[dar-list] Lt. Ehren Watada

[katie]

  I just got back from hearing him speak tonight...I hear that his 
speech is posted on this website:

http://www.thankyoult.org/

I consider him to be a hero...I know that some folks will say that he is 
a traitor but what I don't understand is how those soldiers who are out 
there risking their lives protecting our rights should be forced to give 
up their own rights.
Watada said that he is more than willing to go to Afghanistan...he is 
not against all wars...he is only against the Iraq war...
The judge in his court martial which begins this week will not allow him 
to use the Geneva Principles as a defense.
 From the green party website:
http://www.wagreens.us/home/


"One of the Nuremberg Principles, formulated by the United Nations and 
consented to by the United States, states that if there is a 
contradiction between the Constitution or other high laws of one's 
country and a superior's orders, a soldier's duty is to the 
Constitution. We prosecuted the criminals of the Nazi era on the basis 
of this principle. Now Lt Watada is following this principle."


I am moved so much by his stand...he has so much integrity and no doubt 
there are those who will drag his name through the mud...

The other thing about this is that our government was created with 
checks and balances so that one part of Government can not have total 
power...


The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the right to an 
impartial jury in all criminal prosecutions.
I wonder why regular citizens never get called up to serve as a juror in 
a Court Martial.


I have so much respect for this man and I hope that his message reaches 
people...
I think we have really let our soldiers down.
Without the draft,  people seem to be going on their merry way because 
"it's a volunteer military"
katie