The Contemptible Watada

I don't know if Lt. Ehren Watada, US Army, has samurai ancestors but if he does they must be doing backflips in their graves. Lt. Watada is the first officer to publicly refuse to fight in Iraq on the grounds that it was an illegal war. Sounds reasonable enough right? No, it's not. Lt. Watada has shamefully turned his back on his brotherhood and the proud tradition of military officers serving this Country. He has no ground to stand on at all. He is an opprtunistic coward and I'm deeply ashamed that we're from the same state.

He's not a pacifist. He's not a conscientious objector. He's not saying that he's unwilling to fight. Just not in Iraq. Well, he doesn't get to make that call. If he was further along in his service, maybe he could resign his commission but at this early stage in his career, he still owes the American Taxpayer what he took his oath for. As a professional soldier, you go where you're told. You don't get the option of thinking for yourself here and civilians should want that. A military that doesn't willingly give in to civilian rule is one that may not defend such rule when push comes to shove. We have the longest living democracy in the world and not once has it ever been threatened by a military coup. Do you think that is because the military is scared of the civilian leadership? Hardly. The military capitulates to civilian rule, no matter how incompetent it may be, because to do otherwise in any situation sets in the motion the military coup process. There are tragic repercussions if Watada is allowed to escape punishment.

As far as the war being illegal, that's just plain silly. Justice, put simply, is what you can compel. I'm not talking about some divine notion of justice. That's way beyond my pay grade and any other human's for that matter. I'm talking about justice as it is exercised on earth and in reality. For justice to exist, there must be a set of laws and an enforcement mechanism to enforce those laws. If either aspect is missing, then justice becomes meaningless and unobtainable. Personally, I dislike the word. I've seen it used too many times to justify some aberrant behavior. Justice implies kicking ass in a socially acceptable, morally responsible way- what all warriors want. The ethical green light. But all these lofty ideas mean nothing with it comes to international relations and discourse between nations simply because there is no enforcment mechanism with the ability to compel compliance with a specific rule set. We as an international community cannot even agree on a single rule set.

It's is just plain stupid to apply the idea of law and order as we enjoy it in the United States to the world stage. In the United States, the Government holds the monopoly on the lawful use of force. Law and order cannot exist without that precondition. Expecting our foreign policy establishment is ply it's trade on the international scene as an agency might do in the United States proper serves no one. Good intentions are far worse than bad one because they somehow are exempt from accountability. I've seen good intentions cause much more damage than bad ones because good intentions often kill hope before they take life. Countless NGO's in Africa are guilty of this.

Watada's shameful act is more than just about him. If it were, I really wouldn't care if they just sent him home with a dishonorable discharge. His act tears at the very fragile fabric that keeps the American Officer the finest and most ethical in the world. He accuses President Bush of committing an illegal act and emphasized his point by committing one himself. That's not principle. That's the tantrum of a child. If he really had misgivings about deploying to the war, he could have taken his own life. That way, he wouldn't have to deploy and he would still retain his honor. But obviously honor means nothing to him. He's scared and wants what he wants. He's nothing more than a garden variety coward unworthy of even contempt.