign his commission, receive a general discharge, and find other arenas in which to fight whatever he is fighting (right after the probable book deal) – or he could show up in 30 years as a heavy medal-chested planner in the Pentagon. But more likely a civilian political office is at the top of his to-do list.
4 comments:
Watada's reasoning may not look consistent, at least on the surface, but risking real jail time for refusing to participate in any way in a war he considers unjust and illegal is an act of courage. And if he cashes in on that, well, that's what America is all about. ;-)
abi,
With all due respect for your opinion …
The worst that will befall Watada is a year in the brig as Kevin Benderman, although I think Watada will not do jail time. I'm thinking he enlisted with the intention of "making a scene." It smells like opposition intel distraction.
Benderman acted out of courage of conscience, his story reads real. But I question if Watada is performing for the masses rather than a courageous martyr in need of support; I lean toward the former.
We're in Iraq now, at the request of the Iraq (puppet) government, and soldiers are legally obligated to serve as ordered. Soldiers are not usually allowed to pick and choose where they serve (Afghanistan in the Lt.'s case). The Army could easily have reassigned Watada – why didn't they? To make an example of him? Well that certainly hasn't worked out to the Army's advantage, other than getting some bad publicity.
To be arguing the legality of the Iraq War now is too late. How convenient that liberals and democrats wait until it's too late. Congress should have argued against war 4 years ago. It is congress and our corporate owned political system who should be on trial, along with the 9/11 insider perps.
It's not Watada's cashing in that bothers me the most – but his sincerity, which may be perfect for a would be politician. I remember long ago when John Kerry was a hero for speaking against the Vietnam War. Kerry cashed in his chips, not that it helped we the people any but, as you said – it's what America is all about.
If all this was just the calculated self-promotion of a would-be politician, let's hope Watada turns out better than Kerry did.
Lol, aren't all pols made in the same corporate mold factory? Or molded by the same corporations .... or are they just moldy ....
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