News Court-Martial for Lt. Ehren Watada
posted by on November 9 at 14:32 PM
The military has decided on a full court-martial for Fort Lewis soldier Ehren Watada, whose case I wrote about in the August 24 Stranger.
If he’s found guilty, Watada could get six years in prison for his refusal to deploy to Iraq.
However, in keeping with the current shift in attitudes about criticizing President Bush’s handling of the war, the military has decided to drop one of the charges against Watada. He will no longer face a charge of “contempt toward officials” for saying that Bush “lied” to get the U.S. into Iraq.
See, it's wrong to tell the Truth, you're supposed to tell the Truthiness, like Bush did with Rummy (I'm sure the soldiers who died during that lost month didn't mind, right?).
Although I disagree with Lt. Watada's claim that the war is illegal -- rather than just a bad idea with even worse executin -- I recognize the tremendous moral courage that his actions required in following his beliefs.
That said, antiwar activists supporting him should be careful what they wish for: do they really want Army officers exercising a veto on what their elected leaders tell them to do?
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