Ehren WatadaOne of the local news stories I've been following is the story of 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, an Asian American officer from Hawaii who is refusing to go to Iraq on the grounds that the Iraq War is immoral and that the US government misled the country in claiming Iraq was connected to the 9/11 attacks. Today,
the army formally charged Lt. Watada.
While it was expected that Lt. Watada would be charge for intentionally missing the deployment of his unit, apparently the more serious charges have to do with the government's assertation that Watada's statements are equivalent to contempt and conduct unbecoming an officer. A quote from the article:
His attorney, Eric Seitz, expected Watada to be charged for missing the troop movement. But Seitz said he was "somewhat astounded" by the other charges, which he said raised "important First Amendment issues," regarding freedom of speech.
The contempt charges resulted, in part, from a June 7 statement where Watada accused President Bush of "betraying trust" by using deception to initiate the Iraq war, according to documents provided by the military.
The charges of conduct unbecoming an officer resulted, in part, from Watada's statement that the war was not only "morally wrong" but also a "horrible breach of American law."
The charges set the stage for an Article 32 hearing, where the Army appoints an investigating officer to review the evidence and holds a hearing that could last for days or weeks. At the hearing, Watada's defense attorney will have the right to cross-examine prosecution witnesses, or call his own.
After the hearing, the investigating officer will make a recommendation of whether the charges merit a court-martial trial. |
.:.
As I ate lunch in the International District yesterday at my favorite Japanese comfort food restaurant,
Takohachi, and I happened to read an interesting letter in the
North American Post, the Nikkei community newspaper they carry there.
The letter (July 5th, 2006 issue):
Dear Editor:
As a 442nd vet, I took the same soldiers' oath as First Lt. Ehren Watada, to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies, foreign or domestic." Pres. George Bush took a similar oath for his high office.
Lt. Watada took the courageous, honorable course in refusing to deploy to Iraq, because our invasion is "illegal and immoral." He is not alone in opposing the conflict. The majority of Americans, including many retired generals, strongly criticize Pres. Bush's handling of the war. The Zogby poll shows that 70 percent of the military think that we should pull our troops by the end of the year.
Pres. Bush alleged that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and she was a threat to America as grounds for his "shock and awe" attack. When both accusations proved utterly false, he changed justifications by calling it a "war against terrorism." That is a vicious lie; for Iraq did not commit any terrorist acts until after our invasion. Her present violence is an insurgency against our occupation of her territory.
The main issue is: Was it constituional for Pres. Bush to devastate Iraq and kill and injure a hundred thousand of her people on false pretenses, without a declaration of war by Congress? Even now, he has not come up with a single valid reason for our unprovoked attack!
It is obvious that our devastation of Iraq without cause is immoral and against sacred American principles. It also violates the Nuremberg Principle, signed by the US in 1950, which outlaws crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
Of the many organizations supporting Lt. Watada's stand, I have found no Japanese American group, except in Hawaii. Do we fail to support his honorable stand because we are afraid of being called unpatriotic?
-Mas Odoi,
Renton |
Mr. Odoi asks an interesting question... as far as I can tell, most Japanese American and Asian American groups have been reluctant to announce any sort of support for Lt. Watada. Is it really because the Asian American community fears that supporting him will give the appearance of creedance to the "perpetual foreigner" stereotype - the myth held by many people that assume that by virtue of our looks and culture, that Asian Americans are "disloyal" Americans? Or could it be that the lack of a strong Asian American political voice in general means that any potential support for Lt. Watada is automatically drowned out?
One thing's for sure... already there's plenty of
letters to the editor ripping into Watada from the local set of Bush followers...
posted by G at 7:34 AM |
