[Grovenet] War Hero or Traitor?

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

We've beat to death the President's assertions that Saddam had WMD in Iraq
that he intended to use against America. 

Here's a US Army officer who has taken action; drastic, dangerous action
that may well land him in jail for a long time.

First Lt. Ehren Watada, a 28-year-old Hawaii native, is the first
commissioned officer in the U.S. to publicly refuse deployment to Iraq. He
announced last June his decision not to deploy on the grounds the war is
illegal. 

Lt. Watada was based at Fort Lewis, Washington, with the Army's 3rd
(Stryker) Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. He has remained on base, thus
avoiding charges of desertion. 

He does, however, face one count of "missing troop movement" and four counts
of "conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman." If convicted, he faces
up to six years in prison. 

Watada's court martial is on February 5. A pre-trial hearing is set for
January 4, with an added scope of controversy: the Army has ordered two
freelance journalists, Sarah Olson and Dahr Jamail, to testify against Lt.
Watada at the hearing. Both journalists are fighting the subpoenas. 

Kevin Sites recently spoke with Lt. Watada about the reasoning behind his
decision, the controversy the decision has caused and how he is dealing with
the repercussions. 

Lt. Watada spoke on the phone from his family's home in Hawaii. A transcript
of the interview follows. 

KEVIN SITES: Now, you joined the Army right after the US was invading Iraq
and now you're refusing to go. Some critics might look at this as somewhat
disingenuous. You've taken an oath, received training but now you won't
fight. Can you explain your rationale behind this?

EHREN WATADA: Sure. I think that in March of 2003 when I joined up, I, like
many Americans, believed the administration when they said the threat from
Iraq was imminent - that there were weapons of mass destruction all
throughout Iraq; that there were stockpiles of it; and because of     Saddam
Hussein's ties to al-Qaeda and the 9/11 terrorist acts, the threat was
imminent and we needed to invade that country immediately in order to
neutralize that threat. 

Since then I think I, as many, many Americans are realizing, that those
justifications were intentionally falsified in order to fit a policy
established long before 9/11 of just toppling the Saddam Hussein regime and
setting up an American presence in Iraq. 
------------------------------------------------

For the full interview, in print or to listen to an audio transcription, go
to:

http://hotzone.yahoo.com/b/hotzone/blogs19056

Lt. Watada is trying to thread the eye of a very small needle with a very
large rope. It has been established that a member of the US military has the
right, oven an obligation, to refuse to obey unlawful orders. Of course, the
penalty may be years at hard labor if, after the fact, the members of a
court marshal don't agree.

I think Lt. Watada may well become the "poster child" for all that has been
wrong with America's foreign policy for the past decade or so. That is,
unless his story remains buried in one small corner of the daily news.

Ron AC7AC