I believe that soldiers are morally obligated to obey the Constitution, but it’s really not up to a First Lieutenant to decide whether or not a war is justified. Congress and the President decide those matters. You’re kind of stuck with what they decide after you swear in. I don’t think that Watada is doing his best to “faithfully discharge the duties of his office.”
I’m not quite sure how I feel about the charges of contempt being brought forward. I’ve expressed frustration with President Bush and other American politicians on several occasions in this blog. Hopefully, Army lawyers aren’t planning on charging me with contempt. I think that military personnel walk a fine line. It’s important that we have the political freedom to speak freely just like any other citizen. However, military personnel should always make clear that their personal feelings are on the back burner while in uniform.
The Army accused 1st Lt. Ehren Watada of missing his brigade’s troop movement to Iraq, twice speaking contemptuously of the president and three acts unbecoming an officer. The alleged actions are violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
The charges come about a month after Watada announced his decision not to deploy with the 3rd (Stryker) Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at a June 7 news conference in Tacoma with opponents of the Iraq war.
I think there is a difference between being ordered to shoot unarmed civilians lined up against a wall and just plain old refusing to go to war, even though you swore an oath to obey the orders of the President and everyone else above you in the military chain of command. Certainly people are entitled to make their own final decisions about what is moral and what isn’t; even those who are in uniform. But if a military court disagrees, as I suspect it will, then LT Watada will be paying a heavy price for deciding himself that the war in Iraq is unjustifiable.
You can read the officer and enlisted oaths of office in their entirety below: