Different Ways of Fighting

History tells us that most great revolutions started with a simple, immeasurably powerful single word declaration: no. In the life of Army First Lieutenant Ehren K. Watada, the truth of refusing to be shipped out to Iraq is going to face him a severe consequence. As a conscientious objector “wholeheartedly opposed” to the “deception used to wage this war,” the 28 year old Watada now works behind a desk at Fort Lewis just south of Seattle. His brigade, based in Fort Lewis, Washington, has shipped out to an unknown fate in Iraq. It is not known who will return alive.

Watada’s statement of opposition is noble, courageous, and in keeping with a soldier at the crossroads. “I was willing to go until I started reading,” he noted in a recent interview. In his prepared statement, he elaborated about the “lawlessness that has pervaded every aspect of our civilian leadership.” Truth is a difficult pill to swallow, and the blaring glare of enlightenment can sometimes seem to cause temporary blindness. We all come upon our own burning bushes, forks in the road. The difference between a survivor and a coward rests in how we deal with them.
 
If the greatest weapon is language followed by action, the written word is equally powerful. The power rests in the ability to effectively and calmly state your case and comprehensively transmit the message. Veterans for Common Sense [VFC] wrote an open letter to President Bush in March 2005 that noted some ominous possible results of the war in Iraq: 1.26 million Iraqi children under the age of five will die, 500,000 will need immediate medical attention, and 2 million will become homeless. Signatories to this letter included two Navy Vice Admirals, a Brigadier General, 14 Colonels, and 4 Captains.
 
In another case of military refusal, US Army Specialist Suzanne Swift was arrested for deserting her military police unit. What was her problem? She was suffering post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of alleged rape and sexual harassment by superiors while serving in Iraq. We can imagine such scenarios, and sometimes even carefully push them aside to be dealt with at a later date, but they will not go away. Stumble onto youtube.com and other video sharing sites and we can see that this is the most fully documented war in United States history. Visuals can sometimes have a numbing effect, but words are forever.
 
Carolyn Ho, mother of Lt. Watada, carefully delineated another element of her son’s reasoning in a June 22, 2006 open letter. “Implicit in his oath…is the duty to disobey all unlawful orders, for to carry out these orders renders him an accomplice to a criminal act.” The letter was a prelude to the June 27th National Day of Action, in support of her son and others, serving in Iraq or standing a different ground and fighting another war. Nothing worthwhile comes without a fight, and we can only hope more people have the courage of their convictions, one way or another, to bring this to a peaceful end.

Christopher J. Stephens adjunct college English instructor for Northeastern University, Wentworth Institute of Technology, Western New England College, and Corinthian Colleges, Inc.

His website is: http://www.cjstephens.biz/