The Violence Worker!

Phony Soldiers

First up is the coward Watada.  Watada found a federal judge outside of the military system (I really didn't know you could do that) that has issued a stay preventing another trial.  He is claiming double jeopardy.  I'm no lawyer so I guess I just don't see why this asshat coward isn't sitting in Leavenworth.

From the Seattle PI

Last month, U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle of Tacoma temporarily stopped the court-martial, which was to begin Oct. 9.

In his ruling Thursday, Settle said that Watada would "suffer irreparable harm" should he be tried a second time and that the Army lieutenant would likely prevail at a full trial if he argued that a new court-martial would violate his constitutional protection against double jeopardy.

The son-of-a low-life-bitch will probably walk.

The other phony solder (and yes, i consider Watada a phony soldier) is the infamous Jesse McBeth.

You remember the little piece of crap that claimed to be an Army Ranger who not only saw atrocities but said he joined in?  Yeah, that wretched piece of filth.

Well he's out of the Fed Pen for claiming benefits he didn't deserve.

He says he's sorry now for all the lies.

From KING TV:

Lakewood man says he wishes he could take back his words        that have circled the globe.    

    

       What Jesse MacBeth said – and did – landed him in federal prison.      

    

Now, he admits to KING 5 that his lies inflamed anti-American sentiments and made things more difficult for U.S. Forces fighting overseas.

Yeah, he's sorry.  He's a wife beater, a liar and a felon.  Have a good life, asshat.  There are probably a lot of soldiers dead and wounded through your childish and petty efforts to get back at the man.  And to the anti-war bastards that hyped him before his ruse was on covered, you deserve the same fate as your boy Jesse.

VW

 

Is The War Illegal?

Is the Iraq war illegal?  Ask a lot of folks on the left and you'll probably get told an emphatic "YES!" followed by a suggestion that the President, Vice President and a host of others should be immediately impeached and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid should replace them. 

The problem here is that it isn't illegal.  Pelosi knows it and so does Harry Reid.  That's why you've never heard them say it.  You've heard them say a lot of things about Bush and the war, but you have never heard them question the legality of it.

Many people base there assumption that a preemptive war is illegal because we have signed some treaties saying it's a bad idea.  Some point to the UN charter.  But the UN Charter is not law here and the courts have upheld that fact.

When people tell me the war is illegal, I ask them this question first:

What United States law or article of the Constitution was broken or ignored? 

No one seems to know the answer to that but some will venture (as mentioned above) that we signed some treaty or they will mention the UN.

If they can't cite a law or an article, I then tell them they must conclude then, that the war is not illegal, and therefore a matter of United States Policy.

If they cite the treaties, I ask them one more question.

Who did the Congress and the President sign over their war making powers and when did they do it?   Specifically, who is now the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Armed Forces?

Well that usually ends the debate. 

For an example, go here.  It kind of pissed off the poor guy. 

If the war was illegal, Pelosi and Reid would be shouting it from the roof tops. 

It's policy which is entirely different than law.

My next post in this series, with some help from MOGS from the Diary of the Mad Pigeon, will deal with the legality of the war and how that relates to the Watada's case. 

VW

WA Democrats Support Watada

It seems that the Washington State Democratic Party decided to throw their support to a law breaker.

From the Tacoma News Tribune:

Leaders of the state Democratic Party voted overwhelmingly Saturday to support Lt. Ehren Watada, the Fort Lewis officer who refused orders to serve in Iraq.

There were a few like Mike Carnahan:

Mike Carnahan, a Democratic Central Committee member from Clark County, spoke against the Watada resolution. It’s an all-volunteer military, he said. “I find it offensive as, a veteran, to have him doing what he’s doing,” Carnahan said.

Conversely:

But other veterans on the committee said that, particularly as an officer, Watada shouldn’t just blindly follow.

And some tried to make a comparison with Abu Ghraib and the Nuremberg trials:

But other veterans on the committee said that, particularly as an officer, Watada shouldn’t just blindly follow.

“To say he’s required to follow all orders would be to negate the Nuremberg trials,” said Mike Mosbarger, a Mason County Democrat.'

And:

State Democratic Party Chairman Dwight Pelz said in an interview that officers at Abu Ghraib prison or Guantanamo Bay might have done well to take an action such as Watada.

Mr. Carnahan got it right, but he didn't go far enough.  Mr. Mosbarger and Mr. Pelz are either clueless, or so blinded by ideology, they can't see how absolutely untrue those statements are.

Here is the problem.  Regardless of how you feel about the war, it is legal.  The congress voted to fund the war and whether you think there should have been a formal declaration or not, funding the war is a tacit declaration.

Mr. Watada ( I refuse to use a title he does not deserve) does not have the authority to make a determination concerning the legitimacy of any conflict he might be assigned during the term of his service.

It is true that the soldiers who broke the rules at Abu Ghraib should not have complied with any order to engage in some of the things they did.  The general in charge of the prison at the time issued no order to engage in any illegal activity.  She was dismissed because she should have applied proper oversight to keep abuse from happening.

Mr. Mosbarger apparently doesn't understand the purpose of the Nuremberg trials and the charges that were brought up against the defendants.  Those men were accused of crimes against humanity.  They purposely murdered millions of innocents.  It was not a crime for a German to be in the army and fight against the allied forces as long as he didn't commit atrocities.

Everyone who enters the service is taught the difference between an illegal order and a legal order.  As an officer, Mr. Watada would have received even more training than an enlisted man.

We cannot have an army where individuals decide what wars to support.  Chaos would be the result. If the Democrats can't understand that concept, they shouldn't be in charge.

VW

Watada Goes To Trial

Ehren Watada's ( I will not use his military rank - he isn't worthy of it) court-martial is expected to start tomorrow. 

From KING5-TV:

SEATTLE - Denied a chance to debate the legality of the Iraq war in court, an Army officer who refused to leave for Iraq now goes to trial hoping to at least minimize the amount of time he could serve if convicted of missing movement and unbecoming conduct.

And he shouldn't be allowed to debate the legality of the war.  It's not up to individual soldiers to debate such things.  All a soldier needs to know is that the President ordered him to go.

"As the order to take part in an illegal act is ultimately unlawful as well, I must as an officer of honor and integrity refuse that order," Watada said in a video statement released at a June 7 news conference.

If individual soldiers were allowed to debate every movement, we wouldn't have an army, we'd have a damn debate team.

Now the 28-year-old Watada faces four years in prison if convicted on one count of missing movement and two counts of conduct unbecoming an officer. His court-martial is set to begin Monday at Fort Lewis, south of Seattle.

A message needs to be sent here.  Watada deserves  the maximum.  He is an officer - a leader.  He is supposed to train his men and inspire confidence.  The troops he trained with are now in Iraq and he is sitting at  Fort lewis with all the comforts of home. He isn't even restricted to the base.  He can come and go as he pleases.

VW