O'DONNELL: Welcome back to HARDBALL. An army officer is facing serious charges for not deploying to Iraq with his Fort Lewis, Washington, combat team. Lieutenant Ehren Watada believes the war in Iraq is illegal and is refusing to go, but he is willing to serve in Afghanistan or elsewhere. If convicted, he could face almost eight years in prison.
I actually got to see this entire segment on TV. It was frustrating to watch the Lieutenant's father speak in moral terms and his counterpart speak in legal terms. I don't think either heard the other. One thing's for sure: if you've sold your soul to the army, you damn well better not ask for it back.
This is an amazing story to me. In a way, he's the bravest soldier in the army. Risking years in prison, he takes a stand many others wish they had the courage and conviction to make. The man arguing against him was the usually plainspeaking Iraqi veteran Paul Hackett, an outspoken critic of the war. But he did not have the courage of Lieutenant Watada during his tour of combat and was now bitter. Nothing worse than saying something can't be done and then watch somebody do it. Yes, you can refuse to go.
Hackett's reasoning didn't hold water:
"I would suggest that [Lt. Watada's] voice and his opinions would be far more valid and heard across America if he served his soldiers and led them in Iraq, and came back and, if he still felt that way, chose to speak out against the war."
Huh? That's like saying you can't speak out against murder unless you've done it, that way you have more credibility.
In regards to Lt. Watada criticizing the President:
"I have been far more outspoken and critical of the president of the United States, using far more incendiary language than that, but not while wearing the uniform, not in my capacity as a serviceman and certainly not on active duty."
Hackett said a soldier had no right to pick and choose which wars he would fight in. Reality is, you can't pick and choose when you have a soul. Waiting till you're out of uniform to speak is chickenshit. This President is a traitor. Silence is unpatriotic.
"He's made the decision not only to join the military, but also to be publicly critical of the president, which is his right. But like Henry David Thoreau, when you make that decision, you have to take the punishment and there's no ambiguity within the culture of the military that when you cross that line, you‘re going to be punished."
At the very beginning, the Lieutenant's father said his son is willing to go to jail. Hackett is talking as if Watada thinks he's going to go free. Lt. Watada's message is this: "It's better to go to jail than to kill wrongly". What Hackett heard is this: "You're saying I killed wrongly!" Now you see why Hackett was so passionate in his response.
The flip reply to all this is to say that to defend Watada is to not understand the military and how it needs to work. Oh, I understand alright - crystal. But think of this: what if Hitler's army had refused to heed him? Or Saddam's? What if they had followed their conscience? (I know, I know, we can't have everyone quit being soldiers because then the world would have no armies and we wouldn't be safe. Hey, wait a minute...)
I actually got to see this entire segment on TV. It was frustrating to watch the Lieutenant's father speak in moral terms and his counterpart speak in legal terms. I don't think either heard the other. One thing's for sure: if you've sold your soul to the army, you damn well better not ask for it back.This is an amazing story to me. In a way, he's the bravest soldier in the army. Risking years in prison, he takes a stand many others wish they had the courage and conviction to make. The man arguing against him was the usually plainspeaking Iraqi veteran Paul Hackett, an outspoken critic of the war. But he did not have the courage of Lieutenant Watada during his tour of combat and was now bitter. Nothing worse than saying something can't be done and then watch somebody do it. Yes, you can refuse to go.
Hackett's reasoning didn't hold water:
"I would suggest that [Lt. Watada's] voice and his opinions would be far more valid and heard across America if he served his soldiers and led them in Iraq, and came back and, if he still felt that way, chose to speak out against the war."
Huh? That's like saying you can't speak out against murder unless you've done it, that way you have more credibility.
In regards to Lt. Watada criticizing the President:
"I have been far more outspoken and critical of the president of the United States, using far more incendiary language than that, but not while wearing the uniform, not in my capacity as a serviceman and certainly not on active duty."
Hackett said a soldier had no right to pick and choose which wars he would fight in. Reality is, you can't pick and choose when you have a soul. Waiting till you're out of uniform to speak is chickenshit. This President is a traitor. Silence is unpatriotic.
"He's made the decision not only to join the military, but also to be publicly critical of the president, which is his right. But like Henry David Thoreau, when you make that decision, you have to take the punishment and there's no ambiguity within the culture of the military that when you cross that line, you‘re going to be punished."
At the very beginning, the Lieutenant's father said his son is willing to go to jail. Hackett is talking as if Watada thinks he's going to go free. Lt. Watada's message is this: "It's better to go to jail than to kill wrongly". What Hackett heard is this: "You're saying I killed wrongly!" Now you see why Hackett was so passionate in his response.
The flip reply to all this is to say that to defend Watada is to not understand the military and how it needs to work. Oh, I understand alright - crystal. But think of this: what if Hitler's army had refused to heed him? Or Saddam's? What if they had followed their conscience? (I know, I know, we can't have everyone quit being soldiers because then the world would have no armies and we wouldn't be safe. Hey, wait a minute...)
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