Quisling

"War is an instrument entirely inefficient toward redressing wrong; and multiplies, instead of indemnifying, losses."
--Thomas Jefferson

A respondent recently suggested that First Lieutenant Ehren Watada is a quisling.

Upon consideration, this comparison does not work. Quisling was a Norwegian collaborator of the invading Nazi Army. By definition, a quisling does the bidding of foreign invaders. It would be more accurate to say Nouri al-Maliki or Hamid Karzai are quislings, since they are functioning as lackies of a foreign invading army.

I'd be more comfortable comparing 1st Lt. Watada to Private Eddie Slovik, the only U.S. soldier of WWII executed for refusing to fight. Both men's scenarios share similar characteristics, though Slovik was drafted against his wishes, and for deserting paid with his life.

The writer also suggested that Watada should not have executed his oath of allegiance if he was not willing to carry through. However, the oath was taken in a sincere manner, or so it seems.

The oath requires a soldier to uphold the U.S. Constitution. However, it is doubtful that the Constitution envisioned U.S. forces executing a war of aggression upon another nation. And clearly, defending the Constitution cannot be achieved through violation of international law, such as the Geneva Convention, or other treaties ratified by Congress.

Thirdly, this reader expressed that he thinks Watada is despicable. Standards differ on the application of this moniker, but for my money, torture, extraordinary rendition, warrantless wiretaps, suspension of the Writ of habeus corpus, and ignoring the Geneva Convention are despicable actions.

In light of that, Watada's refusal to participate in the undertaking so tainted is courageous.