Posted on 03/18/2007 1:35:02 PM PDT by jazusamo
In a slow, measured voice, Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada urged people at an anti-war rally in downtown Eugene on Saturday to choose what is right, even when faced with negative consequences.
Watada, stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash., faces a court-martial and up to six years in prison for refusing to fight in Iraq. He was the main speaker at Eugene's annual protest against the war, held each year at the Federal Building to mark the March 20, 2003, anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
"They may imprison or torture or take away our lives, but they can never take away our freedom to choose what is right and just," Watada said, to loud cheers from the crowd that packed the Federal Building plaza.
Watada, 28, was the first commissioned military officer to refuse to fight in Iraq, claiming that the war is illegal.
During his 23-minute speech, Watada avoided describing his legal battles with the Army. Instead, he spoke generally about the thinking that led to his unsuccessful attempt to resign from the Army in January 2006.
Watada, who had previously concluded that the war violates the Constitution and the War Powers Act, told his army superiors that he was willing to fight in Afghanistan, but not in Iraq. He was charged last year with one count of missing movement because he did not join his brigade as it deployed to the Middle East. He also was charged with conduct unbecoming an officer for subsequent statements he made.
"Am I a pacifist? Apologetically, no," he told the crowd. But like most people, Watada said he values "peace, justice and happiness" and opposes "suffering, war and death." The only inherent right that people have is the right to choose, he said, and when people surrender that right, they surrender their own freedom.
Watada said that while he debated whether to follow orders, he realized that, "I am free because I can choose."
"I was afraid of what (the Army) would do to me, but I was more afraid if I did nothing," he said.
Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy spoke before Watada, explaining last Monday's approval by the City Council of a resolution calling for a rapid and orderly withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Some may question the effectiveness of a city council statement on a national matter, Piercy said, "but the voices of the cities are the voices of America, and our influence is strong."
After Watada's speech, some in the crowd called him courageous.
"I think he said so eloquently all of the things that all of us wish we could say," said Allen Johnson, a retired pediatrician. "He's a brave man because it's not easy to do what he did."
Michael Carrigan, a rally organizer, said Watada inspired the audience because he risked his personal freedom to stand up for his beliefs.
"It was one of the most brilliant and moving talks that I have ever heard," Carrigan said. "He captured the hearts and mind of every single person in that audience."
A Saturday evening benefit was planned at Cozmic Pizza in downtown Eugene to raise money for Watada and Suzanne Swift, the Eugene soldier who was court-martialed in January for refusing to go to Iraq.
Saturday's rally and a morning march to the Federal Building from the Lane Events Center were among many events held in cities across the nation to coincide with Tuesday's anniversary of the invasion.
The marchers, many carrying anti-war signs, pushing children in strollers or walking dogs, walked six or more abreast during their 16-block trek.
Carrigan estimated that 2,500 people attended the rally. Several people who attended previous marches and rallies said they were more optimistic than in past years about U.S. troops coming home from Iraq because of last fall's elections.
"I'm much more hopeful than I was four years ago," said Ellen Arietta of Eugene. "I would like to see an immediate and orderly withdrawal" of U.S. troops.
Some of the marchers were veterans, including 85-year-old Edgar Peara, a retired Unitarian minister and a combat engineer in World War II, who wore his dress Army uniform and carried a U.S. flag.
World War II made "me a peace advocate," Peara said. "To me, no civilized nation should consider war as an instrument of foreign policy."
I'm pretty sure the men in his unit that he refused to deploy with consider him a coward. They're in the suberbs of Baghdad, Iraq at this very minute fighting terrorists and he's in Eugene trying to make himself a martyr in front of a mob of moonbats.
Watada Ping!
Wingnut preaching to the Choir.
He should have faced the Eagles in DC.
I thought we had an all volunteer force. What was this clown thinking of when he voluntarily joined the Army?
Great to read something from the Emerald People's Republic, where I spent many a hazy weed-filled day in my ratty little rental on Kincaid Street across from the music building. One thing I must say about living with leftists - it is a quick and easy lesson in seeing their hypocrisy and inane thinking. One reason I'm here is them. Of course, the only thing easier than smoking weed was bedding down the endless herds of Earth women roaming the streets - all you needed was a little Nancy's yogurt, some Birkenstocks, good bud, and some liberal platitudes, and suddenly you're transcending politics and entering the world of the biological sciences. Just hearing the Grateful Dead makes me wistful. I wasn't foolish enough to marry one, though. LOL
If an Army deserter is "brilliant and moving" to these people, they have no standards.
According to these retards, it's brave to be a coward and abandon your fellow soldiers. What a bunch of idiots. The brave ones are the ones who are currently fighting for freedom in Iraq, not worthless traitors such as this scumbag.
They must have taught him in public school, that Lts and enlisted are justified to micromanage and decide whether a campaign is legit, or not.
Tell me about it. My daughter started at UofO years ago and couldn't take it. She figured if she had to put up with moonbats she might as well do it closer to home and finished at SOSC in Ashland.
Why this little prick isn't back on base confined to quarters or in the stockade confounds me.The MPs should have come and jerked his traitorous ass off that stage.
"He's a brave man because it's not easy to do what he did."
Yeah. And what would this guy call a 19 year old kid, who actually volunteered to go to Iraq, and while the walls before him, next to him, and behind him are crumbling from intense enemy small arms and RPG fire, raises up to expose himself to return their fire? What do you call that? I'm getting really SAT of the Bolsheviks in this country redefining our language to serve their ambitions.
I attended the U of O back in the early 70s, and it was very liberal even then. There was an ROTC, but any cadet unwise enough to wear his uniform on campus was immediately booed and jeered. The moonbats set off a bomb in the administration building one night--fortunately no one was injured.
I majored in English, and the school was beginning to eliminate its advanced English courses to make room for bonehead English. Too many high school graduates were arriving and proving themselves semiliterate at best. I took the last class offered on Chaucer.
My impression ever since then is that it's gotten steadily worse.
I haven't checked a map yet but I read in a previous article several weeks ago that he's allowed to travel up to 250 miles away from his base without permission.
I agree but sadly, that can probably be said about most colleges and universities.
The fruit does not fall far from the tree.
"..Ehren K. Watada was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to Robert Watada and Carolyn Ho. Robert Watada served for 10 years as executive director of Hawaii's Campaign Spending Commission and himself refused to serve in the Vietnam War..."
That is hillarious.
Yes, both his dad and mom have been antiwar activists for some years. Many including myself, believe this may have been planned by Ehren before he accepted a commission. There's no actual evidence of that but it's a possibility.
Watada said that while he debated whether to follow orders, he realized that, "I am free because I can choose."
Yeah, doesn't that just beat all? lol
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