BF2S Forums A soldiers refusal to go to war

Whether the Conflict is illegal or not is beside the point.

The man joined the Armed Forces, therefore it is his duty to go where his superiors tell him.  If he had any thoughts that he might not be able to follow the order(s) of his commander(s) then he never should have join in the first place.

He has taken an oath to defend the U.S. from all enemies both foreign and domestic.  The powers that be in the U.S. have declared the insurgents in Iraq to be enemies of the U.S.  He is therefore duty bound to goto Iraq and defend his country.

What I don't get are all the people who actually use the word "coward" to describe Lt. Watada. One, he specifically requested to be posted to Afghanistan instead of Iraq. I could swear that there's still fighting going on there, someone correct me if the Taliban suddenly vanished from the face of the Earth while I wasn't looking. Two, the absolute best this guy can hope for is a dishonorable discharge and the unending, venomous, seething hatred of tons of people who didn't even know who the hell he was a year ago. This is, after all, the same country where people heaped praise upon William Calley and scorn upon the people who spoke out about the My Lai Massacre.

Now I know there's been a mistrial, and it's my opinion that they probably won't retry him for the simple reason that they don't want him in the media's eye if it can be avoided. Yeah, maybe he made a bad decision or two here, maybe he shouldn't have signed up. I'm no mind-reader, I have no idea what's going on in the guy's head. But coward? How many cowards does anybody see VOLUNTEERING to go to Afghanistan? How many cowards do you think would put themselves at the mercy of military justice in the current political climate in this country? He could have just left, split the country and gone somewhere else. He didn't. He's taking a stand and rolling the dice. Sure doesn't look like cowardice to me. Whether you think he's right or wrong, you can't seriously say it doesn't take guts to stare down the barrel at a military prison sentence.

JPesadilla wrote:

Whether the Conflict is illegal or not is beside the point.

Not to him obviously !

JPesadilla wrote:

If he had any thoughts that he might not be able to follow the order(s) of his commander(s) then he never should have join in the first place.

If you read the whole interview he stated he would be willing to serve in Afghanistan !

JPesadilla wrote:

He is therefore duty bound to goto Iraq and defend his country.

I didn`t know Iraq was a part of the US ????

usmarine2007 wrote:

Varegg wrote:

JPesadilla wrote:

Whether the Conflict is illegal or not is beside the point.

Not to him obviously !

JPesadilla wrote:

If he had any thoughts that he might not be able to follow the order(s) of his commander(s) then he never should have join in the first place.

If you read the whole interview he stated he would be willing to serve in Afghanistan !

JPesadilla wrote:

He is therefore duty bound to goto Iraq and defend his country.

I didn`t know Iraq was a part of the US ????

This guy is a pussy and it is not up to him where to serve, or when.  As for your Iraq comment, just shows how ignorant your foreigners can be.

Really, and how is that ? ... excuse me for being so slow, please explain !

usmarine2007 wrote:

Varegg wrote:

Really, and how is that ? ... excuse me for being so slow, please explain !

No.  I have done it MANY times to the same stupid comments, and am not doing it anymore since it does not matter apparently.

Ah... come on, i would really like to know so i can be less ignorant in the future ....

Guess you can`t huh ?

Last edited by Varegg (2007-02-19 05:39:23)