Hating the troops is sort of my calling card. The feeling of revulsion I have for people who sign up with an organization whose only purpose is to kill (considering the military hasn't been used for strict national defense in...well, ever) has tended to cover every member of the military, with notable exceptions: those who, though naive in joining, are horrified enough by the deeds of the military that they refuse to deploy to warzones. Most of them have just skipped country to Canada or hid out at home, which is fine, but lately the news has been full of the case of Lt. Ehren Watada, who publicly and loudly has proclaimed the illegality of and his opposition to the war in Iraq.

Now, I'm not a gooshy type that tears up at grand proclamations of principle, but this guy has balls and I am really amazed at his intellect and clarity. Fuck the douchebags occupying Iraq -- Watada is the hero.

"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. And I think everybody has to remember that and to realize that is what is important in life."

This, when most soldiers can barely scrawl their own names.