Have Courage, We Will Win

[unhappycamper]

http://www.vvaw.org/veteran/article/?id=966

A speech from "He Stood Up: The Mistrial of Lt. Ehren Watada" by Pepperspray Productions (1.27.7, Langston Hughes Center, Seattle, WA)
"It's each small act that we commit that gives us hope, those little gifts of the present." - Howard Zinn



Have Courage, We Will Win
By Lt. Ehren Watada

I think I can honestly say that I am surrounded by greatness, because I am surrounded by my brother and sister Americans who are here, and willing to take the first step toward making our country better.

In opposition to my position, the argument will be made that soldiers don't have a right to pick and choose their wars.

I would respond that it is not only our right, but our constitutional and moral duty.

Many seem to forget that service members swear loyalty; not to one man or institution, but to its country and its people.

We don't swear to fight in wars, or just 'do our job,' nor blindly obey orders, but to protect the promise, principles and laws of this country at all costs.

My intent is never to disparage the military or to dishonor the sacrifices of troops in the past or present.

Instead, I want to show you, my fellow Americans, that while we focus on the minute issue of whether Lt. Watada is legally right or wrong, this country is falling apart around us.

Sixty-six percent of the 300 million people in this country believe the war to be wrong, yet what are they doing to sacrifice something of themselves to stop it?

Our own government has concluded that the mere presence of American troops in Iraq is making America less safe to terrorism.

Eighty to ninety percent of Iraqis -- Eighty to ninety percent of Iraqis -- want us to withdraw completely within 6 months.

Their overall opinion is that our mere presence is exacerbating the sectarian warfare.

We ignore the voices of the people, yet we claim to want democracy for Iraqis.

We aren't there to protect America we aren't there to protect Iraqis; why are we there?

Why are young Americans dying in the sands of Iraq?

Why are we dictating to a 2,000-year-old civilization how they should live or what's best for them?

We are all being used for the profit and pride of a few within our society, and we are all paying for it in blood and treasure.

As for my imminent prosecution, it is the right and duty of every service member to refuse unlawful orders.

I would not be given a fair trial in any sense of the word.

The military shields itself with the law, based on technicalities, rather than justice.

I would not be allowed any defense to prove the order to conduct combat operations in Iraq is unlawful.

Even if a heavily biased jury, made up of career officers, could ever conceive of sympathizing with me, I would not be given my god-given right to due process.

You will be told the policies of the administration and the order to go to war are political questions, and not for a junior officer to consider.

Then who is deciding the political question? An undecided Congress? An apathetic public, without a personal stake? Or an administration who committed the alleged crime of deception in the first place?

In Nazi Germany, atrocities and wars of aggression against Poland and the Czech Republic were enabled, because very few were willing to stand up.

When they did, German prosecutors and judges used the very same arguments against them, insisting that the policies of war were for Hitler and the Nazi party to decide, and no one else.

There is no excuse when wrongs are being committed in our name, and when we are asked to willingly and silently, have a hand in these crimes.

I ask of you: What is the real threat to our society, our democracy and our freedom; the things that ensure a law-abiding and functioning military?

Is it the refusal of an officer who tried many times to avoid a confrontation with the military? Or is it the over-arching principles and policies of our current administration?

Remember, over the past six years, many things have taken place.

The violation of the Fourth Amendment by wiretapping international phone calls of American citizens without court-approved warrants or congressional oversight.

110 signing statements on bills, excluding the president from abiding to the law, to include the Anti-Torture Bill.

•The 2006 Military Commissions Act, which among other things retroactively indemnifies administration officials from prosecution under the 1996 War Crimes Act;

• Strips citizens and non-citizens alike of habeas corpus;

• Grants the present sole authority to determine who is an enemy combatant;

• Allows the establishment of military tribunals in which hearsay, coerced testimony and secret evidence can be used against detainees;

• Has allowed the systematic practice of torture, vague definitions of POWs leading to widespread abuse; indefinite incarceration without charge or representation; illegal renditions, establishment of secret prisons, and extraditions to countries known to use torture;

The violation of the Constitution by manipulation of data, false and misleading statements and material admissions to gain public support and authorization from Congress to wage war.

There are so many injustices that have been committed by this administration.

Excluding all these other actions, the Iraq war, itself founded by defrauding the American people, has had the most devastating and obvious effects.

It has caused an estimated 600,000 Iraqi deaths.

This is compounded with debilitating sanctions that killed another half a million Iraqi children between 1991 and 2003, not to mention the thousands of birth defects due to left over, depleted uranium shells from the 1991 invasion.

The majority of Iraqis are still without clean water, electricity, sewage and medical facilities. Unemployment stands at 70 percent.

Thousands of women, Iraqi women, are forced into prostitution in neighboring Syria and Jordan to support their families.

1.8 million Iraqis have fled the country or been displaced.

Sectarian death squads and organized crime rule many of the streets.

Bribery, corruption, kidnapping, murder, rape and extortion are rampant.

Extremist Islam has crept into what was once the most secular Arab nations, eroding the rights women used to enjoy.

A majority of Iraqis, both Sunni and Shia, believe the American occupation is enflaming the sectarian violence.

All of this takes place under the occupation by American military forces, and the influence of the American government.

As for us, over 500 billion dollars has been spent on the war effort and counting. With the life-long costs of veterans' medical care, the costs will easily exceed 2 trillion dollars.

The country is in extreme debt, with China buying most if not all US securities.

The dollar continues to fall, and if China makes any extreme changes to their currency, America could go into deep recession.

Veterans' benefits, including adequate psychological care, have been slashed, even as VA hospitals are overwhelmed.

Retirement benefits for the military have been slowly cut to fund the war.

Evaluating the opportunity costs, billions that could go to fund universal health care, funding for public schools, affordable college tuition, and terrorism prevention, are being sacrificed for this war.

Over 3,050 American service members have been killed or died as a result of the war, all with families whose lives are now shattered. Twenty thousand plus are wounded, and over half of those are disabled and disfigured for life.

Two-thirds of all Iraq vets suffer from PTSD, and are not receiving proper or adequate treatment; many are sent back to the frontlines.

Desperate for manpower, the military is accepting more of the lowest-scoring aptitude recruits, including those accused of felonies, or admitted me mbership in hate groups.

Foreign nationals are being heavily recruited, with promises of citizenship.

Increasing numbers of raw recruits are coming out of the most desperate regions of our country, small town and inner city youth with little chance for jobs, health care, and an education.

Several reports have determined the Army and Marines to be on the verge of breaking.

Vast amounts of war-damaged equipment sits idly and in disrepair.

Repeat tours are taking their toll on families. The divorce rates for vets have risen to 80% for officers.

The Reserves and National Guards have only 30% of their units fully equipped.

With the recent escalation, more part-time troops will be called up, losing income, benefits, promotions, even their positions to their full-time employers.

Suicides committed by troops are common in theater, and after redeployment.

In a lawless war zone, military women are often targeted by their fellow soldiers for rape and sexual harassment; very little is reported or dealt with appropriately.

Last but not least, official estimates state that 8,000 troops have gone AWOL since the war began.

Goodwill towards America has reclined drastically the world over, with our economy hanging on the military policy of the Chinese, and our leaders threatening tactical nuclear war with a country three times the size of Iraq, and a major supplier of oil for Russia and China.

This is what I learned in just a year and half alone. The pieces are there. Finding them and putting the puzzle together takes just a little effort.

Our country is being led in the wrong direction, an illegal and immoral direction.

But to know our country was sent to war and devastated another civilization over falsehoods is something I will never stand for.

There are some things that we just cannot do; without principles, without sacrificing for what we believe, what is the point?

Send me to prison, torture me or kill me, I will never enable or condone the waging of war with another country over lies.

We as a free society live under the rule of peace, law and justice. We should never stand for this. It is our duty as children of God; it is our duty as human beings. No longer can we sit on the fence; no longer can we remain ignorant. If we ignore this responsibility, then we are equally culpable in these crimes, regardless of whether we are directly responsible.

In a system of democracy such as ours, the crimes of the government are the crimes of the people. It becomes our inherent responsibility to do whatever it takes to impede these crimes, and prevent their repeated commissions.

Wearing the uniform is no excuse; living in a cave is no excuse; being in college or retired is no excuse, and being too busy is no excuse.

Seemingly we are unaffected by the events that swirl around us but someday these events will effect all of us, and tragically they may come crashing down all at once, because we have not held those who illegally started the Iraq war accountable for their crimes. Evidence is clear they will start the same kind of war in Iran, using the same pattern of lies and deceit.

The cataclysmic events that were predicted after the fall of Baghdad will seem infinitesimal compared to the consequences of an attack on Iran.


http://www.vvaw.org/veteran/article/?id=966