nwasianweekly.com
Dec. 22, 2007

Photo by Douglas Johnson

Lt. Ehren Watada speaks to an audience in Bellevue on Jan. 28, 2007.

Top Stories of 2007

Watada: I have ‘no other alternative’

By Chris S. Nishiwaki
Northwest Asian Weekly
Feb. 3, 2007

Army Lt. Ehren Watada, a Japanese American officer from Hawaii stationed in Fort Lewis, pleaded his case to a local audience that the war on Iraq is illegal and that civilians have the power to end the war.

Watada addressed a friendly audience of more than 100 at Blaine Memorial United Methodist Church on Beacon Hill last Thursday on the brink of a court-martial trial on charges that he refused to deploy with his brigade in June and on statements he made dubbing the war in Iraq illegal.

Watada’s presentation was organized by the Seattle chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League. A second talk with Watada was held in Bellevue three days later and was organized in part by Eastside Asian Pacific Islanders. Though they co-sponsored the talks, both Seattle JACL and Eastside APIs said they were not taking a position on Watada’s actions.

“I know that what I say in court won’t matter,” Watada said in addressing Thursday’s audience. “What you say matters. They may convict me and send me to prison. In the grand scheme of things, it changes nothing.

“My hope in coming here tonight wasn’t to win the legal battle. My goal here is to remind us that we have the power of our individual voice. The bottom line is that we always have to try.”

Two of the charges for stating that the war is illegal were dropped on Monday in a deal between Watada’s attorney and the Army, reducing the possible maximum sentence from six to four years if Watada is found guilty.

Watada made the statements to journalists. Calling journalists as witnesses could have led to messy and lengthy First Amendment battles, including possible six-month sentences for the reporters if they did not testify.

A military judge has already ruled against Watada’s charge that the war is illegal, saying he could not use that as a defense. The same judge again ruled against Watada when he decided that charges for his public statements against the war did not infringe on Watada’s right to free speech.

In hosting the presentation, the Seattle JACL emphasized that it was interested in encouraging dialogue of a very complicated issue.

“We felt it was important and relevant to our community,” said Kyle Funakoshi, chapter president. “We are grounded on community engagement. We were hoping to stir the pot. Bring this issue to some kind of action. (Watada’s presentation) brought it to a point that we could dialogue about
it. I do think that every grassroots movement starts with engagement, with one person and another. What we felt we could do is create this forum.

“If there’s anything for sure, it’s that in the Japanese community people remember. (Watada’s presentation) has created a dialogue forever. It will not be forgotten.”

Watada was a lieutenant with the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, based in Fort Lewis that deployed to Iraq about eight months ago. Watada has maintained he is not a conscientious objector. On Thursday, he insisted he would accept a deployment order to Afghanistan but did not anticipate that would happen. He has remained steadfast in protesting the legality of the war in Iraq.

“Yes, I have broken rank,” he acknowledged, “because there’s no other alternative to saving lives. If we don’t stop our government’s wrongs, we are equally wrong. We are expanding terrorism worldwide. We are not stemming it.

“Our brothers and sisters are dying needlessly. These soldiers are strangers to me, but I feel their pain as if it were my very own.”

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