Bob Watada is the father of Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned U.S. military
officer to publicly refuse deployment to Iraq on legal and moral grounds (see last
week’s Q&A). The lieutenant is now facing charges of contempt towards President
Bush, conduct unbecoming an officer and missing movement. The elder Watada
will be in Eugene Aug. 29 for a noon rally at the Federal Building and a 7 pm
presentation at the First United Methodist Church at 1376 Olive St. For more info
on Lt. Watada, visit www.thankyoult.org
Stumping for Ehren
Bob Watada defends his son from
the conservo-fascists.
Was Ehren always a principled kid?
If he felt he was right, he was very
adamant about things. The president lied,
the president cheated, and those are the
things we told our son you cannot do.
Have you been subjected to much
vitriol from war supporters?
Oh yes, of course. People call us
names and tell us we ought to leave the
country, but you can’t expect everybody
to be intelligent and informed. Ehren has
tremendous support from the public.
Is most of Ehren’s support from
anti-war activists?
No; we have a strong cross-section of
supporters across the entire spectrum.
The Maui Democratic Party, free speech
organizations, community and civil
rights groups, churches, Muslim organi-
zations and three Methodist bishops are
in support. There can be no justification
under any religion or philosophy for the
murder we’re committing in Iraq.
Are you against war in general?
I’m against war unless somebody
starts bombing my home and invading
my country. Then I will defend my coun-
try, just as the Iraqis are defending
theirs. My philosophy is, if man goes to
war, then we’ve failed as a society. We all
have to take responsibility for our com-
munities and use diplomacy to work
things out.
You refused Vietnam War duty and
got reassigned to the Peace Corps.
I was bitterly opposed to the U.S.
invasion of Vietnam. I thought that
there was a lot of racism in that war, and
I think that’s true today with Iraq.
Remember, we killed almost three mil-
lion Vietnamese, maybe more, and any-
where from 50,000 to 100,000
Americans were killed, for absolutely no
reason other than to satisfy the mili-
tary-industrial complex. Now, this coun-
try has moved right into almost fascism
and military dictatorship, and it’s incred-
ibly sad. From the start of
the Iraq War I felt that the
whole notion of going
after Saddam Hussein
was bogus.
Did Ehren feel the same
way when he joined the
Army in March 2003?
He wanted to give the
president the benefit of
the doubt. He understood
my feelings about going to war, but he felt
that he wanted to do something to help
his country, and I had to let him make his
own decision. At that time, remember, we
were pursuing al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
How do you feel about the probability
that he will serve a prison sentence?
My son has said very clearly, “If I have
to go to prison for speaking out, speak-
ing the truth, then so be it. But it’s the
president who violated the law, not me.”
How do you think history will view
your son 20 years from now?
I think history will view him as a hero.
People come up to me and say his coura-
geous stand is just a shining light. The
documentary Sir! No Sir! is about thou-
Bob and
Lt. Ehren
Watada
sands of GIs who finally stood up and
said, “Killing the Vietnamese is wrong.”
When they stopped fighting, the Vietnam
War came to an end. I’m hoping that
something like that will happen with this
war, but we need a lot of public support.
Do you think Americans are finally
starting to “get it” about the war?
Sen. Lieberman lost, and I think
that’s sending a message that if you’re
for the war, Americans are not with you.
I’ve heard from polls that anywhere
from 65 to 75 percent of registered vot-
ers are against the war. With those kinds
of numbers, candidates are going to
have to wake up to the fact that the
American people do not want the occu-
pation of Iraq to continue.
ew
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