Speech given by Lt. Ehren Watada, the first officer to refuse to fight in the Iraq war, on December 19, 2006 in Honolulu, Hawai’i, to an audience of 400 people at the Church of the Crossroads, sponsored by World Can’t Wait.
Ladies and gentlemen, I stand before you tonight with only
humility and respect in my heart. I am
grateful to be given the opportunity to speak and for those who are willing to
listen. I know that my decision has
divided the community; that was never my intent. I know that my decision has been the source
of much controversy; this is good.
Apathy and detachment from this war by the majority of the
American people has been the basis for this tragedy from the start. Whether you agree with me or not, I only ask
that when you leave this gathering: find
out everything there is to know about this war, take a position one way or
another, and if you believe that this war is illegal and immoral-ask yourself
what you are willing to do to stop it.
The American citizen owes that to the soldiers who are fighting and
dying in Iraq
every day.
The other day I met with the surviving members, widows, and
friends of Kilo Company 442nd Regimental Combat Team. As many of you know, the 442 was comprised
entirely of Japanese-Americans and became one of the most highly decorated
units during WWII despite rampant racism and discrimination. You could probably ask an American soldier
today if they know of the gallantry and courage of the 442nd or 100th
Battalion. Most likely 9 of 10-even 10
of 10 will say no. What an insult to
American history! What an insult that
every American soldier does not know of the sacrifice and tenacity exemplified
by those who fought in a foreign land when at home they were considered the
enemy. Then again, that’s the problem
isn’t it? American history, even
military history is quick to highlight heroism and patriotism but just as
quicker in censoring heroism that arises from an embarrassing mistake-an
injustice.
I told the veterans:
you fought and died to stop tyranny, aggression, and inhumanity. You realize this now. But far more likely when you were 18, 19, 20,
21-you knew only one thing. The honor of
Japanese-Americans might be restored by your sacrifice; your loyalty proven
under fire. We and African-Americans
were asked to prove our loyalty and courage in foreign lands while back home we
were treated as second-class citizens.
It is through your sacrifice and your courage that we are better off
today; you must never forget that.
I know now there was a good number among the imprisoned Japanese-Americans
who refused to fight-who refused to swear loyalty-until their families were
freed, their property returned, and their civil liberties reinstated. Though some of you may disagree, their stand
was just as principled and courageous as those who joined the military. They could have been executed for this
resistance and were instead separated and imprisoned in isolation until the end
of the war. Only decades later did they
receive recognition and redress from the U.S. government for this
miscarriage of justice.
In learning of this, one thing has become apparent to
me. These men were not cowards,
traitors, or disobedient as some would paint them to be. They were the pre-cursors of the civil-rights
era canonized by the sacrifice and principles of Martin Luther King Jr. Whether those Japanese Americans who said
“no” or those who said “yes” were right is not relevant-only that they respect
each others decision. Whether one
suffered on the battlefields of Europe or
suffered in prison, they all set out prove one point-that Japanese-Americans are
and will always be, Americans.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., the great American jurist and
civil war hero once said, “in our youth our hearts were touched with
fire.” I would add, that the reality of
war quickly douses those fires. In WWII
we fought against tyranny, aggression and inhumanity. We helped put an end to the utter cruelty of
Auschwitz and Dachau-Nanking and Bataan. But in
doing so we saw first hand, the devastation, degradations, and eternal sorrow
that war brings to everyone. Because of
what we and everyone else in the world witnessed and experienced-the world,
with the United States at the forefront, vowed to never again allow this to ever
happen ever again.
It was determined after Nuremburg and the Tokyo War Crimes
Tribunals that the greatest threat to international peace, the greatest crime
against humanity was and is engaging in a war of aggression. Wars of aggression are started for plain
reasons: profit, control, and power. A
war of aggression was codified as THE international crime against the peace
because through it enabled all other war crimes to take place including
genocide. Thus, wars and especially wars
of aggression were strictly prohibited by the U.N. charter, so that no member
nation could ever again start a war with another country that was NOT out of
imminent self-defense or authorized by a U.N. Security Council Resolution
I tell this to you to explain the lesson the children and
grandchildren of WWII vets have learned through their sacrifice. It was to prohibit, condemn, and hold
responsible those who wage aggressive war-to hold responsible all those who
have a responsibility to stop it-from the civilian to the generals to the
government official. Make no doubt about
it the war in Iraq
is a war of aggression. What have we
done to stop it?
To be sure, Saddam Hussein was a brutal and murderous
tyrant. He put down rebellions and
uprisings with mass-executions. He used
chemical weapons on the Kurds and Iranians-munitions that were outlawed
internationally but supplied by Western nations including the United States. Let us not forget that Saddam the tyrant was
financed, armed, and assisted by the United States government. When the Iranians were attacked with chemical
weapons they appealed to the international community for help and received only
silence in return.
Some of us remember, but many of us will never know the full
death count imposed on Central and South America
by the Reagan Administration’s proxy or “dirty” wars of the 1980’s. The Iran-contra affair is only the most
well-known secret war in which Nicaraguan Contras were funded, trained, and
armed by the U.S.
unbeknownst to Congress. In their quest to
overthrow the popular Sandinista government, the U.S.-trained Contras went on
brutal terror campaigns against innocent civilians. Thousands were murdered including nurses,
priests, and nuns who were providing humanitarian aid.
Senator Inouye condemned the now-pardoned Col. Oliver North
for his role in the scandal. He reminded
the colonel that he had a duty to disobey illegal orders even those of the
President.
But for all that Saddam was and was doing in March of 2003,
or since 1991 for that matter-he was not engaged in a war of aggression. He was as Colin Powell and Condaleeza Rice
said in 2001-“contained” and “not a threat.”
HERMAN GOERING QUOTE:
“Naturally the common
people don’t want war: Neither in Russia,
nor in England, nor for that
matter in Germany.
That is understood. But, after all, IT IS THE LEADERS of the country who
determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along,
whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a
communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to
the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is TELL THEM THEY ARE BEING ATTACKED, and denounce the peacemakers
for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. IT WORKS THE SAME IN
ANY COUNTRY.”
As pointed out by Hermann Goering, Hitler’s
second-in-command, it is not the people of a country who yearn for war or
aggressive war. After all what does the
common person gain from war but the loss of their life or that of a loved
one? It is usually the leaders or those
with power who thirst for war because it is power, control, and greed that fuel
wars of aggression in the first place.
Since the common person never desires war, it then becomes the
prerogative of the government to deceive the people. Though the leaders may desire war, it can
never be carried out without the will of the people. This is why the Nuremburg principles hold
everyone-every soldier regardless of rank, every citizen regardless of
station-responsible for their government’s actions. They are bound by international law to
prevent and stop an illegal war.
Ignorance, denial, and apathy are rarely excuses. But once you become aware that your country
has committed a war of aggression, you have become an accomplice to a
crime. You are obligated to do whatever
it takes to stop it or YOU are equally as culpable as your leaders.
Perhaps you are thinking this is not war of aggression-after
all WE were attacked on 9/11. Perhaps
you are thinking this is simply the nature of war and no crime has been
committed here. Perhaps I AM wrong and
time will tell, but the facts as they stand now speak for themselves.
Fact #1: We were
attacked on 9/11 by a group of international criminals who still, after utilizing
the vast resources of the American military, roam free.
Fact #2: President
Bush himself declared that there was no connection between Iraq and 9/11 and that no one in
the Administration ever suggested that link.
Fact#3: As concluded
by the 9/11 commission there were no collaborative ties between Saddam and Al
Qaeda.
Fact #4: As concluded
by the Iraq Survey Group, there were no WMD produced in Iraq after 1991 and none present in
2003.
Fact #5: Retired
veteran CIA officers and analysts have come out publicly to state that
intelligence was manipulated to fit a policy of regime change.
Tyler Drumheller, retired chief of CIA
covert operations in Europe stated publicly:
–“The (White House) group that was dealing with
preparation for the Iraq war came back and said they were no longer
interested.” – “We said: “”what about the intel?’ And they said: ‘”this
isn’t about intel anymore. This is about regime change’.” “The policy
was set. The war in Iraq
was coming and they were looking for intelligence to fit into the policy
[whether it existed or not].”
Paul Pillar, a retired CIA
national intelligence officer for the Near East and South
Asia where he was considered the agency’s lead analyst in
counterterrorism
–“In the wake of the Iraq war, it
has become clear that official intelligence analysis was not relied on in
making even the most significant national security decisions, that intelligence
was misused publicly to justify decisions already made”and that the
intelligence community’s own work was politicized. As the national intelligence
officer responsible for the Middle East from
2000 to 2005, I witnessed all of these disturbing developments.
Fact #6: In the most
recent declassified NIE report, 10 of our intelligence agencies conclude that
the presence of occupation troops in Iraq is fueling Islamic extremism
all over the world.
–“The war in Iraq
has become a “cause célèbre” for Islamic extremists, breeding deep resentment
of the U.S.
that probably will get worse before it gets better. If this trend continues, threats to U.S.
interests at home and abroad will become more diverse, leading to increasing
attacks worldwide. The confluence of
shared purpose and dispersed actors will make it harder to find and undermine
jihadist groups.”
Fact #7: A 2004 CSIS
report states:
–“The US and Iraqi governments have vastly overstated the
number of foreign fighters in Iraq, and most of them don’t come from Saudi
Arabia, according to a new report from the Washington-based Center for
Strategic International Studies (CSIS).
While the foreign fighters may stoke the insurgency flames,
they make up only about 4 to 10 percent of the estimated 30,000 insurgents. The
vast majority of Saudi militants who have entered Iraq were not terrorist
sympathizers before the war; and were radicalized almost exclusively by the
coalition invasion.”
Fact #8: 80% of the
Iraqi people, when polled earlier this year believe the American occupation is
worsening the sectarian violence and want the troops out of their country
immediately and within 6 months.
These are the facts and they are undisputable.
Saddam Hussein was indeed a brutal, murderous tyrant in a
long line of brutal, murderous tyrants propped up and supported by the U.S.
government-to fit the needs and ideology of a select few within our society-and
removed by force when it becomes an inconvenience. But Saddam’s treatment of his people was not
the reason we went to war. It was not
the reason Congress authorized force. It
was not the reason why many American’s supported this war in the first
place.
Instead it was fear.
It was intentionally manipulated fear.
We were told by our government that Saddam would use his stockpiles of
NBC weapons on us at any time and because of his ties to Al Qaeda this threat
was imminent. This was entirely untrue
and it was a manipulation of the American people and a betrayal of our
trust. The soldiers dying in Iraq today
are the consequence of that betrayal.
Allow me to read back some of the public statements made by
members of our government prior to and after the invasion of Iraq:
“Iraq has stockpiled biological and
chemical weapons, and is rebuilding the facilities used to make more of those
weapons.”“The Iraqi regime . . .
possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear
weapons.”“Intelligence gathered
by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess
and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised.”“We have satellite photos
that indicate banned materials have recently been moved from a number of Iraqi
weapons of mass destruction facilities. There can be no doubt that Saddam
Hussein has biological weapons and the capability to rapidly produce more, many
more.”“There’s overwhelming evidence there was a connection
between al Qaeda and the Iraqi government. I am very confident that there
was an established relationship there.”“”when
I think about al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. They’re both risks, they’re both
dangerous”Both of them need to be dealt with. The war on terror, you can’t
distinguish between al Qaeda and Saddam when you talk about the war on terror.
There’s no question that Saddam Hussein had al Qaeda ties.“Dear
Mr. Speaker:“acting
pursuant to the Constitution and [the authorization of force against Iraq] is
consistent with the United States”continuing to take the necessary actions
against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those
nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided
the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.Signed,
George
W. Bush, March 17, 2003″
A crime has been committed.
A crime has been committed against the Constitution. We pride ourselves on having a unique
democracy of checks and balances, separation of powers, 3 separate but equal
branches of government-all to prevent that which is hated and feared the
most: tyranny, authoritarianism, and
oppression by those who hold power. When
one branch of government intentionally deceives another branch to gain an
authorization for war, that is a flagrant violation of the Constitution. It is a base violation of our democracy. It is the beginning of the end of
freedom. Worse of all, it is a
crime.
As Hermann Goering admits, all a government has to do is
instill fear among the people, cast doubt on the detractors and they will have
any war they want. It is my personal
belief that we have been lied to, deceived, and betrayed. And everyday that we allow this deception to
continue, more and more of our sons and daughters pay the price. More and more of our hard-earned tax dollars
go down the drain when they could be used for far more noble purposes like
healthcare, education, and providing for disadvantaged Americans. Ask yourself what $8 billion dollars a week
could buy?
There are those within our society who have the most to gain
from deception-the most to profit. Just
as the oil companies paid for fake studies to cast doubt on global warming, so
have those who have cast doubt over the issue of Iraq. There never were any WMDs, there never was
any ties to international terrorism. But
for those who have something to gain from war, that is not what they would like
us to believe.
Of course, I fell for it-along with many, many
Americans. I believed in our leaders and
like many other Americans-I asked what I could do for my country. I volunteered, as did the disproportionate
amount of service members who had no other choice because they lacked a good
paying job and opportunities for education.
We were used and defrauded-manipulated through fear and poverty to fight
a war not out of necessity, not of defending our loved ones-but for a war of
choice, profit, and aggression for the wealthy few. We were naive, but if we continue to be
complacent and silent, we and our children will pay a horrible price.
When I finally learned the hard truth, I began to see the
world in a different light then how I viewed it 3 ½ years ago. The facts, as I have just pointed out to you,
are not difficult to find. However, it
takes a little willingness and a little self-interest to find it. A little self-interest in a war the vast
majority of Americans have been encouraged to take little interest in.
A recent poll shows 50% of Americans still believe there are
WMD in Iraq. Seventy-four percent of the soldiers serving
in Iraq
believe they are there because Saddam had a role in 9/11. Why the vast difference in perception and
reality-especially when that reality-those truths are out there, even in the
mainstream corporate-owned media? Have
we been that conditioned to not care about our country’s war even when 3-4
soldiers are being killed a day-when 100 Iraqis are being slaughtered each
day? Is there a detachment from reality
because we have been accustomed to obey and be silent-to be selfish and
uncaring?
How many of you here, if you or your sons or daughters could
be compelled tomorrow to kill and be killed, would not be finding out
everything there is to know about this war.
And if you truly believed it to be unjustified and illegal-how many of
you would not be on the streets from morning until night, protesting and doing
everything you can to stop it?
I am not the same person I was 3 ½ years ago. But I would not have had to stand up and
speak out if others, whose responsibility it is, would have done so for the
troops. Our government has become that
which we fought against in WWII. Yet, we
are appallingly silent. We have been
silent to the crimes that have been committed in our name. Our country is no longer admired around the
world and in fact hated for our arrogance and aggression. Yet we stand silent. Very few were willing to stand up for what is
right and just. Thus, it became
necessary for me to do what soldiers are not normally expected to do.
Can you imagine standing in the middle of the Washington desert,
finally realizing the truth while those around you are for the most part
oblivious or uncaring? Can you imagine
how it feels to realize you have been betrayed-that what you thought would be
an honorable profession has been used for ill-gain-that you are about to be a
willing and knowing participant in the most tragic event of the 21st
century? I was shocked, dismayed,
saddened, angry, and ashamed all at the same time; I felt helpless and hopeless. To be without the power or will to change
your life for the better is the worst feeling one can have. I felt I had no choice.
For months I was in turmoil over my duty to my soldiers and
the Army-and my duty to conscience, my soul, and the greater good of our
country. I looked at the consequences
for both. To challenge the system was to
stand up against insurmountable odds. What
little could I do, against the might of the U.S. military and government but to
be smashed against a wall and forgotten?
I found one truth during this time. There are many unalienable rights that
supposedly we have in this country.
Regardless of race, country, or religion, we are all endowed with only
one right-one freedom. That is the
freedom to choose. Only we can deny
ourselves that right. But when we do
deny ourselves-we have lost-we have lost the meaning of life-we have placed
ourselves in a prison of our own creation.
Only when I realized that I still had a choice-sure, I could go to
prison-but I still had that choice-and after what seemed an eternity-I saw my
freedom and took it back.
My choices became clear: 1-do my tour, come back in
one-piece, in which there was a relatively good chance, receive a medal, get
out of the Army, land a good-paying job and get on with my life; or 2-do what I
felt in my heart was right, live with a clear conscience, and open myself up to
danger and an uncertain future. I chose
the latter because it was not only morality that swayed my decision but
certainly my sworn duty as well.
As leaders, as officer, we must stick our necks out and take
that first step. In ancient times,
officers always stood at the front of their armies. It was time to do what soldiers swear an oath
to do-and that wasn’t to only go off and fight wars-but it was to defend this
country from all threats foreign and domestic.
We had leaders within our government who had broken the law, not only in
the creation and conduct of this war but in many other facets of governance-and
they still as of yet have not been held accountable. If this continued, they would feel emboldened
to create the disasters of Iraq
again and again.
I saw the arrogance, the hubris of those who have not learnt
the lessons of their mistakes. I saw
those who initiated this tragedy unwilling to admit the truth, correct their
mistakes or listen to the will of the people.
Instead dissent was labeled as unpatriotic and disloyal.
I saw the pain of agony etched upon the faces of those who
had lost their loved ones. It began to
be too much for me to take. Though many
soldiers are strangers to me, the anguish of their families still brings me
sorrow today.
I had had enough. I
hated to leave my troops, but something had to be done to stop this
insanity. I could help my soldiers best
by not going along with this stupidity but by actively standing against
it. It was a long shot-but I would try;
I would try for the soldiers who have been lost and those still trying to stay
alive.
When a man called on a radio show, he was close to tears as
he explained how his brother was being sent to Iraq for a second time. I remember he said in desperation: Why aren’t people doing anything? Where are the protests? Where is the anger? I agreed as I thought to myself: yes, where is everyone? Why aren’t people speaking up for me-for us?
Then it hit me like the proverbial freight train. Soldiers remain silent because we expect
others to speak and act on our behalf.
But what happens when those we expect to serve us, shirk their
responsibility-then what do we do? Shall
we sit down and call it a day?
So then I asked myself:
aren’t you SOMEONE? Are you not a
person who has the ability to do SOMETHING-no matter how insignificant or how
futile? Are you not capable of changing
things for the better? Before you expect
others to act-YOU must act first.
I made the decision.
In my resignation letter, I stated that I could no longer condone or
enable the lawlessness of the highest levels of my leadership. I realized in refusing, I would in essence be
serving the will of the people to whose trust had been placed upon me. I was doing what I could non-violently and in
accordance with my oath. I was upholding
our moral values and our democratic principles.
We do not torture, we do not unilaterally invade, occupy, and exploit
sovereign nations-and we do not allow the power of governance to be corrupted
and consolidated into the hands of a privileged few.
It’s not whether I simply agree or disagree with the war or
with the Administration for that matter.
I could very well enjoy going to war and believe our leaders to be
superstars. But that is not the
point. A crime against the Constitution
and the people has been committed. It is
my constitutional and ethical duty to disobey any order to further this crime
and hold those responsible, accountable to the people. Anything else would be breaking my oath.
Let there be no mistake, I am standing here today because
the Army wants me to be here. They could
have reassigned me or separated me quietly without incident and little
notice. Several other officers were
released from deployment with rumors spread that they were incompetent. Yet, incompetent I was not, only-in their eyes,
a little misguided.
You may have never known my name. The Army would barely have missed a
beat. After all, I was told that out of
4,000 some soldiers, I was the only one to approach my commanders with an
objection to the war. I believe there is
a zealotry, an arrogance of always being right, and a culture of conformity
that pervades the military. So much so,
that to prove my beliefs about Iraq
wrong, an example needs to be made out of me.
There is no room for the minority opinion and there is no room for
dissent. That in any organization is
dangerous. That in the army of a free
nation can be catastrophic.
There is a famous quote from General John M. Schofield in an
address to West Point in 1879:
“The discipline which makes the soldiers of a free country
reliable in battle is not to be gained by harsh or tyrannical treatment. On the
contrary, such treatment is far more likely to destroy than to make an army”He
who feels the respect which is due to others cannot fail to inspire in them
regard for himself, while he who feels, and hence manifests, disrespect toward
others, especially his inferiors, cannot fail to inspire hatred against
himself.”
Do soldiers question?
Do soldiers dissent? Absolutely
and all the time. The people of this
country-the people of a democracy should demand a military that questions. Would you have a military that turns on its
own people when ordered and does so without question? We as leaders and officers explain to our
soldiers during training why they are doing what we tell them to do. Belief in your task makes a better
soldier. But in this war, I could no
longer explain to my soldiers why we were fighting and be telling the
truth. How could I order men to die for
something I believed to be absolutely wrong?
LTG (ret.) Gregory Newbold wrote an open letter to TIME
magazine earlier this year:
–“We have been fooled again” I now regret that I did not more openly
challenge those who were determined to invade a country whose actions were
peripheral to the real threat”[But] I’ve been silent long enough”[The service
members] must be absolutely sure that the commitment is for a cause as
honorable as the sacrifice.
I offer a challenge to those still in uniform: a leader’s
responsibility is to give voice to those who can’t–or don’t have the
opportunity to–speak”An officer swears an oath not to a person but to the
Constitution. The distinction is important.”
I have answered the general’s challenge. On no uncertain terms I have challenged an
illegal and immoral policy on behalf of those who cannot or are unwilling to
speak. This is the responsibility of a
leader and I am not alone. Several times
a week, from the time I spoke out I have been approached in person or
correspondence by those within the Army and their dependents with support and
respect.
The military demands good order and discipline. Yet, I promise you that it will not be the
single action of a junior officer that destroys the Army but that of a failed
immoral, and illegal policy in which we as the people do not put an end to.
There have been some who have said that it is not my right,
nor place, nor responsibility to resist the illegal orders of our
government. I wish these people could
have stood at Auschwitz, then at Nuremburg and
tried to defend the Germans with this argument.
Twenty million perished because many believed it was not their right,
place, or responsibility.
So I ask you: Then whose responsibility is it to stop an
illegal and immoral war? Should we rely
on the good grace and conscience of those who started the war for profit and
control? No. Should we rely on our elected representatives
who ignore their constituents and simply condone and enable our corrupt
leaders? No. Should we rely on the people, who in a
democracy, hold the ultimate power for change?
What if they become so apathetic, cynical, and disinterested with
politics that the war just seems to far off to affect them personally?
There is little at stake for the vast majority of the
American population today to take action.
How many of you here tonight, if you or your loved ones could be sent
off to Iraq tomorrow would not be trying to find out everything there is to
know about this war? How many of you
would be on the streets morning until night to protest against the war? I would think most if not all of you. But the fact of the matter is there is no
draft, and there are far more pressing concerns than a far-away war that kills
3-4 Americans a day. After all, they
volunteered for it. They volunteered for
you. When the people are unwilling to
stand up and speak out against an illegal war, whose responsibility does it
become. It becomes the responsibility of
anyone who is willing to do something about it, and wearing the uniform is
not-it is never an excuse.