Lately, none of the videos will load. Is anybody else having this problem?

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...if soldiers don't obey orders.

Seriously, if every time a soldier disagreed with what he was being told to do, he didn't do it, we could never accomplish anything. If you're not willing to trust your superiors and do what they tell you, then you don't belong in the military.

Hell, that's true of any profession. If my boss tells me that we're going to start cold calling our customers and he needs me to compile a list of phone numbers, I have to do it even if I think it's unethical. If I refuse, I'll be fired and they'll hire someone who will. The only difference between that and the military is that the military is paid for by every taxpayer, including every (legitimate) potential employer in the country, and they all have access to his military record.

They're going to discharge him, it's going to ruin his career, and he's going to deserve it. Not for believing in something, but for subverting the forces that are doing what we decided to do by proper government process. Don't forget that congress regularly votes to continue supporting the war, and like it or not, that's the system we have set up in this country. We don't rely on ideologues who join the military and refuse to do what they're told because they think their way is better.

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would be a good thing - "decrease the surplus population" of the war machine. Alright, it's hurting, not a surplus, but I say good. And tell me one GOOD thing, one non-evil, non-imperial-control-thing the US military has done, and don't throw WWII at me. Hitler was our (corporate) man, just as Bush is now. All smoke and mirrors.

We need to totally redefine national "defense", in line with common international laws and the full spectrum of moral commitments to life itself, before we ever have any credibility and justification as a military entity. One need not be a pacifist to see that we have completely lost the game - it's over for war.

And it's over for Empire. Thank God.

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This guy entered Officer Candidate Training AFTER the Iraq war began, went through additional Army training and waited to pull this stunt on the eve of his first deployment.

It seems apparent that he planned this all along. Even worse, he entered the Army of his own free will, with the apparent intention of staging this stunt.

He should go to prison for a long time. There is absolutely nothing brave in his actions. They are reprehensible. If he didn't support the war and didn't want to be in the Army, he shouldn't have signed up.

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Ehren Watada is the first real hero of the illegitimate invasion/occupation of Iraq. An invasion/occupation smothered with the stench of numerous stinking lies should not be supported by any believer in freedom and justice. Only an illegitimate presidency could have created the monstrosities and tortures associated with this war. Out of Iraq and impeach the criminal presidency.

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A true american, finally! May god bless him on his journey!
Are you still seeing bumper stickers that say, "Proud to be an American?"
Someone once said, "A snowflake feels no responsiblity in an avalanche."
Make a difference. Stop and think for yourself!

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Has anybody noticed that usually the first posting on a lot of these discussions is from a mouth-breathing neo-con wahoo?

Do these people sit at their computers in the wee hours just waiting for the next mail from Alternet so they can pounce on the stories, spew their garbage, then leave? Maybe there's an organization that has a staff to do just that - fight information with lies and insult the writers, not the ideas expressed. Oh wait, that's the White House!

this forum is the same - some twit stating the obvious about a soldier's duty and extolling Defence to "hang em high", probably without reading the article or watching the footage. And yesterday's story about Robert Kennedy Jr. started with a post insulting the Kennedys AND Rolling Stone Magazine. Snivelling baby boys and girls fighting in the sandbox.

I guess they think that if they're first off the mark, someone will see it their way. Not bloody likely. While it's tempting to reply to these idiots, maybe all reasonable people should resist the urge and let these irresponsible opinions evaporate into the ether, read and unacknowledged.

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