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Report it briefly but do not pursue the issue or dwell on it in any way; such are the policy directives from the West’s mass media outlets. The public must not be allowed to dwell on Obama’s MASSIVE FAILURE to redeem the Nation and the Presidency from its sordid and criminal (very recent) past.
Ehren Watada
Today, the office of the Presidency remains a whore and the nation continues to wallow in a mire of guilt, denial and self-justification. However, all is not lost, it never is! Some Americans have, in highly confronting situations, refused to engage in heinous criminal activity or betray their humanity by committing acts of torture.
True to the spirit and noble principles of the Geneva Convention an American commissioned officer, Lt. Ehren Watada, displayed exceptional bravery by ‘REFUSING THE ORDER to deploy in Iraq. Watada’s case emphasises the FACT that the final decision to engage in criminal behaviour rests with the individual and his/her conscience – “following orders” does not exonerate anyone, Mr Obaa’ma, as the Nuremberg Trials clearly demonstrated!
A number of CIA, military personnel and high ranking officials of the former regime remain guilty of the most heinous crime known to civilised society – the conscious application of acute pain and distress on a helpless victim – TORTURE!
As a result of media suppression few people are familiar with the case of Lt. Ehren Watada, one of America’s unsung, unassuming, true heroes. Watada refused deployment to Iraq on the basis that it was/is a CRIMINAL WAR and illegal occupation – today, the world knows it too well!
Watada was subsequently victimised and court-martialled for not following orders; nevertheless, his case proves beyond all doubt that it is the individual who takes final responsibility for his/her actions! Those who torture do so by their own volition and therefore MUST pay for their crimes against HUMANITY!
Fully conscious of the repercussions of his actions, Lt Watada displayed exceptional bravery given the prevailing circumstances, rabid (Bush) regime and militaristic fervour.
I offer the following few quotes from a speech Lt. Watada delivered to the Veterans for Peace National Convention in August, 2006. Watada’s moving speech places Obama’s feeble response to the crime of TORTURE in (an American) context:
Watada prefaced his speech with this statement; “As the order to take part in an illegal act is ultimately unlawful ..I must [therefore] refuse that order.”
“The American soldier must rise above the socialization that tells them authority should always be obeyed without question. Rank should be respected but never blindly followed. Awareness of the history of atrocities and destruction committed in the name of America - either through direct military intervention or by proxy war - is crucial. They must realize that this is a war not out of self-defense but by choice, for profit and imperialistic domination. WMD, ties to Al Qaeda, and ties to 9/11 never existed and never will. …
The soldier must know that our narrowly and questionably elected officials intentionally manipulated the evidence presented to Congress, the public, and the world to make the case for war. They must know that neither Congress nor this administration has the authority to violate the prohibition against pre-emptive war - an American law that still stands today. This same administration uses us for rampant violations of time-tested laws banning torture and degradation of prisoners of war.”
“The oath we take swears allegiance not to one man but to a document of principles and laws designed to protect the people. Enlisting in the military does not relinquish one's right to seek the truth - neither does it excuse one from rational thought nor the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. "I was only following orders" is never an excuse.”
“…soldiers have the unrelinquishable obligation to refuse complicity in war crimes perpetrated by their government. Widespread torture and inhumane treatment of detainees is a war crime.”
“If I am to be punished it should be for following the rule of law over the immoral orders of one man. If I am to be punished it should be for not acting sooner. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period … was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people."
“ .. we compromise now by allowing a government that uses war as the first option instead of the last to act with impunity. Many have said this about the World Trade Towers, "Never Again." I agree. Never again will we allow those who threaten our way of life to reign free - be they terrorists or elected officials. The time to fight back is now - the time to stand up and be counted is today.”
Lt. Watada ended his moving speech with another quote from a great American, Martin Luther King; "One who breaks an unjust law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law."
Entire speech available below; read it and weep, Mr Barack Obama, you unspeakable, lackey coward.
Last word
by herodotus Thursday, Apr 23 2009, 8:13pm
[Short term thinking] ruling elites forget that historians always have the last word. History also has a habit of foregrounding that which today's rulers attempt to background.
Watada's place in history is assured, even though few know of him today. So too Obama, who will go down in infamy for the lackey and house slave that he is!
Be assured that Martin Luther King jr will achieve widespread acclaim and recognition as one of America's truly great men/leaders on a par with Lincoln.
The revisionist machinations of today's pathetic leaders in no way prevents real historians arriving at accurate renditions and determining truth!
Editor's Note: Truthout reporter Sari Gelzer worked on Truthout's original reporting of the announcement by Lt. Ehren Watada that he would refuse deployment to Iraq. Gelzer was threatened by the US Army with a subpoena, which sought to compel her to testify about her coverage of Watada's announcement. Her video of the event became a key piece of evidence in the Army's case against Watada. Gelzer rebuffed the Army's request for testimony against Watada. - ma/TO
In a victory for Lt. Ehren Watada, the Justice Department decided last week that it would drop attempts to retry the officer for his refusal to deploy to Iraq.
Watada's lawyer, James Lobsenz, believes the decision was a case of legal realism. "They were going to have a really difficult time explaining why double jeopardy wasn't violated," said Lobsenz in reference to Watada's first court-martial, which ended in mistrial and would have violated his Fifth Amendment right to not be charged for the same crime twice.
Watada faces two remaining charges stemming from his public statements on the illegal and immoral nature of the Iraq war. The fate of Watada's continued legal limbo is currently in the hands of Fort Lewis officials who will decide how to proceed with the charges of conduct unbecoming an officer.
It has been almost three years since Watada became the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse to go to Iraq. His decision was not that of a conscientious objector opposed to war in general, but of an officer who felt that participating in the Iraq war was akin to committing a crime. After being denied a resignation from the US army, Watada refused to deploy to Iraq in June 2006 due to his belief that the war violated international and US constitutional laws.
"It is my conclusion as an officer of the Armed Forces that the war in Iraq is not only morally wrong but a horrible breach of American law ... As the order to take part in an illegal act is ultimately unlawful as well, I must as an officer of honor and integrity refuse that order," Watada said in a public statement.
Jeff Paterson of Courage to Resist, an organization that supports military resisters, including Watada, believes that the officer's stance had a profound impact on military members and American citizens.
"Ehren Watada was instrumental in putting the issue of the legality of the Iraq war front and center for not only military resisters but for activists in general at a time when it wasn't as widely discussed as it is today," said Paterson.
Watada's lawyers attempted to raise the issue of the legality of the war in the initial court-martial, since it was Watada's basis for refusing to deploy. However, the military judge ruled against the defense attorney's attempts to bring in scholars as witnesses to testify to the illegality of the war.
Watada's former attorney, Eric Seitz, told Time magazine that he believed the main reason the mistrial occurred was because the military didn't want to discuss the reason behind Watada's decision not to deploy: "I think whenever a prosecutor tries to keep out the substance of why a person acted, when it relates directly to the charges that are there, it creates an untenable series of contradictions."
Lobsenz, Watada's current lawyer, says he is hopeful that "the Army will decide not to attempt to resuscitate the other two charges and go forward with them."
Lobsenz's hope is based on the belief that the charges aren't very strong.
"One because there is a strong argument that they are also barred by double jeopardy. And two, there is a strong argument that they are barred by a doctrine about breach of a plea agreement," said Lobsenz.
In addition, Lobsenz argued that Watada's First Amendment rights also give reason for the remaining charges against Watada to be dropped.
Watada's public stand against the US military has been the strongest of its kind to this date, commented Paterson.
"Until a whole unit refuses to fight, I don't think there is any individual case that's going to resonate like Ehren's," said Paterson.
Watada's lawyer said that he is focused on his client's future. Once these charges are dropped, Lobsenz said, Watada can "get around to figuring out a way in which he can end his military service and get on with life in the civilian sector."
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