Comments on: An Officer and An Intellectual http://fcproducer.com/2007/01/an-officer-and-an-intellectual/ Independent Filmmaker, Final Cut Pro Editor, Producer, Multimedia Mind Open for the Public Sun, 22 Apr 2012 00:02:37 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: johnmccarthy http://fcproducer.com/2007/01/an-officer-and-an-intellectual/comment-page-1/#comment-2056 johnmccarthy Thu, 08 Feb 2007 16:47:03 +0000 http://fcproducer.com/index.php/andy-coon/2007/01/an-officer-and-an-intellectual/#comment-2056 All this anger directed at Lt. Watada is the direct result of the lies and propaganda force fed to the American people by the war criminals who used 911 as the New Pearl Harbor for justification for the preemptive attack on Afghanistan and Iraq which the FBI now tells us that bin Laden had NOTHING to do with and that al Queada was not connected to Saddam Hussein! Now that those Americans in Afghanistan and Iraq have been suckered for the profits of Halliburton and RMK Construction the finger pointing and hate mongering towards Lt. Watada is backfiring on the consciousness of American's who have digested the lies of the war criminals and their propaganda machine of our compliant media! How about the 259,000 Americans on permanent disability for being poisoned with depleted uranium from the 1991 war? How many more will be in the same condition from the last four years? The lies that led us to wage wars will come back to roost for the war crimes trials of Bush/Cheney et al, and there will be no mistrial there! Just google my email address for further info. John McCarthy vpocv@hotmail.com All this anger directed at Lt. Watada is the direct result of the lies and propaganda force fed to the American people by the war criminals who used 911 as the New Pearl Harbor for justification for the preemptive attack on Afghanistan and Iraq which the FBI now tells us that bin Laden had NOTHING to do with and that al Queada was not connected to Saddam Hussein!

Now that those Americans in Afghanistan and Iraq have been suckered for the profits of Halliburton and RMK Construction the finger pointing and hate mongering towards Lt. Watada is backfiring on the consciousness of American’s who have digested the lies of the war criminals and their propaganda machine of our compliant media!

How about the 259,000 Americans on permanent disability for being poisoned with depleted uranium from the 1991 war? How many more will be in the same condition from the last four years?

The lies that led us to wage wars will come back to roost for the war crimes trials of Bush/Cheney et al, and there will be no mistrial there!

Just google my email address for further info.

John McCarthy
vpocv@hotmail.com

]]> By: Andy Coon http://fcproducer.com/2007/01/an-officer-and-an-intellectual/comment-page-1/#comment-1908 Andy Coon Mon, 22 Jan 2007 13:22:14 +0000 http://fcproducer.com/index.php/andy-coon/2007/01/an-officer-and-an-intellectual/#comment-1908 Jill good point. You're right we have the comfort to debate this from our couches, but my ass is getting up and doing something about it now. I'll be in DC this weekend pleading with many other citizens of this country to pull out our troops. Watada's decision on not going to Iraq is I'm sure on the lips and minds on many soldiers and officers, in which all of the above are honoring their word. Watada I guess couldn't give orders to troops if he felt like they shouldn't be there in the first place. He and many other soldiers are risking their lives, and for any soldier to lay down their life for their country it better be warranted and for him to say that it's not... good for him. He was feed the sugar just like many of us and we all swallowed it, the thing now is the sugar is wearing off and we are now crashing hardcore. Jill good point. You’re right we have the comfort to debate this from our couches, but my ass is getting up and doing something about it now. I’ll be in DC this weekend pleading with many other citizens of this country to pull out our troops.

Watada’s decision on not going to Iraq is I’m sure on the lips and minds on many soldiers and officers, in which all of the above are honoring their word. Watada I guess couldn’t give orders to troops if he felt like they shouldn’t be there in the first place. He and many other soldiers are risking their lives, and for any soldier to lay down their life for their country it better be warranted and for him to say that it’s not… good for him.

He was feed the sugar just like many of us and we all swallowed it, the thing now is the sugar is wearing off and we are now crashing hardcore.

]]> By: Jill Foster http://fcproducer.com/2007/01/an-officer-and-an-intellectual/comment-page-1/#comment-1893 Jill Foster Mon, 22 Jan 2007 02:24:13 +0000 http://fcproducer.com/index.php/andy-coon/2007/01/an-officer-and-an-intellectual/#comment-1893 Well Andy you've got me thinking on Lt. Watada's reasoning. After hearing his interview once, my response does not immediately applaud his stance. Do I think Iraq was a warranted invasion - no; nor do I believe our president has demonstrated moral, honest diplomacy. But what prevents me from fully embracing Watada's refusal to serve is the precedence it will set for future, more 'legal' wars. What if future battalions comprised of would-be Watadas refused to serve? Where would the tenets of our Constitution be then? The level of chaos & collapsing chain of command would give us all pause. Lt. Watada serves his moral code well by not going and he deserves respect on that front. It must be lonely. Yet it seems naive of him to want to "let people know of this immoral war". Aren't all wars legal or not still immoral? He has chosen his perspective and I wish him well. Yet there are other soldiers - who have done the research and deduction that Watada has done; and they have chosen a different response toward service. Granted I debate this from the comfort of my home and not war fields in Iraqi provinces. But bottom line, if you sign-up in the military, it seems you sign up for the consequences that are beyond your control or preference. Otherwise you'd be signing up for a bake-off not the military. Well Andy you’ve got me thinking on Lt. Watada’s reasoning. After hearing his interview once, my response does not immediately applaud his stance. Do I think Iraq was a warranted invasion – no; nor do I believe our president has demonstrated moral, honest diplomacy. But what prevents me from fully embracing Watada’s refusal to serve is the precedence it will set for future, more ‘legal’ wars. What if future battalions comprised of would-be Watadas refused to serve? Where would the tenets of our Constitution be then? The level of chaos & collapsing chain of command would give us all pause. Lt. Watada serves his moral code well by not going and he deserves respect on that front. It must be lonely. Yet it seems naive of him to want to “let people know of this immoral war”. Aren’t all wars legal or not still immoral? He has chosen his perspective and I wish him well. Yet there are other soldiers – who have done the research and deduction that Watada has done; and they have chosen a different response toward service. Granted I debate this from the comfort of my home and not war fields in Iraqi provinces. But bottom line, if you sign-up in the military, it seems you sign up for the consequences that are beyond your control or preference. Otherwise you’d be signing up for a bake-off not the military.

]]> By: Robin http://fcproducer.com/2007/01/an-officer-and-an-intellectual/comment-page-1/#comment-1816 Robin Fri, 19 Jan 2007 03:10:50 +0000 http://fcproducer.com/index.php/andy-coon/2007/01/an-officer-and-an-intellectual/#comment-1816 As someone who has worked as a volunteer organizer for the Watada campaign, I can 100% assure anyone who asks, Ehren Watada IS an officer and a gentleman, as well as an intellectual. The question/comment is asked constantly, "So, he's a conscienteous objector?" No, Ehren is NOT a conscienteous objector. He first requested to be assigned elsewhere than Iraq. When he was denied, he submitted his resignation which was also denied. Ehren refused to deploy to Iraq for SOUND LEGAL reasons. It is our own government which embarked on an insane ILLEGAL war. This Tuesday, when the military judge ruled his defense inadmissable, it was an UNSOUND ruling. Because the military is charging him for his speech (conduct unbecoming) then Ehren has the LEGAL right to defend his speech. But this is the military, they are not bound by the same laws as us commoners are. If anything is to be learned from this, it is to not enlist in the military in the first place. For high schoolers, I urge all to use the OPT OUT form which denies the military access to your records for recruitment purposes. If Ehren does go to prison, all of us who are against the war because the war IS ILLEGAL have been imprisoned right along with him. It is up to us to clang our tin cups on the bars and shout out til we are finally freed. Supporting first lieutenant Ehran Watada is our moral imperative as a nation. As someone who has worked as a volunteer organizer for the Watada campaign, I can 100% assure anyone who asks, Ehren Watada IS an officer and a gentleman, as well as an intellectual. The question/comment is asked constantly, “So, he’s a conscienteous objector?” No, Ehren is NOT a conscienteous objector. He first requested to be assigned elsewhere than Iraq. When he was denied, he submitted his resignation which was also denied. Ehren refused to deploy to Iraq for SOUND LEGAL reasons. It is our own government which embarked on an insane ILLEGAL war. This Tuesday, when the military judge ruled his defense inadmissable, it was an UNSOUND ruling. Because the military is charging him for his speech (conduct unbecoming) then Ehren has the LEGAL right to defend his speech. But this is the military, they are not bound by the same laws as us commoners are.

If anything is to be learned from this, it is to not enlist in the military in the first place. For high schoolers, I urge all to use the OPT OUT form which denies the military access to your records for recruitment purposes.

If Ehren does go to prison, all of us who are against the war because the war IS ILLEGAL have been imprisoned right along with him. It is up to us to clang our tin cups on the bars and shout out til we are finally freed. Supporting first lieutenant Ehran Watada is our moral imperative as a nation.

]]> By: Andy Coon http://fcproducer.com/2007/01/an-officer-and-an-intellectual/comment-page-1/#comment-1803 Andy Coon Thu, 18 Jan 2007 19:07:26 +0000 http://fcproducer.com/index.php/andy-coon/2007/01/an-officer-and-an-intellectual/#comment-1803 This really pisses me off, the military is to be used as a last resort. These men and women risk their lives to protect this country and our government shows no respect to them at all by invading Iraq. Zero. Interesting how Sadam was hung for killing 148 Shiites... How many have died since we "occupied" Iraq? No justification whatsoever. This really pisses me off, the military is to be used as a last resort. These men and women risk their lives to protect this country and our government shows no respect to them at all by invading Iraq. Zero.

Interesting how Sadam was hung for killing 148 Shiites… How many have died since we “occupied” Iraq? No justification whatsoever.

]]> By: John McCarthy http://fcproducer.com/2007/01/an-officer-and-an-intellectual/comment-page-1/#comment-1798 John McCarthy Thu, 18 Jan 2007 14:52:57 +0000 http://fcproducer.com/index.php/andy-coon/2007/01/an-officer-and-an-intellectual/#comment-1798 The military judge has ruled that Ehren Watada cannot bring forth the argument that the war in Iraq is illegal in his defense even though he is charged with 'conduct unbecoming" for speaking out about his reaction to the preemptive, aggressive war which is in violation of the Nuremberg Findings. In that matter we hanged the defendant's after they were found guilty of the ultimate war crime, Aggressive War. The jury was quite clear in this matter: There is no excuse or justification for a preemptive attack on a sovereign nation that has not attacked the aggressor. NO EXCEPTIONS. Therefore, the court must address the issue before Lt. Watada: As an officer in the US Army, when can he legally refuse an order which constitutes a war crime? Lets take Curtis Lemay as an example: "If Japan had won WWII, I would have been tried as a war criminal for the fire bombing of Tokyo". At least he had the moral courage to say so. And Lt Watada is saying so "IN ADVANCE". vpocv@hotmail.com The military judge has ruled that Ehren Watada cannot bring forth the argument that the war in Iraq is illegal in his defense even though he is charged with ‘conduct unbecoming” for speaking out about his reaction to the preemptive, aggressive war which is in violation of the Nuremberg Findings. In that matter we hanged the defendant’s after they were found guilty of the ultimate war crime, Aggressive War. The jury was quite clear in this matter: There is no excuse or justification for a preemptive attack on a sovereign nation that has not attacked the aggressor. NO EXCEPTIONS.

Therefore, the court must address the issue before Lt. Watada: As an officer in the US Army, when can he legally refuse an order which constitutes a war crime?

Lets take Curtis Lemay as an example: “If Japan had won WWII, I would have been tried as a war criminal for the fire bombing of Tokyo”.

At least he had the moral courage to say so. And Lt Watada is saying so “IN ADVANCE”.
vpocv@hotmail.com

]]> By: sean coon http://fcproducer.com/2007/01/an-officer-and-an-intellectual/comment-page-1/#comment-1789 sean coon Thu, 18 Jan 2007 07:17:38 +0000 http://fcproducer.com/index.php/andy-coon/2007/01/an-officer-and-an-intellectual/#comment-1789 great post, bro'. and you're absolutely right -- it does take one man's courage to lead to two and so forth... great post, bro’. and you’re absolutely right — it does take one man’s courage to lead to two and so forth…

]]>