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EDITORIAL
Watada Victory Bittersweet
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Sep 29, 2009
There's an impulse to reduce 1st Lt. Ehren Watada to a symbol.
Peace activists lionize him as a man of conscience who stood up to George W. Bush's war machine, while military advocates demonize him as a coward who abandoned his troops and his oath to defend the United States.
But his personal saga is more complex than either extreme can capture. Watada is neither a pacifist nor a traitor. For one thing, he requested to fight in Afghanistan rather than go to Iraq.
From a legal standpoint, there is no doubt that Watada won. The Army failed in its attempts to court-martial the first U.S. officer to refuse to fight the Iraq war. After a three-year legal battle, the Kalani High School graduate will leave the Army in early October, discharged under "other than honorable conditions," as the Army recognizes the insurmountable double jeopardy threat raised by his earlier mistrial.
He has been working a desk job at Fort Lewis in Washington state since refusing to deploy with his artillery unit in 2006, on the grounds that the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq were illegal and participating would make him a party to war crimes.
Since then, his 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team has served three tours in Iraq. President Bush, whom Watada publicly denounced, has been replaced by Democrat Barack Obama, who campaigned against the war but, once elected, found it difficult to rapidly withdraw U.S. forces. Thousands of military men and women remain in Iraq, praised for their sacrifices even as American support for the overall effort wanes as the war grinds on.
Watada, 31, looks forward to getting on with his life, and one of his lawyers predicted that history will treat him favorably.
But it's unrealistic to expect any softening from many Iraq veterans or their families. By describing the war as illegal, Watada essentially called into question the service of those who did follow orders. He's always been prepared to pay a price for taking a stand, and enmity in certain quarters will be part of the toll.
There's an impulse to reduce 1st Lt. Ehren Watada to a symbol.
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Watada signed a legally binding document and am surprised how many people are portraying him to be someone whose consciousness objected to the military --- known to cause some destruction.
Martyr: "a person who is put to death or endures great suffering on behalf of any belief, principle, or cause"
"a person who seeks sympathy or attention by feigning or exaggerating pain, deprivation, etc."
He is not the former. He is the latter. Some people seem to forget that he signed a contract and in that contract he was expected to kill people some who are innocent.
Those people like you, Foster Ampong, Tane, Pono, Ku Ching, Guy, Kealaula, just to name a few take personal responsibility and do not feign sympathy so for me it's annoying to read how some people are supporting Watada. Um... he agreed and signed then was trained to kill people.
I can't wait for this "story" to be replaced with what a few people have already mentioned and that is more important issues like crown lands of legal heirs. Now to me that is THE story that should be discussed --- instead of discussing someone who signed his life away to the military yet some people eat this up as "news" when it's a non-story. It is a purposeful distraction.
e Lana, Watada signed and agreed to "Obey All Lawful Orders" just as I did when I signed up for the Navy. Watada felt that sending him to an Imoral War is an Unlawful Order. Killing innocent people who had nothing to do with 9/11 is not only Unlawful but Sinful. o Pomaikaiokalani
Replies
Watada signed a legally binding document and am surprised how many people are portraying him to be someone whose consciousness objected to the military --- known to cause some destruction.
Martyr: "a person who is put to death or endures great suffering on behalf of any belief, principle, or cause"
"a person who seeks sympathy or attention by feigning or exaggerating pain, deprivation, etc."
He is not the former. He is the latter. Some people seem to forget that he signed a contract and in that contract he was expected to kill people some who are innocent.
Those people like you, Foster Ampong, Tane, Pono, Ku Ching, Guy, Kealaula, just to name a few take personal responsibility and do not feign sympathy so for me it's annoying to read how some people are supporting Watada. Um... he agreed and signed then was trained to kill people.
I can't wait for this "story" to be replaced with what a few people have already mentioned and that is more important issues like crown lands of legal heirs. Now to me that is THE story that should be discussed --- instead of discussing someone who signed his life away to the military yet some people eat this up as "news" when it's a non-story. It is a purposeful distraction.
~ Lana