Solidarity with Lieutenant Ehren Watada

That the Parliament applauds the courageous stance of First Lieutenant Ehren Watada who on 22 June 2006 became the US Army’s first commissioned officer to publicly refuse deployment to Iraq; notes that Lieutenant Watada, who appeared before a court martial on 5 February 2007, faces up to six years imprisonment for refusing to deploy to Iraq and for speaking out against a war that he believes is illegal, stating on the day he announced his decision “As the order to take part in an illegal act is ultimately unlawful as well, I must refuse that order”; further notes and applauds the following words spoken by Ehren Watada when he addressed the Veterans for Peace National Convention in America last year “I stand before you today, not as an expert, not as one who pretends to have all the answers. I am simply an American and a servant of the American people. My humble opinions today are just that. I realise that you may not agree with everything I have to say. However, I did not choose to be a leader for popularity. I did it to serve and make better the soldiers of this country. And I swore to carry out this charge honourably under the rule of law. To stop an illegal and unjust war, soldiers can choose to stop fighting it. It became instrumental in ending the Vietnam war, but it has been long since forgotten. Now it is not an easy task for the soldier. For they must be aware that they are being used for ill gain. They must hold themselves responsible for individual action. They must remember that duty to the constitution and the people supersedes the ideologies of their leadership. The soldier must be willing to face ostracism by their peers, worry over the survival of their families and, of course, the loss of personal freedom. They must know that resisting an authoritarian government at home is equally important to fighting a foreign aggressor on the battlefield. Finally, those wearing the uniform must know beyond any doubt that, by refusing immoral and illegal orders, they will be supported by the people not with mere words but by action. Awareness of the history of atrocities and destruction committed in the name of America – either through direct military intervention or by proxy war – is crucial. They must realise that this is a war not out of self defence but by choice for profit and imperialistic domination. They must know that neither Congress nor this administration has the authority to violate the prohibition against pre-emptive war – an American law that still stands today. Though the American soldier wants to do right, the illegitimacy of the occupation itself, the policies of the administration and rules of engagement of desperate field commanders will ultimately force them to be a party of war crimes. The Nuremberg Trials showed America and the world that citizenry as well as soldiers have the unrelinquishable obligation to refuse complicity in war crimes perpetrated by their government. Widespread torture and inhumane treatment of detainees is a war crime. A war of aggression born through an unofficial policy of prevention is a crime against the peace. An occupation violating the very essence of international humanitarian law and sovereignty is a crime against humanity. These crimes are funded by our tax dollars. Should citizens choose to remain silent through self-imposed ignorance or choice, it makes them as culpable as a soldier in these crimes. I have broken no law but the code of silence and unquestioning loyalty. If I am guilty of any crime, it is that I learned too much and cared too deeply for the meaningless loss of my fellow soldiers and my fellow human beings. If I am to be punished, it should be for following the rule of law over the immoral orders of one man. If I am to be punished it should be for not acting sooner. Martin Luther King Jr once said “History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period was not the strident clamour of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good pe