Iraq war resister Ehren Watada finally allowed to resign from the Army

Michael Balter 9/27/2009 08:46:00 AM Politics
Finally, an end, or at least a new chapter, in the saga of this brave young man. The U.S. Army, having failed to convict him by court-martial and having failed to convince a federal judge that he should be retried, has let Watada resign as he initially requested, citing the illegality of the Iraq war.

Meanwhile, in today's New York Times, Frank Rich ponders the parallels between JFK's dilemma over whether to escalate or de-escalate in Vietnam in the early 1960s and Obama's at least momentary hesitation to agree to the military's request for more troops in Afghanistan. A chance for Obama to avoid turning his presidency into the kind of disaster that neither Lyndon Johnson nor George W. Bush had the wisdom and the courage to avoid; perhaps Ehren Watada's courage could be an inspiration to Obama at this crossroads in history. At the very least, it should be inspiration to the rest of us.

Some good sense (and even a little knowledge) on Iran's nukes. From Scott Ridder in The Guardian. Read it, and consider that the biggest saber-rattler re Iran, Israel, is not a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Why not? Iran is, whatever one might think of its compliance. The hypocrisy of this situation might escape many Americans and Israeli apologists, but it doesn't escape the Muslim world.
Michael Balter

Posted by Michael Balter

I have been a working journalist for more than 40 years, beginning in Los Angeles as an investigative reporter and then in Paris as a travel, food, and science writer. For more than 20 years I have covered anthropology and archaeology writer for Science, Audubon, Scientific American, SAPIENS, and other publications. I have also covered sexual misconduct for The Verge, Scientific American, and others; I write about mental health, especially schizophrenia; and I engage in occasional media criticism. I returned to the USA in October 2017 after 30 years in Paris, and now live in the New York City area, where I currently teach journalism at City College of New York (I previously taught journalism at Boston University and New York University.) For more about me and what I do, copies of my articles, information about my book, and other goodies, please visit MY WEB SITE

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1 Comments

Anne Gilbert said…
Ehren Watada is indeed a very couratgeous man. It is very hard for me to imagine that a person in those circumstances would not have obeyed orders, and maybe resigned after coming back, then speaking out. But he felt the war was illegal in the first place, and said so. I met him a few years ago, at an event where he got an award fro speaking out as he did. I wish him lots of luck in the future.
September 27, 2009 at 3:35 PM
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