Thursday, February 08, 2007

Ehren Watada's Many Friends

Hawaii Free Press editor and publisher Andrew Walden has posted an interesting article today over at Frontpagemag. The subject of the article is the mistrial declared in the case of Ehren Watada. Walden notes some of the unsavory characters being called to testify in Watada's defense:

One of the international law "experts" called at Watada’s "Article 32" hearing was University of Illinois Law Professor Frances Boyle. Boyle toured Hawaii in December 2004 speaking to thousands of people at meetings organized by Hawaii secessionist leader Bumpy Kanahele. In his speech, repeated on four Hawaiian islands, Boyle urged Native Hawaiians to emulate the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The speaking tour was co-sponsored by the State of Hawaii Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Boyle has also worked as an attorney for both the PLO and the Chechen rebel "government."


Boyle has a long history of villifying American troops. The same troops that Watada was to lead in Iraq and who are much better off without Lt. Sad Sack stabbing them in the back. Listen to Watada's speech in order to discover what he really thinks of his ex-comrade-in-arms.

In December 2004 Boyle paid a visit to the University of Hawaii-Hilo. At the time I posted a blog entry that provided some information on the beliefs of Boyle:

Boyle's schedule of stops on the Islands can be found here. It is sad, but true, that any in the Hawaiian sovereignty movement have joined forces with the very lowest of the Hate America Left. Francis Boyle certainly belongs to the latter group. Read here Boyle's comparison of the liberation of Fallujah from head chopping psychopaths with the actions of, you guessed it, Nazi Germany. One of the professor's favorite causes is that of Palestinian statehood. Go here to read this insane diatribe "Palestine Should Sue Israel for Genocide Before the International Court of Justice." Here Boyle compares the situation in the West Bank with Hawaii. And here read Boyle doing his limited best to run interference for the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. In this speech, Boyle states that his response to 9/11 would be to "dismantle the 5th fleet." All in all, a very nasty piece of work is this Boyle.


Lt. Sad Sack has advocated that the war in Iraq be stopped the same way (he believes) American involvement in Vietnam was ended: by military personal engaging in mass desertion. Watada claimed that the War on Terror is not about self-defense but "profit and imperialistic domination." He also states that the facts on the ground in Iraq and the current Rules-of-Engagment means the American soldiers "must be a party to war crimes." So, I'm very happy the Watada is not going to Iraq, as should be the soldiers who may have had the misfortune of serving under him.

The fruit does not fall far from the tree. Watada's father, Bob Watada is a prominent figure in Hawaii politics. Last August Bob Watada gave a speech at the Palace theater in Hilo. In discussing the attack upon the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin Papa Watada said:

Speaking of the incident that propelled the United States into the Vietnam War, "I found it hard to believe that 12 fishing ships in the Gulf of Tonkin could fire a torpedo at Navy ships," Bob Watada said.


Soviet built Motor Torpedo Boats (MTBs) have to become "fishing ships" for the leftist true believer. How else can they blame the attack on the Great Satan? Bob's boy is now demonstrating a similar concern for the facts in his rant about Iraq and the American military.

A particular concern Walden raises is whether the loony left is poised to take over the Hawaii Democratic Party. It has been fourteen years since then governor John Waihee refused to fly the American flag from state buildings in order to commemorate the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893:

Controversy erupted when Gov. John Waihee — the state's first governor of Hawaiian ancestry — ordered that the U.S. flag not be flown over state buildings in the Capitol-'Iolani Palace area during the pageant. The Hawaiian flag, however, was flown. Three members of Hawai'i's congressional delegation urged Waihee to reconsider, but he stood firm.

"We're not being disrespectful to the American flag, Waihee said at the time. "We're just not flying it."

As Walden notes:

Watada looks outside the military for support. His father Bob Watada is a figure in the Hawaii Democratic Party who made a name for himself recently as Hawaii Campaign Spending Commissioner, a position he used to root out almost 100 corrupt Democrat politicians and state contractors. In doing so, he made way for younger up-and-coming Kucinich Democrats to take even greater power within the Party at the expense of more mainstream liberal Democrats. The Watada case has been cause for substantial debate within Japanese American groups, preparing the stage for the anti-Americans’ complete takeover of the Hawaii Democratic Party after the eventual passing of Senator Daniel Inouye whose U.S. Senate seniority often helps bring military projects to Hawaii.

In 2004 Dennis Kucinich received about 1/3 of the Hawaii delegates to the Democratic National Convention. William Alia and Earthjustice lawyer David Henkin, the second place primary candidates for the 2006 Democratic Hawaiian gubernatorial and Lt. Governor nominations are deeply involved in lawsuits challenging the U.S. Navy’s use of sonar in the waters off Hawaii and the presence of a Stryker brigade on Oahu with training facilities on the Big Island.

In Honolulu, support for Watada was until recently organized largely by the Maoist front group "Not In Our Name," which is controlled by the Honolulu branch of the Revolutionary Communist Party. Watada support rallies are now controlled by Code Pink, a group co-founded by San Francisco activist Medea Benjamin, a former resident of Castro’s Cuba.

No doubt, Ehren Watada will have a future in Hawaii Democratic politics. The values of both Bob Watada, Ehren Watada and his supporters are becoming that of the Hawaii Democratic mainstream. How sad.

Crossposted at The Dougout

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