The Hawai`i
chapters of World Can’t Wait and Not In Our Name jointly called on people in
Hawai`i to support Ehren Watada
on June 27th. There were two rallying points:
one at the main gate of the Army Command at Fort Shafter, where
there would be sign-holding and a press conference, and the other along
a busy
commuter corridor in Honolulu. We focused
on the Fort Shafter action.
We were really
surprised when we got there early and others were already arriving and the
press was waiting for us. As soon as we
piled out of our pick-up we could hear military police concealed behind the
fences saying ‘Here they are!’ and within minutes surveillance cameras were
poking through the hedges.
Positioned outside
of the main gate and sentry station, our banners quickly elicited mixed
responses from military personnel entering and leaving. Thumbs up, thumbs down; middle fingers up or
big smiles and even a few handshakes. Confronted with bright green banners reading ‘Stand With Lt.
Watada Refuse Illegal War!’, ‘The World Can’t Wait! Drive Out the Bush Regime’,
‘Your Government is waging an illegal war) ‘, ‘Your government is torturing) ‘
and an assortment of smaller placards (including ‘Support Our Deserters’), the
majority kept their windows rolled up and their eyes straight ahead, but the
number showing support was really significant.
The press
conference included representatives from many organizations: World Can’t Wait, Not In Our Name, Church of
the Crossroads, Progressive Democrats of Hawai`i, Code Pink, Pacific District of
the United Methodist Church, National Lawyers Guild, Hawai`i Labor for Peace
and Justice, AnakBayan, DMZ-Hawai`i and more.
That so many organizations felt strongly enough to send representatives
to this press conference was unprecedented.
Many called for members of the Bush Regime to be tried for war
crimes. Others openly called for more
GI’s to publicly refuse to fight an illegal war and challenged people to
support them.
As the press conference
ended, some protesters remained at the main gate while others held their banners
over a nearby freeway overpass until police threatened arrest, driving the
entire group back to the military gate.
Meanwhile, about
50-60 people also held signs supporting Ehren Watada along King Street, where evening
commuters responded in a variety of ways.
This is an issue everyone has an opinion on.
The action was
covered by every TV station and by one of the dailies several including
pictures of a World Can’t Wait poster with the slogan very clear.
Ehren Watada’s
refusal to deploy to Iraq has polarized Hawai`i. Ehren was raised
in Hawai`i, attended a local high school and
college here, and his dad has been prominent in local government.
Mainstream newspapers are filled with
letters to the editors and articles.
Talk radio hosts are fueling reactionaries. Everywhere people are
debating Watada’s decision, the legality of
the war, and whether soldiers CAN refuse orders. We’ve never
heard so much discussion of the Geneva Conventions
and the Nuremberg principles. It seems
that no one is surprised by the fact that Bush lies, but whether the
Regime is
actually guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity is much more
contentious. This is favorable territory for World Can’t
Wait!
The week after Lt.
Watada held his first press conference, our chapter helped organize a three-day
showing of ‘Sir, No Sir’, and World Can’t Wait and NION sponsored the publication
of a full-page ad in a local newspaper that appeared the day before his refusal
to deploy. Within a week 300 people had
signed the petition supporting Watada and contributed toward the publication of
the ad, making it possible for it to appear the day before he refused
deployment. Because of the timing, the
ad was shown on TV coverage announcing Watada’s refusal.
Our chapter was
at Ala Moana Park on July 4th, where thousands of people were picnicking while
awaiting the evening fireworks. We had
a tent covered with ‘World Can’t Wait’ banners, and leafleting teams carrying banners
moved through the park with World Can’t Wait banners, as well as banners
supporting Watada and other GI resisters/deserters. We leafletted the World Can’t
Wait Call and gathered signatures to the Call.
Through Ehren
Watada’s case, we have been putting the Bush Regime’s illegal war on
trial. Our ad supporting Watada had a
special box directing readers to the Bush Crimes Commission findings and
indictments. Fueled by ‘Sir! No Sir’
we’ve been raising the spectre of a righteous GI movement of resistance in
opposition to the Bush Regime’s illegal war and in a State dominated by the
military this is great. It has been resonating
with a lot of people, and we’re building ties with not only the ‘anti-war’ and
‘peace’ forces, but others who are overjoyed by the breadth of our Call.
We’ve met many people
who are inspired by Ehren Watada’s action, and the news that there are 8,000 more
GI’s who have gone AWOL is seeming to bring a lot of hope to people who had
lost any hope of stopping the war. Now
the challenge for us is to keep the Call front and center and build on this new
hope to build the kind of movement that can actually Drive Out the Bush Regime.