"Army Lieutenant Becomes First Commissioned Officer to Refuse Deployment to Iraq" (Democracy Now!):
For the first time since the start of the war, a commissioned officer is refusing deployment to fight in Iraq. On Wednesday U.S. Army 1st Lieutenant Ehren Watada announced his intention to disobey what he says are illegal orders to deploy to Iraq. He was supposed to make his announcement at a news conference yesterday but military officials told Watada he could not attend because he was barred from speaking publicly about his case while on duty at the base.
Watada is a member of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd infantry Division based at Fort Lewis near Seattle, Washington. His unit is set to be deployed later this month. Lieutenant Watada faces court martial unless the Army allows him to resign or assigns him to duties not directly connected to the war.
On Wednesday, Lieutenant Watada issued a video recording explaining why he is refusing to fight.
1st Lieutenant Ehren Watada video statement. Courtesy of Ron Smith.
We are joined now on the line by Ehren Watada and his lawyer, Legrand Jones.
1st Lieutenant Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to refuse deployment to Iraq. He joins us on the line from Washington State.
Legrand Jones, attorney for 1st Lt. Watada in Washington state.
That's the introduction to a story on Democracy Now! today and you need to check it out. How much do I think so? I've waited hours to log in tonight. Blogger/Blogspot is screwed up and was yesterday as well. So I've been checking and checking. Long day and all I wanted was to go to bed. I'm tired, stressful day at work, the skin around my right eyebrow is twitching. I should be asleep. But that's how important this story is. So please check it out.
Also check out C.I.'s "NYT: Angels in the outfield? No, idiots in the Green Zone" and Betty's
"Thomas Friedman, the Jayne Mansfield of the New York Times." That's it for me, I'm going to sleep.
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