Japanese American Refuses Order to Iraq

Lt. Ehren Watada: Hero, Villain or None of the Above?

by Andy Noguchi

That Watada’s a disgrace! No, Watada’s courageousl! Maybe he’s just misguided. As these typical remarks show, Lt. Ehren Watada’s June protest of the war has struck a nerve in the community, often mirroring the Japanese American divisions over loyalty and military service during World War II. As one who helped organize the 2000 and 2002 National JACL effort to recognize the protest of Nisei draft resisters and reconcile the community, this is strikingly familiar.

Watada, a 28 year old from Hawaii, is the first American officer to refuse deployment, shoving him into the national spotlight and slating him for a possible fall court martial where he faces 7 years in federal prison. The army has charged him with contempt towards President Bush, conduct unbecoming an officer, and missing his troop movement.

Lt. Watada claims that the war is unconstitutional, overriding his military orders to Iraq and justifying his refusal. As alternatives, he’s offered to fight in Afghanistan or to resign from the military.

Just as other Americans, Nikkei have taken part in the vital debate over the Iraq war and Lt. Watada’s actions. Is this a just war against world terrorism and for democracy? Or is it a power grab by a neo-conservative U.S. administration for oil and Middle East political influence? How can the U.S. pull out after sacrificing so much? Why sacrifice more? Can the U.S. defend itself if soldiers don’t follow orders? Should soldiers even obey orders that might be illegal or unconstitutional?

Clearly, the tide against the war in Iraq is turning. According to a CNN poll August 9th, a solid majority of Americans oppose the war in Iraq by a 60% to 36% margin. Most Americans believe that the Iraq war has not made Americans safer from terrorism by an even wider 63% to 32% edge (Newsweek poll August 10th).

The bill of goods that Bush used to “sell” the war to Americans, those ephemeral “weapons of mass destruction” and Iraqi ties to 9/11, have proven myths at best, deliberate lies according to some. Even 72% of the soldiers in Iraq said troops should be withdrawn within the next year, based on a Zogby Poll back on February 28, 2006. 29% said troops should leave immediately!

This anti-war sentiment likely reflects the feelings of Japanese Americans and other Asian Americans. For Japanese Americans, seeing the government unfairly targeting Arab & Muslim Americans in the U.S. today might cause even greater mistrust of administration motives. Didn’t the government scapegoat Japanese Americans during a war before?

What especially strikes home to many people is that Ehren Watada is a Japanese American! This raises many sensitive experiences and feelings about World War II loyalty, patriotism, and duty that remain with us down through the generations.

During WWII, in a blatant display of racism, the U.S. government first labeled Japanese Americans as disloyal (“enemy aliens” & “non-aliens”, which means citizens). Then it locked them up in internment camps. Later, it even had the temerity to ask people it had locked behind barbed wire if they would swear their loyalty to the government that abused them and agree to fight for it in the armed forces!

Though the government had at first rejected Japanese Americans in the military, many men now volunteered to fight against world fascism, to prove their loyalty, and make a better future for their families. Many more were drafted. Thousands of Nisei soldiers, those like my late father, served gallantly in the highly-decorated 100th Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and Military Intelligence Service.

Over 300 other Nisei men, led by the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee, refused to be drafted. They demanded that their families be released from camp before they would join the army. No shock in the government response to that one. 282 were convicted of draft resistance and locked up in federal prison.

An even larger group of 12,000 Japanese Americans, a tenth of the internees, dissented on the so-called loyalty oath. They answered ‘No”, qualified their answers, or refused to respond to this insulting questionnaire. In 1943, they became known as the disloyal “No – No Boys” and the Tule Lake Segregation Center became their home for the duration.

The government actively fanned up the divisions created between those it labeled “loyal” and “disloyal”. Many Japanese Americans, including the JACL, got swept up in the infighting, severely weakening any united community efforts for justice. The hard feelings and ostracism still haunt the Nisei resisters, the No-No Boys, and their families today.

It’s no surprise that the same issues of loyalty and patriotism flared up so heatedly about Lt. Watada. It’s scraped the scab off an old wound that had never completely healed. You can see it in the letters to Japanese American newspapers.

One of the lessons I’ve learned from the government-created divisions over the WWII “loyalty oath” and the recent reconciliation efforts with the Nisei draft resisters is that there is no single, correct path to loyalty.

When I’ve talked to Nisei veterans and resisters, few would say they were heroes. Many have told me they were just doing what they believed was right - doing what was good for their families, the Japanese American community, and the country. We should respect them for their different choices – agree or disagree.

Lt. Watada: Hero, Villain, or None of the Above? From what I’ve read about this young man, he’s a principled individual with sincere beliefs and deserves our respect – agree or disagree. To me, he’s in the same tradition as the Nisei draft resisters and Nisei veterans - stuck in a no-win situation where he had to make a tough personal choice of conscience. Guess my answer is “None of the Above.”