I became free again

"There was a long time when I went through depression because I told myself I didn't have a choice. That I joined the military and I had only one duty and that was to obey what I was told, regardless of how I felt inside. It really hurt me for a long time because I imprisoned myself by telling myself I didn't have a choice. It didn't matter that I might be sent to prison. I was already in prison, my freedom was already gone."

"When I told myself that I do have a choice, I have a choice to do what is morally right, what is in my conscience, and what I can live with for the rest of my life-even though that comes with consequences, I do have that choice. When I realized that, and when I chose what was right for me, I became free again."

Lieutenant Ehren Watada, first commissioned US Officer to refuse deployment in Iraq

Last Friday, the judge presiding over Watada's court martial, which could have sent him to jail for 6 years, abruptly declared a mistrial. Essentially, he couldn't risk an open trial on the legality of America's war on Iraq.

I have so much admiration and respect for soldiers who are standing up, speaking out, against the war. They are the single most powerful force against the ongoing carnage. Because empires cannot operate with human minions to implement their plans. When soldiers realize they have a choice, they bring the whole monstrous killing machine to a grinding halt.