Lt. Watada, facing court-martial, says U.S. citizens can stop Iraq War
First Lt. Ehren Watada has just gotten off the phone with an aide from Sen. Patty Murray’s office, trying to drum up political support for the court-martial he faces Feb. 5 for his refusal to deploy to Iraq.
He’s already made his way through a pre-trial hearing — that took place Jan. 4, the same day Rep. Nancy Pelosi took up the gavel in the House — and as he awaits the judge’s decision on what will be admissible in the military courtroom next month, the Thank You, Lt. Watada campaign wants to suss out Congressional members’ sentiments: Will they or won’t they stand with Lt. Watada?
“The prosecutors,” Watada says from a cell phone as he drives to Bellingham, “are trying to get around fairness and justice in this military hearing. So we want the senator and congressmen and -women to oversee the whole thing, to make sure I’m given a fair shake.”
Thus far, he says, the message has been mixed on the both the red and blue sides of the aisle: Some Congresspeople, Dems and Republicans alike, don’t want to get involved; others want to know more. The response from Sen. Murray’s aide falls into the latter camp, which Watada describes as “very receptive,” “definitely wanting to do something,” but looking to get a better grasp of the issues he faces.
But for Watada, there is only one issue: the illegality and immorality of the Iraq War.
And ever since that day in early June of last year, when he announced to the world that he would not take part in a war he sees as based upon lies, Watada — a 28-year-old junior officer stationed at Ft. Lewis — has been steadfast in his opposition to the occupation of Baghdad and the sovereign state in which it resides. According to his beliefs, he says, “This war is in full violation of the Constitution, and other international and national laws.”
Watada says that when he joined the Army, in March 2003, he did so because he wanted to protect and serve the American people. But when he began investigating governmental claims of why we were in Iraq, he says he saw that we, as a country, had been deceived. As an officer and service member, he contends that he has sworn his loyalty to the Constitution, its principle, its foundations, its promise. “And that’s the premise of why I’m in the position that I’m in: Because I have chosen to follow my oath,” he says.
His decision led to the military slapping him with a court-martial, where he’ll be facing one count of missing movement by design and four counts of conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman. Two counts of his using “contemptuous words against the President”— a punitive article the military hasn’t invoked since the days of the Vietnam War — were dropped last fall. Even still, if found guilty of his charges by a jury of up to 12 senior-ranking officers next month, Watada could spend almost six years locked up in military prison.
His refusal to deploy takes on greater heft when weighed against President Bush’s Jan. 10 announcement to send another 21,500 troops to the war-ravaged country. A follow-up article in The Seattle Times claimed that 4,000 of those promised soldiers would be culled from Ft. Lewis’ ranks this April, several months earlier than their planned summer deployment. Watada, like a growing legion of Congressional members, finds Bush’s decision misguided. “If this fails — which it will, because it already has failed, numerous times in the past, in this war, not to mention other wars — they are just going to blame it on the Iraqis. But in the meantime, how many more American soldiers are going to be killed?”
The human toll of American and Iraqi lives, as horrific as it is, is not all that concerns him, he says. He’s also dismayed by the $378 billion economic burden the war— along with his court-martial and potential detention — are imposing and could impose upon the country. “Where’s the money for education?” he asks. “Where’s the money for health care? They’re side issues, but they’re all tied in to each other.”
Tied together as well, he says, is the collective voice of the American people. While he is the one facing a court-martial for decrying the war as unjust, he claims it’s up to ordinary U.S. citizens to speak out. The first step to acquiring that voice, he says, is education.
“I just encourage the American people to do what they are obligated to do as citizens,” he says, “and that’s to be aware and knowledgeable of what their government is doing. And to stop those policies that are illegal and immoral. Do everything you can. Because this country is our country. We own it. We own the government.”
By ROSETTE ROYALE, Staff Reporter
[People’s Court]
A “Citizens’ Hearing on the Legality of U.S. Actions in Iraq,” a counterpoint to Lt. Watada’s case, will take place Jan. 20-21 at the Evergreen State College’s Tacoma campus from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The campus is located at 1210 Sixth Ave. To learn more, visit www.wartribunal.org.
[Court-martial]
Believe it or not, Lt. Watada’s Feb. 5 court-martial at Ft. Lewis is open the public, which means you can go. To get the scoop, visit www.thankyoult.org.
For copy of actual issue, go to https://www.realchangenews.org/2007/01/17/jan-17-2007-entire-issue