Army officer says won't fight in "unlawful" Iraq war

[Airbornelawyer]

Originally Posted by x_sf_med

What Branch is this guy? I don't think it says - if he's not CA he's doubly a wimp, if he is CA he's an honorless, self serving, loser. The SOB VOLUNTEERED to join the ARMY as an officer, to protect and defend the Constitution, and more importantly to protect and defend the men under his command while making sure the mission is accomplished. This puke has no excuse, and no moral or ethical ground to stand on in my book. You do not have to believe in every policy to do your sworn duty, honor demands that you follow through on an oath, they are not mutually exclusive - I think most of us here on the board do not agree with every policy in this administration, but if asked to do a job in the purview of our chosen profession (or in some cases former profession) we would do it, and question it later - our Team depends on our skills, and our country depends on the Team doing its job.

sorry 'bout the rant all - this guy just makes me want to break out the Rem 700, 36" barrel, w/ a Zeiss 40x400 - and practice harrassing fire, one limb at a time.

Field Artillery

[Richard]

I signed onto his web-site and signed his petition of support...as Abu musab al-Zaqhari and thanked him for his support of al-qaeda.

[Team Sergeant]

Originally Posted by Richard Hayse

I signed onto his web-site and signed his petition of support...as Abu musab al-Zaqhari and thanked him for his support of al-qaeda.

LOL, why did I think of that!

[Warrior-Mentor]

Originally Posted by Richard Hayse

I signed onto his web-site and signed his petition of support...as Abu musab al-Zaqhari and thanked him for his support of al-qaeda.

I'm sure we could find a couple other knuckle heads to sign the petition...
UBL
al-Iraqi
Khomeni
Che
Mickey Mouse

Anything to undermine their efforts...

[Blue]

Proof yet again that's it's far better to have a p***y than to be one. I'd give my right arm (literally) to be back in the game, and this fool pisses it away..no doubt with these intentions the entire time.

[Razor]

Originally Posted by Blue

I'd give my right arm (literally) to be back in the game...

Not your left nut?

[CPTAUSRET]

Originally Posted by Razor

Not your left nut?

I bet she'd offer up yours!

[Go For Broke]

And this is the legacy he is descended from...Whatever happened to the concept of On and Giri?

NISEI LEGACY
“As sons set off to war, so many mothers and fathers told them, live if you can, die if you must, but fight always with honor, and never ever bring shame on your family or your country. Rarely has a nation been so well served by a people it so ill-treated.”
- President William Clinton
On May 8, 1945 Germany surrendered. Five months later Japan surrendered. The war was over. The men in the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Military Intelligence Service had fought the enemy in Europe and in the Pacific. But there was another enemy to fight - prejudice.
During basic training in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, the Japanese American soldiers were bewildered and angered by the segregated buses and bathrooms. They were neither black nor white. America’s naturalization laws put them in the same racial limbo. Immigrants of Caucasian or African ancestry could become citizens, but nothing was spelled out for Asians until 1882, when the Exclusion Act barred citizenship to the Chinese.
There were more than 500 federal, state and local laws and ordinances aimed at “persons ineligible for citizenship.” Racists claimed that because “Orientals” couldn’t be American citizens, they were entitled to fewer rights than other immigrants. They were denied the right to own land or buy homes. Some states even barred interracial marriages. Other barriers prevented the Japanese from engaging in a variety of businesses from hairdressing to law.
In spring 1942, America committed one of the worst crimes against human rights in its history. The government rounded up more than 110,000 persons of Japanese ancestry who were living in West Coast communities and forced them into U.S. concentration camps. Meanwhile, in Hawaii, 2,500 miles closer to the enemy, the Japanese were not incarcerated. Why? In Hawaii 38 percent of the population was Japanese, while only 25 percent was Caucasian. Hawaii couldn’t afford to lose 40 percent of its workforce - especially in wartime. Plus, Hawaii didn’t have the ships to transport 160,000 resident Japanese. In addition, many powerful leaders in the military, government and community urged tolerance. As a result roughly 1,000 high-risk Japanese from Hawaii were interned.
Despite the Nisei’s stupendous war record, anti-Japanese sentiment remained strong - especially on the West Coast. In spring 1945, Americans of Japanese ancestry started to leave the barbed wire camps located in desolate areas of the U.S. to return to their homes and businesses - those few who still had them. Anti-evacuee elements used practically every weapon short of lynching and murder to keep the Japanese from returning. Near Sacramento, California, the house belonging to the family of a Nisei soldier was set afire. Near Santa Ana, California, the Masuda family received death threats while the local police did nothing.
General Joseph Stillwell was outraged. He personally presented the Distinguished Service Cross medal to Mary Masuda. Mary’s brother Kazuo was killed in action, and he earned the medal for his courageous fighting at “Little Cassino” in Italy. Stillwell said, “They bought an awful hunk of America with their blood. . . You’re damn right those Nisei boys have a place in the American heart, now and forever. We cannot allow a single injustice to be done to the Nisei without defeating the purposes for which we fought.” Fortunately, many other Caucasian soldiers protested loudly about the ill treatment of the Nisei and their families.
But they had their work cut out for them. After all, in 1943 the Commander of the Western Defense, Lt. General John DeWitt, had said “A Jap’s a Jap. . . They are a dangerous element. . . There is no way to determine their loyalty.” Mainland newspapers published a steady stream of inflammatory lies about alleged acts of sabotage and espionage. One report implied that the Japanese had deviously marked crop fields to point toward an aircraft plant in California and toward the city of Seattle. Another said that 20 Japanese possessed 100 Nazi swastika pins. Other Japanese farmers were accused of sabotage when they were found with explosives - something commonly used to blow up the tree stumps when clearing vegetable fields. The logical explanations were never quiet as exciting as the original alarms. None of these claims of treason were ever proven.
The rumors of treasonous activity in Hawaii were also wrong. This point bears repeating, because many Americans have not heard it before. There were no acts of sabotage, espionage, or fifth column activity committed by the Japanese in Hawaii, prior to December 7, on December 7 or subsequent to December 7, 1941. All of the officials who would know, agree on this point - the Secretary of War, the Honolulu Chief of Police, the Chief of Military Intelligence for Hawaii, and the Director of the FBI.
After the war, the Nisei vets returned to Hawaii to much fanfare and celebration. The war, and its numerous sacrifices and injustices certainly accelerated the process of statehood for Hawaii. In 1954, Americans of Japanese ancestry gained political control of the Hawaii territorial legislature. In 1959, the territory of Hawaii became a state.
Throughout the islands and the mainland, the walls of racial discrimination began to crumble. In 1952, the Nisei’s parents finally won the right to be naturalized U.S. citizens. It was their sons’ sacrifices to save the “Lost Battalion” that helped convince Congress to change the law.
In 1988 President Ronald Reagan signed one of the most important pieces of legislation to Japanese Americans, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. The act ordered the U.S. government to provide reparations of up to $20,000 - and most importantly - an apology to those incarcerated in America’s concentration camps.
From 1996 to 2000 , the Army reviewed the records of the Nisei who won Distinguished Service Crosses and determined that 20 deserved to be upgraded to the U.S. Army’s highest military honor. In 2000, President William Clinton awarded 20 Medals of Honor to Japanese American soldiers (19 DSC upgrades and 1 Silver Star upgrade) - many were awarded posthumously.
More than 650 men from the 100th Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team never came home. They died in hospitals or on battlefields. Another 3,500 were wounded.
As 442nd Veteran Rudy Tokiwa said:
“There’s a lot of us that never came home. But I think in thought they are home. The guys went overseas and gave their lives to prove that we are Americans. And we’ve all got to be thankful.”
Like many Nisei, 442nd veteran Frank Shimada doesn’t like to speak about the war:
“I’m not too keen. . . talking about these things. But I owe it to those guys who didn’t come back. Because in telling my story, I could be telling some of their stories too. Their stories need to be told. Some of the guys don’t want to talk to other people about it. I tell them you know when you die, what you know goes with you, and its gone forever. At least if you tell somebody, it will be here for the next generation.
Today, many Asian Americans take their rights for granted. They did not live under the discriminatory laws barring immigration, naturalization, land ownership and inter-racial marriages.
Recently, Arab Americans were treated with suspicion after the terrorist attacks in 2001. Japanese Americans were the first to protest when government officials discussed discriminatory treatment. They knew that when the rights of one minority are threatened, the rights of all are threatened.
These quiet, humble American heroes taught a country about patriotism, honor and tolerance. We must not ever, ever forget that lesson.

[Goggles Pizano]

This guy is a turd. Flush him. A sentance of "death by firing squad" is appropriate adjudication. F-ing coward!

[x SF med]

Razor - that wasn't nice - and if I wasn't trying to stay alive, I could make a comment about a leftmost part of XX anatomy that is generally frozen off by broom riders..... easier for Blue to give up I presume. (ok, how forfeit is my life? goodbye all, it's been fun)

[VAKEMP]

Can't wait to see what happens to him. I'm guessing not much, since there is such a large group of supporters: http://www.thankyoult.org/

Wonder if there is any truth to this. Still irrelevant if you ask me:
The REAL reason he refused to go...?

A little video clip:
Anti-American Idol

[Gypsy]

http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=5117494

Army Charges Lt. Watada

July 6, 2006 03:13 AM CDT


HONOLULU (KHNL)- Hawaii residents react to what's shaping up to be a controversial international case, centered around a Hawaii-born soldier.

The Army filed three charges today against First Lieutenant Ehren Watada who refused to deploy to Iraq last month because he believes the war is illegal. The charges are conduct unbecoming an officer, missing movement and contempt toward officials.

Defense attorney Eric Seitz says military lawyers calculated 28-year-old Watada could face seven and a half years in prison and a dishonorable discharge if convicted.

Watada is reportedly in good spirits tonight, just hours after the army read the charges against him. His father Bob Watada says, "I'm very concerned for my son but when you do the right thing you feel ok, you feel good. He did the right thing and I'm very proud of him."

Seitz is not surprised Watada is charged with missing movement but-- "we were flabbergasted the army made charges that he was disrespectful in some of the statements he's made to the media."

Seitz expects a battle about first amendment rights. "Obviously those charges are being used to muzzle opposition in a way that I think is very unprincipled."

Opponents, like veteran Jack Schneider, say Watada deserves prison time. "I don't think it's enough. Being a veteran I know what it's like to be in a combat zone where people are saying things that are detrimental to the mission."

Watada's father says his son is ready to pay for his beliefs. "If that's the price to pay for him standing up then he's going to go to jail. He's prepared for it."

Seitz expects Watada's first military hearing - called an Article 32 - at the end of this month, and his court marital to start in the fall.

Watada is a member of the Army's first Stryker Brigade Combat Team. He refused to go to Iraq after researching the war and determining it to be illegal. He said he would be willing to serve in Afghanistan or elsewhere.

The Army refused to allow him to resign his commission because his unit is covered by a stop-loss policy and he has not fulfilled his service obligation, which ends in December.

[The Reaper]

I don't care where he is from or who his lawyer is.

He needs to go to jail and be an example to others. As an officer and a leader, he has violated his oath, as well as the trust, confidence, and loyalty of his soldiers and superiors alike.

I vote for the GCM and hard time. The Federal felony conviction will follow him and will make him wish he had chosen another path for the rest of his life.

The deployment orders are from competent authority and are not illegal.

He must follow them, or pay the piper.

TR

[Monsoon65]

"Watada is a member of the Army's first Stryker Brigade Combat Team. He refused to go to Iraq after researching the war and determining it to be illegal. He said he would be willing to serve in Afghanistan or elsewhere."

Since when can someone pick and choose their fights? He'll fight in Afghanistan, but not Iraq? If that's the case, I don't want to fight in either anymore. I'll save myself for when we decide to go to war against Bermuda or New Zealand.

Give him the GCM and some jail time. Let him stew over his decision when he's working at the car wash with that loser from the Coast Guard Academy.

[12B4S]

The nicest way I can put it on this site is that I agree with TR. Let him go through the system, serve his whatever time and live with it. I just hope his time in prison , is hand digging canals or smashing granite boulders into sand for 30 years. he should feel lucky if that were the case. Even if he got Afghanistan, I doubt the puke would have lasted long.