I thought this might help.
I try to know the whole story myself!


Really, I think he should be hung or placed in front of a firing squad.
At least I am informed and not repeating gossip!
You may even disagree, and think he should live, but lets let him have
his day in court!


July 24, 2006
U.S. Army Officer Refuses to Return to Iraq, Saying He’s “Shocked and
Disgusted” at the Busheviks’ Deception

"Simply put, I am wholeheartedly opposed to the continued war in Iraq,
the deception used to wage this war, and the lawlessness that has
pervaded every aspect of our civilian leadership." These were the
impassioned, defiant words of Army First Lt. Ehren K. Watada, 28, in a
letter he sent in January "with deep regret" to his brigade commander,
Col. Stephen J. Townsend, asking to be allowed to leave the army "with
honor and dignity" on Constitutional grounds. The Army's charged him
under the Uniform Code of Military Justice with one count of missing
movement, for not deploying, two counts of contempt towards officials
and three counts of conduct unbecoming an officer. For taking this rare
stand, he faces an Article 32 hearing and possible court-martial this
Fall. He would be the first Army officer to be court-martialed for
refusing to serve in Iraq.

To be sure, Lt. Watada is no coward, and he is fundamentally not opposed
to war. To the contrary, after the attacks on 9/11 he enlisted in the
Army "out of a desire to protect our country," even paying $800 of his
own funds for a medical test to prove he qualified for duty despite
having asthma as a child. He served in South Korea, and has been lauded
by fellow officers and commanders with praise of his "exemplary" service
and "unlimited potential."

So what happened? The young officer, whose military reports cited his
"insatiable appetite for knowledge," started reading. He read books by
James Bamford ("A Pretext for War"), Seymour M. Hirsch ("Chain of
Command") and anything else he could get his hands on about the run-up
to war, the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, and the
Bush administration's campaign of deception. He was particularly
outraged by Britain's now-infamous July 2002 Downing Street Memo, which
pointed to the Busheviks' early intent to overthrow Saddam by misusing
and abusing intelligence to justify the March 2003 invasion.

"When I learned the awful truth that we had been deceived, I was shocked
and disgusted," Lt. Watada said. Attempts between the Army and Lt.
Watada to resolve the matter failed, with the Army refusing his request
to serve in Afghanistan, a justifiable mission he fully supports as
being directly connected to the terrorist attacks in New York and
Washington, D.C. The Army instead offered him a staff job in Iraq, which
he refused. It's the war, not the job, he is opposed to, he said.

Sentiment over the war is at its lowest point in the United States, as
civil war rages on in Iraq with 100 Iraqis being killed daily and
American soldiers entrenched in a quagmire that's spiraling out of
control with no end in sight. Two-thirds of Americans disapprove of the
war, of Bush's handling of it, and with a solid majority now believing
they were deceived by the administration. Lt. Watada is clearly not
alone. And his stand proves that knowledge is power; how outraged people
can get when they start learning the truth. For Lt. Watada, it's
unfortunate that he's serving in the military, since the military is not
very forgiving of those it accuses of desertion. Soldiers have few
choices when they oppose the actions of their government, even when that
government commits the ultimate act of treason by cherry-picking
evidence and manipulating intelligence, and then lying about it, to send
its loyal soldiers to die in an unjust, unplanned and ill-fated and
utterly avoidable war.



Mind you I think he should be hung or shot!!!

I believe it is important to know his side of the story, since I am
willing to be the executioner!
I also think the punishment should be the same man or woman!