InfoRape

Rants about intrusive government control freaks.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Government's War on Lt. Watada

A recent article from Maui Peace Action, concerning the pro(per?)secution of Lt. Ehren Watada, went as follows:

In a case that cuts right to the heart of the First Amendment, a US Army prosecutor has indicated he intends to subpoena Truthout Executive Director Marc Ash, a Truthout reporter, and two of the nonprofit news organization's regular contributors, to authenticate news reports they produced and edited earlier this year that quoted an Army officer criticizing President Bush and the White House's rationale for the Iraq War.

Captain Dan Kuecker, the Fort Lewis, Washington-based Army prosecutor, has stated his intent to compel Ash, Truthout reporter Sari Gelzer, and contributors Dahr Jamail and Sarah Olson to testify at the court-martial of First Lieutenant Ehren Watada. Kuecker is actively seeking the journalists' testimony so he can prove that Watada engaged in conduct unbecoming an officer, directly related to disparaging statements the Army claims Watada made about the legality of the Iraq War during interviews with Truthout and his hometown newspaper, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, in June.


The article also contained a quote by Kuecker, with which I completely agree. That statement is as follows…

"This information is required as a part of an ongoing criminal investigation and prosecution," Kuecker wrote in that December 10 email to Ash. "Please respond as soon as possible."

This “investigation and prosecution” is as criminal as it gets!!! When a citizen of this country (“government property” or not) is attacked by our own government for refusing to participate in illegal actions, we need to get that government under control! Last I heard, this was a government “of the people”… no matter what those in high offices may wish it to be.

I am proud of Lt. Watada and only regret that I am no longer in the military, so that I could stand at his shoulder as he faces this challenge.