<http://www.thankyoult.org/> The website above is the page that Lt. Watada has put up regarding his refusal to be deployed to Iraq...a beautiful picture of him, with his parents, as he announces his decision... don white~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > Published on Friday, June 16, 2006 by the Seattle > Post-Intelligencer > Soldier's Duty: Say No to Illegal War > by Michael Honey > > Lost in the media frenzy over the killing of Abu > Musab > al-Zarqawi, First Lt. Ehren Watada, of Fort Lewis, > opened another front in the conflict over President > Bush's war of choice in Iraq. At a news conference > in > Tacoma a few hours before al-Zarqawi's death, Watada > announced his refusal of orders to deploy to Iraq on > grounds that the war is illegal as well as immoral. > > "An order to take part in an illegal war is illegal > in > itself," he said. "I felt it was my obligation as a > leader to speak out against the willful misconduct > at > the highest level of the chain of command." > > Watada is the first soldier to resist the war based > on > the Nuremburg Principles pioneered by U.S. > prosecutors > during Nazi war crimes trials after World War II and > adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (and > the United States) in 1950. > > Those principles hold soldiers, as well as heads of > state, liable for "crimes against peace" (planning, > preparing, initiating or waging a war of aggression > or > conspiring to do so), war crimes (violating "the > laws > or customs" of war) and crimes against humanity. A > key > phrase reads: "The fact that a person acted pursuant > to order of his Government or of a superior does not > relive him from responsibility under international > law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to > him." > > As a 28-year-old from Hawaii and a college graduate, > Watada signed up to bear arms for his country in > March > 2003. He went to officer training school, spent a > year > in Korea and then came to Fort Lewis last summer. He > is not a conscientious objector to war and says he > would go to Afghanistan if deployed there to find > Osama bin Laden and fight the Taliban. Despite his > doubts about the invasion of Iraq, as many did, he > gave Bush the benefit of the doubt when he argued > that > overriding dangers required intervention. > > Watada says the Army trains officers to take > responsibility for their actions and to understand > their missions. When assigned to be a leader of the > Stryker Brigade based at Ft. Lewis, he began to > study > the war and was shocked at what he found. Based on > constitutional and international law as well as > exposes of atrocities committed against Iraqi > civilians, "I concluded that not only is the war in > Iraq morally wrong, but it is in fact, illegal." He > says Bush committed "a betrayal and deception of the > American people," ignored his obligations under > international law and has perpetrated disastrous > effects on Iraqi civilians and U.S. soldiers. > > "I refuse to be silent any longer," he told > reporters > in Tacoma. "I refuse to watch families torn apart, > while the president tells us to 'stay the course.' I > refuse to be party to an illegal and immoral war > against people who did nothing to deserve our > aggression. I wanted to be there for my fellow > troops. > But the best way was not to help drop artillery and > cause more death and destruction. It is to help > oppose > this war and end it so that all soldiers can come > home." > > Not surprising, some condemn Watada as a coward or > derelict in his duty as a soldier or even as guilty > of > sedition and treason and deserving of execution. > Despite threats of court martial and prison, Bush's > war of choice forced him, as he put it, to "choose > the > hard right over the easy wrong (and) to have the > strength and the courage to do what is right for > America." > > At a community meeting in a Tacoma church recently, > hundreds of people, including military veterans, > gave > Watada a standing ovation. > > Soldiers do not give up their citizenship when they > join the military, and their oath of allegiance to > the > U.S. Constitution binds them to a high standard of > conduct. It is true for all of us, within and > outside > the military: it is time to stand up for the rule of > law against a lawless commander in chief. > > Michael Honey is a professor of labor and ethnic > studies and American history at the University of > Washington, Tacoma. For information on Watada's > case, > see www.thankyoult.org. > > © 2006 Seattle Post-Intelligencer > > > > CISPES > Committee In Solidarity With The People of El > Salvador > 8124 West 3rd Street L.A. Ca. 90048 > 323-852-0721 > Founded: 1980 - 25 Years of Solidarity > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam > protection around > http://mail.yahoo.com > CISPES Committee In Solidarity With The People of El Salvador 8124 West 3rd Street L.A. Ca. 90048 323-852-0721 Founded: 1980 - 25 Years of Solidarity __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Check out the new improvements in Yahoo! Groups email. http://us.click.yahoo.com/N6DZeC/fOaOAA/E2hLAA/7gSolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
