Born in the USA

"Born down in a dead mans town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog thats been beat too much
Till you spend half your life just covering up

Born in the u.s.a., I was born in the u.s.a.
I was born in the u.s.a., born in the u.s.a.

Got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man

Born in the u.s..a....

Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man said son if it was up to me
Went down to see my v.a. man
He said son, dont you understand

I had a brother at khe sahn
Fighting off the viet cong
Theyre still there, hes all gone

He had a woman he loved in saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms now

Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
Im ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run aint got nowhere to go

Born in the u.s.a., I was born in the u.s.a.
Born in the u.s.a., Im a long gone daddy in the u.s.a.
Born in the u.s.a., born in the u.s.a.
Born in the u.s.a., Im a cool rocking daddy in the u.s.a."

So went the Bruce Springsteen single!

It was the first thing to hit my mind as I saw the news about a court-martial being initiated on an Army officer for refusing to go to Iraq.


In his defence ,Lieutenant Watada said what everyone knows and believes - that the Bush administration had incorrectly used 9/11 to instigate a needless war against Iraq - that no biological,nuclear,chemical or any unconventional weapon had been found in Iraq - that Iraqis had been mistreated by the American soldiers.
The Lieutenant has become the focal point for many antiwar campaigners and has received support from them.
This incident also reminds me about Muhammad Ali refusing to join the Vietnam War , famously stating that he "got nothing against no Viet Cong" and that "no Viet Cong ever called me nigger." (also captured in the movie Forrest Gump). He even got sentenced for five years in prison (later reversed by the Supreme court).

However the trial of Lieutenant Watada is in progress and under public scrutiny.
It would be interesting to follow the court's ruling.