Naval petty officer describes his efforts against the war in Iraq

The speaker has been in the Navy since 2004.

By MARY GRZEBIENIAK

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

NEW WILMING- TON, Pa. — Charges that the United States military is inherently racist and sexist and that the war in Iraq has little benefit for the average American citizen sparked spirited discussion when an anti-war U.S. Navy petty officer spoke at Westminster College.

About 50 attended the Friday night talk given by Jonathan Hutto, an Atlanta native, who traced the path to his activism. He said he was inspired as a youth by stories of neighbors who had taken part in the civil rights movement.

He graduated from Howard University, then worked for the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington, D.C., and then for Amnesty International as he became enamored of social justice movements.

In 2004, he joined the Navy, which he said he viewed as a “safety net” to pay off college debt and acquire more education.

But he said he became disenchanted when he encountered a chain of command he felt was complicit with racist attitudes in the lower ranks.

He said that after another seaman dangled a noose before him as a prank, the instigator was lowered in rank and restricted to the ship for 30 days but not court-martialed as Hutto and several other seamen requested.

About this time, he read “Soldiers in Revolt: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War” by David Cortright. He and about a dozen other active-duty seaman met with Cortright and asked his advice on how they could legally express their disagreement with the Iraq war.

They found that military personnel are allowed, under the Military Whistleblowers’ Protection Act, to approach a member of Congress on any issue. Using this act as a basis, they established a Web site, sponsored by anti-war military organizations, www.appealforredress.org, which provides a petition for service members to sign, urging Congress to end the war.

He explained that he may legally speak against the war on his personal time, off base and out of uniform within certain parameters.

Hutto said he objects to bombs tearing up hospitals and killing babies in Iraq in the name of the United States and the spending of billions of dollars on the war while so many Americans lack medical care and quality education.

He called on his audience, especially students, who he said are freer to take part in social justice movements.

“If we want to overturn the Iraq war, we have to be more mobilized and willing to sacrifice and be sacrificial …,” Hutto said.

He said the Iraq war was framed as a humanitarian effort, but it has cost America the empathy of the world, which it enjoyed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

An audience member asked what he thought of figures that show that the war had done serious harm to al-Qaida.

Hutto said he believes terrorism has increased, not decreased as a result of the war.

A few members of the military in the audience challenged his assertions, however.

A reservist disputed his statement about pervasive racism and sexism in the military. She also noted that Hutto has never been in Iraq and that he is a Navy photographer.

Assistant professor Scott Mackenzie, a 26-year veteran of the military reserve and National Guard who spent one year in Iraq, said that although he supports veterans who speak against the war when they leave the service, he believes that active-duty soldiers should not.

Mackenzie also pointed out that the percentage of black Americans in leadership in the U.S. military is higher than in the general population, and that the military requires of its members constant training in providing equal opportunity and avoiding sexual harassment.

Hutto responded that Mackenzie is correct, but said that even large numbers of blacks in leadership does not change the culture of the military.

Another veteran said the fact that only some 2,000 of more than 1 million active-duty service members have signed the anti-war petition shows a lack of support for Hutto’s position.

X Hutto’s book, ‘Antiwar Soldier: How to Dissent Within the Ranks of the Military,’ is due to be published soon by Nation Books. More information is available at www.nationbooks.org.