Update on 1LT Watada
Jul. 6th, 2006 04:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
desertvixenhttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13730344/
Army charges officer who refuses to go to Iraq
Lieutenant who believes the war there is illegal may face 8 years in prison
FORT LEWIS, Wash. - An Army lieutenant who said he refused to deploy to Iraq because he believes the war there is illegal was charged Wednesday with three counts.
According to calculations by military lawyers, 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, 28, could face nearly eight years in prison and a dishonorable discharge if convicted, said his attorney, Eric Seitz of Honolulu.
Watada is charged with conduct unbecoming an officer, missing movement and contempt toward officials.
Watada’s father, Bob, said from his home in Hawaii that he’s worried the military may send his son to prison but he’s also hopeful a military court will find him innocent.
“I think his reasons were valid and we will have to see what comes of that,” he said.
Watada, a member of the first Stryker Brigade Combat Team, refused to go to Iraq last month after researching the war. He said he would be willing to serve in Afghanistan or elsewhere. The Army refused to allow him to resign his commission.
Watada’s stance prompted rallies of support near Fort Lewis, in Seattle and in Honolulu, his hometown.
A preliminary hearing will be held to determine whether he will be court-martialed.
Watada has said he did not apply for status as a conscientious objector because he isn’t opposed to war in principle, just the war in Iraq.
****
Interestingly enough, the letters to the editor section of this week's Army Times has several responses to the initial story.
I agree strongly with the wife who wrote that she doesn't want him serving alongside her husband, an attitude I can definitely understand. Doing our job is hard enough, and we don't need to have people that we don't know we can trust next to us. Trust is such an important part of what we do that we can't get along without it. Trust is what makes problems like sexual harassment a huge problem in the military - besides the obvious harm it does, it also erodes trust. Not just between the victim and the harasser, but between everyone.
The other letter that really struck me was the one written by an active-duty officer, in which he points out that as soldiers, we are not given the luxury of deciding what conflicts we participate in. Duty requires us to fulfill our obligations - and as an officer, his primary obligation should be to the men and women under his command.
DV
Army charges officer who refuses to go to Iraq
Lieutenant who believes the war there is illegal may face 8 years in prison
FORT LEWIS, Wash. - An Army lieutenant who said he refused to deploy to Iraq because he believes the war there is illegal was charged Wednesday with three counts.
According to calculations by military lawyers, 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, 28, could face nearly eight years in prison and a dishonorable discharge if convicted, said his attorney, Eric Seitz of Honolulu.
Watada is charged with conduct unbecoming an officer, missing movement and contempt toward officials.
Watada’s father, Bob, said from his home in Hawaii that he’s worried the military may send his son to prison but he’s also hopeful a military court will find him innocent.
“I think his reasons were valid and we will have to see what comes of that,” he said.
Watada, a member of the first Stryker Brigade Combat Team, refused to go to Iraq last month after researching the war. He said he would be willing to serve in Afghanistan or elsewhere. The Army refused to allow him to resign his commission.
Watada’s stance prompted rallies of support near Fort Lewis, in Seattle and in Honolulu, his hometown.
A preliminary hearing will be held to determine whether he will be court-martialed.
Watada has said he did not apply for status as a conscientious objector because he isn’t opposed to war in principle, just the war in Iraq.
****
Interestingly enough, the letters to the editor section of this week's Army Times has several responses to the initial story.
I agree strongly with the wife who wrote that she doesn't want him serving alongside her husband, an attitude I can definitely understand. Doing our job is hard enough, and we don't need to have people that we don't know we can trust next to us. Trust is such an important part of what we do that we can't get along without it. Trust is what makes problems like sexual harassment a huge problem in the military - besides the obvious harm it does, it also erodes trust. Not just between the victim and the harasser, but between everyone.
The other letter that really struck me was the one written by an active-duty officer, in which he points out that as soldiers, we are not given the luxury of deciding what conflicts we participate in. Duty requires us to fulfill our obligations - and as an officer, his primary obligation should be to the men and women under his command.
DV
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no subject
Date: 2006-07-07 07:06 pm (UTC)If someone from Japan came over here, occupied our country, overthrew our government, killed not only the people who were fighting to reinstate our government, but anyone else who was in the way, we would absolutely think that was illegal and wrong. When Iraq invaded Kuwait it was wrong. I also agree that the situation in Afghanistan is different, because they did attack us first. It's not ideal but it isn't the same as us trying to manufacture a regime change.
It is illegal to invade foreign countries. That is the whole basis of how foreign policy should work. You respect my borders, I will respect yours. I may not like your government, but I can't do anything about it as long as you play within your lines. Cross your lines, and expect the force of the power of the world to come down upon you. But we aren't playing in our lines, we're now playing in others, weaker than us because we think we're better and we know how to live their lives better than they do.
And, you should read the big studies on obedience, the Milgram Experiment and the Stanford Prison Experiment. It goes even more so for soldiers, and once you start to lose the context of what is right and wrong, it is frightening. The Stanford Prison one shows exactly how Abu Grab happened and will happen again. It explains how otherwise nice and normal people became Nazi soldiers responsible for thousands of deaths. All those people weren't evil, things just got out of hand. It doesn't excuse what they've done, but if they were not in that situation, they likely would have never dreamed that they could ever do anything like that.
no subject
Date: 2006-07-07 08:49 pm (UTC)I've read about them.
I agree that there are problems, although in my opinion, part of the cause is the people going on their second or third deployment with not enough of a break. No one is coming back unchanged, and inadequate mental health care combined with the military culture towards admitting that one needs help with something like that is not helping the problem.
I agree that the Bush attitude towards foreign policy is essentially an eff-d up version of "I'm the biggest kid on the playground and I'll make you do it my way". However, my only real option is either to a) get out or b) pray that 2008 goes much much better than 2004.
DV