Addressing a room full of residents at Small Town Coffee in Kapa‘a about the possible court martial of her son, Carolyn Ho’s talk of peace and the importance of accountability in the military offered fodder for Sunday morning locals and
Addressing a room full of residents at Small Town Coffee in Kapa‘a about the possible court martial of her son, Carolyn Ho’s talk of peace and the importance of accountability in the military offered fodder for Sunday morning locals and activists.
Ho’s son, Lt. Ehren Watada, refused to go to Iraq and fight in what he has cited as an “illegal war.” Watada issued statements that “the order to take part in an illegal act is ultimately unlawful as well. I must refuse that order.”
Speaking on Watada’s behalf, Ho said Sunday that in her son’s preparations to go to Iraq, he determined that the government’s reasoning behind going to fight in the Iraq war was wrong.
“The (United Nations) charter, which is part of the U.S. Constitution, expressly states that countries cannot go to war unless the security council votes for it,” Ho said.
“People say the U.S. Congress can allow the president to make war, but the U.S. Congress was given information that was deceptive — that there was evidence of weapons of mass destruction — and it made a decision on that basis.”
Watada is awaiting a possible court-martial in Fort Lewis, Wash., expected to be scheduled within the next few months. A court-martial is a military court that determines punishments for members of the military subject to military law.
In the meantime, Watada has been reporting for duty that includes completing paperwork in Fort Lewis.
While Watada is in Washington, Ho has been traveling throughout Hawai‘i and the Mainland to heighten awareness on the issue and to garner support.
Watada’s father, Bob, is also spreading the word by touring the Pacific Northwest to rally others and raise money for his son’s defense.
The work has been strenuous, Ho said. Ho also is a high school counselor.
“It’s really difficult. I’m going on just a few hours’ sleep,” she said.
But what Ho is hoping for takes work.
“What we’ve envisioned is to have thousands of people come out to the highway and the streets that surround Fort Lewis and have a group that plans to do so with demonstrations,” she said.
Ho is also rallying experts on international law to try to assemble testimony to benefit her son’s case, she said.
Watada, born and raised in Honolulu, is the first enlisted officer to publicly refuse deployment to Iraq.
To learn more, go to www.thankyoult.org.
• Amanda C. Gregg, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext.245) or agregg@kauaipubco.com.
