An Officer's Conscience

Today on NPR's Fresh Air, Ehren Watada is interviewed about his refusal to serve in Iraq. In brief, Mr. Watada argues that as an officer, he cannot follow an order that he believes to be illegal, or that would support an illegal cause. He states, among other things, that the basis of the Iraq war is illegal, and that the campaign to initiate it violated the Constitution, which he has taken an oath to uphold.
Make no mistake, Mr. Watada will be prosecuted and sentenced. But his case makes clear the effect of lies on the national fabric and our basic institutions. Mr. Watada, fortunately or unfortunately, has a powerful argument, and can also draw on the natural law tradition to support his position. Had the Bush administration argued for the war in Iraq on strategic grounds, as a necessary intervention to put one of the last major, easily exploitable oil reserves back onto the world market and end a stalemate with Hussein that was costing the most vulnerable members of Iraq dearly, a dialogue amongst adults (i.e. citizens) could have ensued. Had the nation chosen the path of war, the decision would have been made on the basis of facts. Instead, we have a war based on lies, with shifting justifications, and those who find themselves directly caught up in it must now carry on with collapsing public support. The con is up.
The sin of deceit is in itself far less than the deaths and injuries of the innocent and the destruction of property, but it is the lever that caused the motion toward those deaths and injuries and destruction. This should be remembered, and kept close as we as citizens listen to our government officials. Mr. Watada, in acting sincerely on the promptings of his conscience, bears no shame or guilt. Those who feel anger at his actions would do well to look toward those who knew the truth of WMDs, who knew the truth of the lack of connection and coordination between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda, who knew the risk of what was undertaken, and yet either lied or said nothing and allowed this tragedy to unfold. We know them by their works.