JA Officer Makes It Official, Refuses Deployment to Iraq
P.C. readers add their voices to the controversy surrounding 1st Lt. Ehren Watada’s decision.
First Lt. Ehren Watada fulfilled his pledge to refuse deployment to Iraq when his unit was ordered to deploy June 22 and the 28-year-old Honolulu native refused to accompany them.
Watada is now officially the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse deployment to Iraq. He also becomes the first Asian American officer to do so.
“I refuse to be silent any longer. I refuse to be party to an illegal and immoral war against people who did nothing to deserve our aggression. My oath of office is to protect and defend America’s laws and its people. By refusing unlawful orders for an illegal war, I fulfill that oath today,” said Watada in a prepared statement.
Watada’s decision has created a huge divide among those that support the three-year war in Iraq and those who are against the war and fully support the first lieutenant’s decision. This divide is echoed in the comments from various P.C. readers (see below) who were asked to voice their opinions about the current controversy.
On June 27 a National Day of Action was held in dozens of cities across the country in a show of support for Watada, including New York City, Portland, Atlanta, and his native home of Honolulu.
Watada’s decision also has the support of his family.
“My son’s decision to refrain from deploying to Iraq comes through much soul searching. It is an act of patriotism. It is a statement to all Americans, to men and women in uniform, that they need not remain silent out of fear, that that they have the power to turn the tide of history … ,” said Watada’s mother, Carolyn Ho, in a statement.
The first lieutenant has not been officially charged with any crime but is currently being restricted to the Fort Lewis, Washington base where he has been stationed. He has also been ordered to have no communication with non-military personnel except his attorney. The Army is currently investigating Watada for comments he has made in opposition of the war.
Watada is not considered a conscientious objector since he is not against all wars, just the war in Iraq. His earlier attempts to resign his commission were refused and the officer now faces possible court martial charges for refusing to take part in the war.
The following are letters from P.C. readers addressing the controversy surrounding Lt. Watada’s decision:
What a brave young man! Regardless of dove or hawk, we all now know that the American people, and our ally countries, were deliberately lied to about why we needed to go to Iraq. And now, over 2,500 of our young men and women have died.
What is most sad is to learn that he’s one of — if not THE first — officer to have the guts to stand up and do what is right, despite the consequences to himself. THAT is true American patriotism.
Lt. Watada and his family deserve all the support we can give them during this difficult time. It is not often we come in direct contact with a true American hero.
Sharon Maeda
Seattle
There are many people in Hawaii who feel righteous about slamming Ehren Watada for refusing to go to Iraq, but I feel they have overlooked the fact that as one ascends the organization in which one becomes affiliated with, information available at one level is not automatically made available to all. And there are facts which are adamantly NOT made public.
I feel it was very natural for Ehren Watada to start questioning the why’s and wherefore’s of this war. If one has to fight, let it be an honorable fight ... and that should be felt in your heart.
I’m glad Ehren has the support of his family and friends because he will have a tough row to hoe. The military will undoubtedly make an “example” out of him. The WWII AJA vets probably don’t understand why he won’t just carry out his duty unquestioningly, and a lot of Japanese and Hawaii people who do sympathize will probably just keep quiet.
So to Ehren, I say “Do what you feel is right ... do what is in your heart, because that will carry you thru this stage in your life.”
Yvonne Lau
Honolulu
This spoiled brat of 28 years can’t have it his way as supported by his family. No one forced the lieutenant to receive a commission after graduation and if he did not know what came with a U.S. Army commission then he should resign. Going to the stockade to avoid or refuse to be deployed to Iraq adds fuel to the enemy and endangers his fellow U.S. troops in Iraq.
We who lived through WWII, internment, and serving in the military via draft (Vietnam) accepted our duty to serve as a price to live in the United States.
He is entitled to his own opinion privately on the war in Iraq, but the uniform he is wearing dictates what and where he is to be deployed, and that decision is not his to make.
Assuming he is not a conscientious objector, and we had many during the Vietnam conflict, he should consider moving and changing his citizenship to Canada.
Roy M. Takeuchi
Stockton, CA
I, too, agree with Lt. Watada that the war in Iraq was not justified, but I do not agree with the conclusion he has reached.
Lt. Watada must understand that what is going on in Iraq is being done in the name of the United States not George W. Bush. The U.S. got itself into a terrible situation now with Iraqis killing each other, Iraqis killing Americans, and Americans killing Iraqis. Since the U.S. is responsible for the current situation, the U.S., with help from other allies, must restore order for the people of Iraq. We cannot, in our conscience, abandon Iraq in the middle of the mess we created.
What we need in Iraq are great front line leaders like Lt. Watada, who I am sure is capable. He and the men he commands can demonstrate to the Iraqi people that America is truly there to help them, not only in defeating terrorists, but in helping them gain some stability and peace in their lives.
Tom Miyasaki
Via e-mail
I applaud 1st Lt. Ehren Watada’s decision to refuse deployment to Iraq. Instead of taking a position on the front line of the war, he has chosen to be in the vanguard of those who refuse to deploy to Iraq because of a conviction that this war is immoral and illegal. I agree, along with thousands of other loyal Americans. To invade a country, slaughter its people and ravage their lands without provocation is a monstrous evil, totally unworthy of a great nation such as ours.
What makes Lt. Watada’s action singularly courageous is that there have been other seasoned officers who’ve been there, done that, then returned to tell us the war was a mistake. He, on the contrary, a young man, probably on a fast track of promotion, will refuse to go at the outset, refusing “to be a party to the illegal and immoral war against people who did nothing to deserve it.”
No doubt Lt. Watada will be castigated by some, even punished, for his considered decision, just as those 300 or so brave men in the WWII concentration camps were criticized and punished for refusing to report for induction because their citizens’ rights had been violated. I believe the lieutenant knows what’s in store for him and is still willing to follow his heart and stick to his principles.
I say bravo! to him. And I thank him for making this hard decision. And by it, making this country a better, more honorable, place for our children and grandchildren.
Mei Nakano
Sebastopol, CA
First Lt. Ehren Watada will not win any military medals for his extraordinary act of conscience and moral integrity. That, apparently, is not what our military is all about.
But Watada has proven himself a human being first and foremost, and a soldier second. As a fellow human he chose to fulfill his unspoken commitment to humanity rather than to violate that trust in favor of the impersonal machinations of an arrogant military. He dared to make it a personal issue. It will be a costly choice but his conscience will be clear.
Watada may never be recognized as a national hero, especially by his own image-conscious Japanese community. But he surely will be recognized for his honesty and courage by humanitarians throughout the world and throughout history.
Yosh Kuromiya
Heart Mountain Draft Resister of 1944
First Lt. Ehren Watada took the soldier’s oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” Pres. George Bush took a similar vow when he assumed his high office.
The crucial question is: Did Bush violate his oath with his unprovoked attack on Iraq, based on a series of false claims, without a declaration of war by Congress? If so, then following his battle orders may be aiding and abetting an unlawful act.
Bush’s allegations that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction proved totally false. Iraq hadn’t made a single terrorist attack before our invasion. Her present violence is insurgency against our occupation.
Lt. Watada is not alone in his stand that the Iraq war is illegal and immoral. A large majority of the American people, including many retired generals, strongly oppose this war.
As a Christian Republican and a 442nd RCT veteran, who enlisted from Minidoka Relocation Center, I voted for George Bush in 2000. But I repented and voted against him and some Republicans in 2004.
Mas Odoi
442nd Veteran
As a former WWII Army veteran and a 442nd RCT rifleman, I have often wished that I had had then, the courage of conviction of the 1943 draft resisters and now, Lt. Watada, to protest and defy the Faustian “bargains” (internment and reopening of the draft) which were imposed unconditionally (and unconstitutionally) in 1942 and 1943.
Eji Suyama
Ft. Meade, SD
I support very strongly 1st Lt. Ehren Watada's refusal to serve in Iraq. I applaud his decision and the courage it took to make it. He has behaved honorably and honestly. The repercussions might be very harsh but the consequences of violating his conscience would be even harsher.
As a Japanese American and a child of the 1960s, I am proud of him and stand in solidarity with him.
Masaru Nakawatase
Philadelphia Chapter, JACL
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