Ehren Watada - Dissident Lieutenant
10 Dissidents Who Changed the World: #4
In June 2006, First Lieutenant Ehren Watada became the first commissioned officer to refuse to go to Iraq.
What was Watada’s reason for doing such a crazy thing? When he joined the U.S. Army, he swore to uphold the United States Constitution. And upholding the Constitution involves not taking part in an unconstitutional — and illegal — war.
At the August 2006 Veterans for Peace National Convention in Seattle, Watada explained why the Iraq War is illegal:
Widespread torture and inhumane treatment of detainees is a war crime.
A war of aggression born through an unofficial policy of prevention is a crime against the peace.
An occupation violating the very essence of international humanitarian law and sovereignty is a crime against humanity.
At the Nuremberg Trials the United States sentenced Nazi officers to death for their complicity in war crimes. The United States helped create and set forth the Nuremberg Principles as international law. The United States held that “just following orders” is not an adequate defense or excuse for being complicit in war crimes.
Flash forward to 2007, and the shoe is firmly on the other foot: the U.S. Army is attempting to court-martial Watada for refusing to carry out orders that would make him complicit in war crimes…war crimes eerily similar to those committed by those despised Nazi officers during WWII.
Watada Joins the U.S. Army
Ehren Watada was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1978. He was an Eagle Scout, played on the varsity football team, and worked his way through college. In 2003, he graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Finance.
After the Bush administration assured the world that Saddam Hussein had ties to al-Qaeda, and that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, Watada was motivated to help protect his country. He jumped on board and joined the U.S. Army.
Watada enlisted in the Army’s Officer Candidate School in November 2003. Upon completion, he was stationed in South Korea, where his superior officers gave him an exemplary evaluation. They said he had “unlimited potential.” When he had a full year of overseas experience under his belt, he was re-assigned to Ft. Lewis, Washington in 2005.
Watada Refuses to Deploy to Iraq
Knowing that he would soon be leading soldiers into Iraq, Watada began to study Iraq history and culture. He interviewed returning soldiers. He researched the run up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The more he learned, the more he became shocked and dismayed.
By 2005, it was becoming clear that the Bush administration had lied the nation into war. It was also clear to Watada that, according to international laws and the Nuremberg Principles, any officer who commanded soldiers to fight in an illegal war would be complicit in war crimes.
So, in January 2006, he asked to resign his commission.
When the U.S. Army denied his request, Watada made it clear that he was not a conscientious objector. After all, he didn’t oppose all wars…just illegal ones. Watada offered to serve in Afghanistan, which he felt was linked to the September 11 attacks. Finally, the U.S. Army told him that he would either go to Iraq or be court-martialed.
Watada’s Court-Martial Trial
On June 22, 2006, Lt. Watada failed to board the plane carrying his unit to Iraq. The U.S. Army filed charges against him for missing a troop movement, as well as conduct unbecoming an officer for anti-war statements Watada made out of uniform.
The court-martial trial began in early February 2007.
Before the trial, Watada signed a stipulation stating that he had given anti-war interviews, and that he did not go with his unit to Iraq, though he didn’t admit to guilt for missing the movement. In return for signing these two stipulations, the U.S. Army dropped a couple of the charges, which dropped the maximum sentence Watada could receive from 6 to 4 years.
However, on the third day of the trial, the judge announced he couldn’t accept one of the stipulations Watada had signed because it was an admission of guilt. So, he nullified the stipulation. But because the stipulation was the basis for the prosecution’s case, the prosecution asked for and received a mistrial.
New Court-Martial Trial
The date for a second court-martial trial has been set for June 16, 2007. In the meantime, Watada is assigned to administrative duty at Ft. Lewis.
“It is my duty as a commissioned officer in the United States Army to speak out against grave injustices. My moral and legal obligation is to the constitution. Not to those who issue unlawful orders. I stand before you today because it is my job to serve and protect American soldiers and innocent Iraqis who have no voice. It is my conclusion that the war in Iraq is not only morally wrong, but also a breach of American law.” ~Ehren Watada.
Watch Lt. Ehren Watada’s speech at the Veterans for Peace 2006 National Convention August 12, 2006 in Seattle:
Go to the next article in this series:
John Lennon - Dissident Beatle.
Go to the previous article in this series:
Mohandas Gandhi - Dissident Lawyer.
Go to the series index:
10 Dissidents Who Changed the World.
Read More: Ehren Watada, dissident, Iraq War, U.S. Army
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May 9th, 2007 at 6:43 am
What a quaint idea, a thinking soldier. Refreshing to see someone who sees the big picture, instead of the propoganda fed to them. I wish him a lot of luck.
May 9th, 2007 at 8:32 am
Lt Watada is quite possibly the only military officer to have done his proper sworn duty in regard to Iraq. He is convinced the war is illegal and refused to go based on that conviction. To me it is far more important to honor one’s convictions than to submerge them in duty.
May 9th, 2007 at 8:56 am
Here’s a list of more thinking soldiers from tomjoad.org: War Heroes.
May 9th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
Mad is right.
And our military has become the police force for corporate interests. We need more Watadas.
May 9th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
It seems these times make many dissidents…
I like Watada, too. I’ve been following his story, but you had more detail. Nice!
May 9th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
I’m liking the dissidents so far, but Watada is too highly ranked IMHO.
May 9th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
Brent: my bad for not making it clear, but don’t really have the top 10 in any particular order…probably should have put them in either chronological order, or some kind of importance order, but found it much more interesting to intersperse the heavyweights with lesser-knowns to keep it more interesting and not end up with all the Gandhi’s and MLK’s at the end.
Also, this list is just a “most-interesting-to-Joe” list. There are tons of dissidents that I read about that I didn’t see any new angles on — people whose stories had been told far and wide, where one more article on them wouldn’t add anything new.
So, Watada being in the upper half of the list…I didn’t mean necessarily rank him higher or lower than the others in the list. He’s just another dissident I found interesting at this point in time.
It’d be interesting to do a more thorough list and have a poll so everybody could rank ‘em…
May 9th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
Just a note about my last comment…it’s amazing how the more times the word “interesting” is used in a comment, the less interesting it usually is. Don’t you think that’s interesting how that works? I find it VERY interesting. ;-)
May 10th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
I hope there is soon a flood of these guys speaking out. Seems to me much like the time early in the viet nam war when first a trickle started, then a flood. Was anyone besides me alive when cassius clay refused to go? I was amazed at all the hate directed at him. So much of it due to his color, but he stood on his principles. He had principles. Not like Cheney who dodged just because he could.
Watadas case is big here in portland since it is close to his base. I feel especially good about it since he is an officer, a minority and so eloquent…and bases his action on our founding documents.
I’m very proud of him.
But, go to youtube and see what the wingers have to say….whew!
That is where hate lives.
May 10th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
It’s amazing to me how many people STILL fault Ali for refusing to be drafted, but give Cheney and the other chickenhawks a pass. I mean, Cheney couldn’t go because…well, in his own words:
“I had other priorities in the ’60s than military service. I don’t regret the decisions I made. I complied fully with all the requirements of the statutes, registered with the draft when I turned 18. Had I been drafted, I would have been happy to serve. I think those who did in fact serve deserve to be honored for their service…. Was it a noble cause? Yes, indeed, I think it was.” Congressman Dick Cheney in 1989, describing his five deferments during the Vietnam War.
Haha…I’ll bet a LOT of people had other priorities in the ’60s!
Yep, the wingers are being tough on Watada. If only they’d be as tough on the commander in chief.