A SOLDIER'S PERSPECTIVE
THE WEB'S LEADING MILITARY BLOG SINCE 2004
According to the Associated Press, the Army is going to allow Lt. Ehren Watada to resign his commission and will be granted a discharge “under other than honorable conditions.”
Watada, or as we call him here “Wetarded”, is the first officer to refuse to deploy to Iraq. The moron argued that the war in Iraq is illegal and that he would be forced to commit war crimes. Funny; I don’t recall ever having to commit war crimes when I was deployed.
The decision to allow Wetarded to resign after being court-martialed for refusing to deploy with an “under other-than-honorable conditions” discharge does a great disservice to discipline and military order within the military. A precedent has now been set that the Army must have an extreme reason for not granting the exact same discharge to every other Soldier.
It also tells Soldiers who refuse to obey lawful orders to deploy that they won’t have to suffer the consequences of violating their oath and military contract.
Especially disconcerting is that fact that the Army possibly gave Wetarded this lighter sentence because he was an officer.
SPC Agustin Aguayo was convicted by court martial of refusing to deploy and being AWOL. His sentence was reduction in rank to private, forfeit of all pay and allowances, and given a bad conduct discharge at the end of his sentence.
Sgt. Travis Bishop refused to deploy and was found guilty of two counts of missing movement, disobeying a lawful order and going absent without leave (AWOL). For doing exactly what Wetarded did, he earned himself a reduction to Private, one year in jail, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and a bad-conduct discharge.
PVT Tony Anderson was sentenced to 14 months of confinement and given a dishonorable discharge from the military for “desertion with intent to avoid hazardous duty” and “disobeying a lawful order for refusing to deploy to Iraq.
The list goes on and on. Let me be clear here: THEY’RE ALL COWARDS AND IGNORANT BUFFOONS. But, if we’re going to treat enlisted AWOLs one way and commissioned officer AWOLs another, we’re setting a dangerous precedent within the force. Officers should be held to a higher standard than the Soldiers. Hell, a 19-year old PRIVATE – AN IGNORANT, IMPRESSIONABLE KID!! – got a worse sentence than a commissioned officer!!
Frankly, I think they should get the firing squad, but we’ve got a PC military these days and I don’t think we’ve shot a deserter in decades – unfortunately. It sure would send a strong message though!
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Lisa: I also met him on Are You Interested... and got the poems :-) If
yankeemom
Oh, for the love of…!
Watada’s Dad and the Vets For Peace crowd would give talks at the Vet’s Memorial Hall in Santa Cruz about the injustice of the war and the “moral courage” of his son and other deserters. (reason 13487 we moved from there.)
You’re probably right, CJ, But I have a sneaking suspicion that politics and a progressive representative or senator or two may have had a hand in this too. I know the military isn’t like it was in the past (my son-in-law bemoans this fact a lot) and what with IVAW, code pink and gold star parents against the war constantly haunting the offices of certain reps about their poster boy deserter ~ nothing would surprise me anymore.
There should be an island we could send them to and let them try to survive that.
Hinton
Watada should have been shot. That he wasn’t is something we will regret some day.
Space
I couldn’t have said it any better, CJ. The kindest way I can find to describe Lt. Watada is “gutless jacka$$.”
This situation will absolutely set a horrible precedent, and I shudder to think of its consequences.
defendUSA
Amen. This was a great read, CJ.
When I hear the IVAV trolls complain that the war was illegal, I just immediately remind them of Wetarded’s volunteer status to become a servant of the government and to support and defend the Constitution, not to mention that they are lacking knowledge of how Congress votes on these things for accountability…hmm. Did I say that word out loud? And yes, officers should be held to higher standards, no doubt.
defendUSA
Whoops…IVAW
Ron England
I am a Viet Nam vet and, for some twenty-five years, have been concerned for the security of my country. I didn’t think there were any patriots left in this country until the armed services went to all volunteer status. Boys. I was pleasantly surprised. There are, amoung the youth of this country, devout patriots. If Wetarded is a scared coward, let him go own about his business of cowering. The patriots of this country surely do not need a coward to hinder them, or for our patriots to mistakenly put their faith in a coward. He could get someone killed. Let him hang his head in shame. We will hold ours high!
JD
Glad to see the army come to it’s collective sense. I’ve supported Lt Watada from the start. Ooh-rah!
Terry
“A true patriot is a lover of his country who rebukes, and does not excuse it’s sins”. We need more objectors to show kids that there actually are a handful of soldiers who joined for the right reasons and refuse to fight and kill for the wrong ones. Yes, you have every right to voice your opinion, enlisted or not. And I have every right to tell you that you and other “soldiers” like you are one of the main reasons we as a country are so despised by those who are victims of our imperialism. And before you go saying that you and other soldiers protect my right to call B.S. on your B.S. argument, I’ll remind you that they don’t, and haven’t since WWII.
CJ
Terry, please explain to us what the “right reasons” are that people join you are spouting about. I’m on the edge of my seat in anticipation for this answer.
Please also tell me why I am the reason “we as a country are so despised.”
SkyscraperMan
I agreee, they join the forces knowing what its all about then when push comes to shove they run like chickens.