On Thursday, the U.S. Army announced that Lt. Ehren Watada will face a court-martial, AP reported; no date for the trial was announced.[1] -- On Jun. 22, 2006, Watada refused an order to deploy with his Stryker unit (3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division) to Iraq on the ground that the order to do was is illegal. -- Fort Lewis commander Lt. Gen. James Dubik, who made the decision, dropped without comment a specification of "conduct unbecoming an officer" that had been added in response to Lt. Watada's speech to the Veterans for Peace convention in Seattle in August. -- "If convicted of all charges, Watada could serve six years' confinement and be dismissed from the service," wrote AP's Melanthia Mitchell. -- The Seattle Post-Intelligencer noted that "Watada says his obligation is to the Constitution and not to what he regards as illegal orders."[2] -- Watada told Gregg Kakesako of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin that the Nov. 7 elections "support his contention that the Iraqi war is immoral and illegal," adding that "almost every day, someone from the military or the outside sends me some kind of correspondence or approaches me in person to render support or their respect. That just reinforces my honest belief that from the very beginning my actions were right according to my conscience and, most importantly, my duty to the American people."[3] -- Kakesako reported on some pre-trial negotiations: "[Watada attorney Eric] Seitz said that Dubik also refused a pretrial proposal that Watada spend only four months in jail. 'The Army demanded that he serve at least a year,' Seitz said.&nbnsp; 'We don't feel that it is warranted.'" -- Kakesako also reported that "The Army said yesterday the court-martial jury would be composed of 10 officers. Five enlisted soldiers have been selected if Watada decides that the jury be composed of only two-thirds officers." -- Regarding the elections, the Honolulu Advertiser reported that Lt. Watada said: "I think as the recent elections show more and more Americans are opening their eyes, but we aren't there yet. It is my hope that actions such as my own continue to call for the truth behind the fundamental illegality and immorality of those who perpetrated this war."[4] -- The Hawaii paper also quoted Watada's attorney: "'He's going to get convicted of missing movement, there's nothing much we can do about that,' Seitz said. 'The downside for us would be if the judge says we cannot defend on the grounds of the illegality of the war — that we cannot put on evidence of what his motivation or reasons were for the statements he made.' -- The prosecution, he said, will have problems of its own, starting with an expected effort to subpoena news reporters, who Seitz said will likely not volunteer to testify. Seitz said Army Col. Debra L. Boudreau is expected to serve as the judge." -- Watada's father, meanwhile, continued his speaking tour on his son's behalf. -- On the day the Army's decision was announced, a newspaper in the town of Yarmouth, Maine, reported that Bob Watada went there "at the invitation of independent congressional candidate Dexter Kamilewicz of Harpswell. After speaking at the University of Southern Maine, Watada spent Tuesday evening with Kamilewicz at the First Unitarian Church in Yarmouth."[5] -- The Yarmouth Times quoted Lt. Watada's father: "It was a matter of conscience. I like to think my son is principled, and although the 'easy wrong' was to go to Iraq and participate in committing war crimes, the 'hard right' was stand up and say, 'All that going on is terribly wrong. It's wrong for the Iraqi people and it's wrong for our country." ...
1.
ARMY OFFICER TO BE COURT-MARTIALED
By Melanthia Mitchell
Associated Press
November 9, 2006
http://www.forbes.com/business/services/feeds/ap/2006/11/09/ap3161615.html
or
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003382513_webwatada09.html
An Army lieutenant who challenged the Bush administration's reasons for going to war in Iraq and then refused to deploy to the country will face a military trial, the Army said Thursday.
Fort Lewis commander Lt. Gen. James Dubik recommended that the Army proceed with a general court-martial against 1st Lt. Ehren Watada.
Watada, 28, was charged with missing troop movement, conduct unbecoming an officer and contempt toward officials for comments he made about President Bush.
The Army later added another specification of conduct unbecoming an officer based on his comments in Seattle during the national convention of Veterans for Peace in August. At a hearing later that month, prosecutors showed video footage of Watada calling on other soldiers to stop participating in U.S. involvement in Iraq.
Dubik referred only the charges of missing movement and conduct unbecoming an officer. He gave no reason for dismissing the charge of contempt toward officials, Fort Lewis spokesman Joseph Piek said Thursday.
"He has the statutory discretion to determine what charges to refer to trial," Piek said. "We can't discuss the particulars of the case because it is ongoing."
Watada, from Honolulu, has said he believes the war is illegal. He was first charged after he refused to deploy to Iraq on June 22 with his Fort Lewis Stryker unit, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.
Watada's civilian defense attorney, Eric Seitz, said he has been trying to work out a settlement with Dubik before the case goes to trial.
"I was hopeful, given the political climate and wide dissatisfaction with this war," he said. "I don't imagine . . . that the Army gains anything by really trying to seriously punish Watada."
If convicted of all charges, Watada could serve six years' confinement and be dismissed from the service. No date has been set for the trial.
2.
Local
WATADA TO FACE COURT-MARTIAL FOR REFUSING TO GO TO IRAQ
By P-I Staff and news services
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
November 9, 2006
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/291809_watada09ww.html
FORT LEWIS, Wash. -- The Army says it will court martial Lt. Ehren Watada, the Fort Lewis officer who refused to go to Iraq because he believes the war is illegal.
The base commander, Lt. Gen. James Dubik, agreed with the recommended charges of missing a military movement and conduct unbecoming an officer. But in referring the case today for a court martial, Dubik dismissed a charge of contempt toward officials.
No date has been set yet. If convicted Watada could face up to six years in confinement.
Watada, 28, an artillery officer, refused to go to Iraq with his Stryker Brigade in June, contending the war is illegal. He has not claimed conscientious objector status.
Watada said he would fight in Afghanistan, but concluded that the war in Iraq violates laws he is required as an Army officer to resist unlawful orders.
Watada says his obligation is to the Constitution and not to what he regards as illegal orders.
3.
ELECTIONS SUPPORT HIS MOVE, WATADA CLAIMS
By Gregg K. Kakesako
** The Army drops one of its three charges against the officer **
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
November 9, 2006
http://starbulletin.com/2006/11/10/news/story06.html
First Lt. Ehren Watada, who will become the first Army officer to face a court-martial next year for refusing to fight in Iraq, said he believes this week's elections support his contention that the Iraqi war is immoral and illegal.
He made his remarks after one of three charges against him was dropped by the Army yesterday.
Watada told Honolulu reporters via a telephone conference call from Seattle that "almost every day, someone from the military or the outside sends me some kind of correspondence or approaches me in person to render support or their respect.
"That just reinforces my honest belief that from the very beginning my actions were right according to my conscience and, most importantly, my duty to the American people."
Lt. Gen. James Dubik, commanding general of I Corps and Fort Lewis in Washington, dropped one of three charges against the 28-year-old artillery officer. The charge was connected to "contemptuous" comments against President George Bush that Watada allegedly made last June.
Watada now faces charges for refusing to join his unit on June 22 when it left for Iraq, and conduct unbecoming an officer.
Honolulu attorney Eric Seitz said the Army added another specification of conduct unbecoming an officer based on his comments in Seattle during the national convention of Veterans for Peace in August.
Seitz said that Dubik also refused a pretrial proposal that Watada spend only four months in jail.
"The Army demanded that he serve at least a year," Seitz said. "We don't feel that it is warranted."
The Army said yesterday the court-martial jury would be composed of 10 officers. Five enlisted soldiers have been selected if Watada decides that the jury be composed of only two-thirds officers.
Initially, Watada faced up to eight years in jail, a dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of all pay and privileges. He now faces up to six years if he is convicted of the two remaining charges.
In a written statement, Watada's mother, Carolyn Ho, said, "The court of public opinion is the best way to affect his case. With all the revelations in the news for the past several weeks, it is astounding that there is no effort by the military to shift gears."
His father, Bob Watada, in another written statement, said, "People come up and tell us that Ehren is a true American hero. Of course, we are concerned about the outcome, but we are very gratified with the enormous support from a broad sector of the American people."
4.
Local news
WATADA'S CASE GOING TO TRIAL
By Rod Ohira
Honolulu Advertiser
November 10, 2006
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061110/NEWS08/611100362/1018/NEWS
The stage is set for Honolulu-born Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada to be judged on his challenge to the legality of the war in Iraq.
Fort Lewis, Wash., commander Lt. Gen. James Dubik recommended yesterday that the Army proceed with a general court-martial against Watada for refusing to deploy to Iraq in June.
"This just reinforces my honest belief that from the very beginning my actions were right, according to conscience, and most importantly, by duty to the American people," Watada told reporters in Honolulu yesterday from Fort Lewis during a telephone news conference organized by his attorney, Eric Seitz.
"I feel the referral of the charges was not unexpected," Watada said, adding, "and at this time, I'm moving forward as I always have with resilience and fortitude to face the challenges ahead."
Watada, 28, said he is encouraged by the national support he has received and pointed to Tuesday's election results as a sign of the times.
"I think as the recent elections show more and more Americans are opening their eyes, but we aren't there yet," he said. "It is my hope that actions such as my own continue to call for the truth behind the fundamental illegality and immorality of those who perpetrated this war."
Watada and his attorney had been in negotiations with the Army since an Article 32 hearing on Aug. 17 to avert a trial, but talks broke down earlier this week, leading to Dubik's recommendation for general court-martial proceedings.
Seitz said Watada was willing to accept dismissal from the service and four months' incarceration, but the Army held firm on one-year confinement.
Watada will be tried early next year for missing troop movement, conduct unbecoming an officer and contempt toward officials for comments he made concerning the Bush administration's reasons for going to war in Iraq.
If convicted of all charges, he could be sentenced to six years confinement and be dismissed from the service.
Since being charged June 22 for refusing to deploy with his Fort Lewis Stryker unit, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Watada has been assigned to administrative duties and prohibited from traveling beyond a 250-mile radius of his base.
When asked what he expects to gain, Watada said: "The first thing we need to have again is accountability in government, and that's the thing I spoke to from the very beginning. . . . Now that you see a change in the balance of power in our government, we will again have those checks and balances that I feared were lost.
"The reason I spoke out, I saw that what was being done in terms of this war was so illegal and so immoral, and not being checked. It was a danger to our troops and a danger to our country. So, I think what needs to be done is some kind of accountability in Washington (D.C.) and also investigations into how this war was started in the first place."
Seitz, who claims involvement in more than 500 court-martial trials, said the trial will have two parts: a findings phase and then a punishment phase.
"He's going to get convicted of missing movement, there's nothing much we can do about that," Seitz said. "The downside for us would be if the judge says we cannot defend on the grounds of the illegality of the war -- that we cannot put on evidence of what his motivation or reasons were for the statements he made."
The prosecution, he said, will have problems of its own, starting with an expected effort to subpoena news reporters, who Seitz said will likely not volunteer to testify. Seitz said Army Col. Debra L. Boudreau is expected to serve as the judge.
--The Associated Press contributed to this report. Reach Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.
5.
News
FATHER: MY SON'S RIGHT NOT TO FIGHT IN IRAQ WAR
By Beth Brogan
Yarmouth (Maine) Times
November 9, 2006
http://www.timesrecord.com/website/main.nsf/news.nsf/0/6B895EBC36C38761052572210056D7DB
YARMOUTH, Maine -- In June, Army 1st Lt. Ehren K. Watada became the first commissioned officer to refuse deployment to Iraq.
"It is my conclusion as an officer of the Armed Forces that the war in Iraq is not only morally wrong but a horrible breach of American law," Watada said in a statement at the time. "Although I have tried to resign out of protest, I am forced to participate in a war that is manifestly illegal. As the order to take part in an illegal act is ultimately unlawful as well, I must as an officer of honor and integrity refuse that order."
By refusing to participate in what he said are war crimes by the U.S. military, Watada now faces a court-martial and a potential prison sentence of 8.5 years. His refusal has sparked discussion throughout the country about the morality of the U.S. war in Iraq, and Tuesday night, Watada's father, Robert Watada, was in Yarmouth as part of a 24-day speaking tour he hopes will garner public support for his son's case, and shine light on "the true story about what is going on in Iraq today."
While not timed to coincide with the national elections, Tuesday's visit to Maine brought Watada to Yarmouth at the invitation of independent congressional candidate Dexter Kamilewicz of Harpswell. After speaking at the University of Southern Maine, Watada spent Tuesday evening with Kamilewicz at the First Unitarian Church in Yarmouth.
During his campaign, Kamilewicz called for a joint resolution to demand an immediate cease-fire in Iraq and the recall of all U.S. troops. His son, Ben, a member of the Vermont National Guard, was injured while serving in Iraq.
"You've got to stand up in the bright light of day and say things," Kamilewicz said Tuesday night. "Risking an enormous amount to do that is an enormous courage."
Robert Watada said Tuesday that his son joined the Army in March 2003 after graduating from college "because Bush said there were terrorists all over the country, so for patriotic reasons he joined the military to join the government's war on terror."
Before he deployed, Ehren's commander told him that as an officer, "he should know everything about the battles he's going to take his men into, and he should be able to explain to them why they're going to be dying for their country," Robert Watada said. "He began to study Iraq and came upon the truth that the president had been lying to the American people and to the military commanders about why we're over there. There were no weapons of mass destruction; there were no chemical or biological weapons, and were no terrorists in Iraq."
Ehren tried to resign several times, his father said, but was refused without reason. When his Stryker Brigade combat team was scheduled to deploy from Fort Lewis in Seattle on June 22, Ehren Watada refused get on the bus.
"It was a matter of conscience," Robert Watada said. "I like to think my son is principled, and although the 'easy wrong' was to go to Iraq and participate in committing war crimes, the 'hard right' was stand up and say, 'All that going on is terribly wrong. It's wrong for the Iraqi people and it's wrong for our country.'"
During the 1960s, Robert Watada was bitterly against the Vietnam War, he said, and refused to participate in that draft, going instead to Peru with the Peace Corps and on to graduate school with a student deferment. When his son refused to deploy, Robert Watada said he was so concerned that Ehren could be imprisoned or ruin his career that he counseled his son to "keep quiet and ... go to Iraq." When Ehren made up his mind, however, Robert said he told him he supported him 100 percent.
"By this time, I had read up on the issues in Iraq, and I was realizing that exactly what he was saying was true. The president was lying to everyone, and was violating the Constitution of the United States. He felt he was above the law, and he put us into a horrible mess in Iraq."
When Ehren Watada spoke out at the Veterans for Peace national conference in August, another year was added to the possible sentence, which could now be as much as 8.5 years.
Later that month at a pre-trial hearing, witnesses called in Watada's defense included former United Nations Undersecretary General Denis Halliday and Ret. Army Col. Ann Wright, who resigned in 2003 because she said the war in Iraq was illegal. Also speaking was University of Illinois law professor Francis Boyle, an international and military law expert who Watada said "made it very clear that what the Bush administration has done is basically war crimes." The result of the hearing was a recommendation that Watada face a general court-martial on all charges. The 28-year-old lieutenant currently faces three counts of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, two counts of contempt toward officials, specifically President Bush, and one count of missing movement.
Among those calling for Watada to be prosecuted is the organization Military Families Voice of Victory, which issued a statement saying that Ehren Watada is "a coward and a traitor. His actions will only serve to get his fellow soldiers killed so that he can save himself and become famous."
Robert Watada says that to the contrary, during his three years in the military, his son -- an artillery officer -- had already served one year in Korea near the DMZ.
"People have called him a coward, but … if he was a coward, he would not have taken (this) stand," Robert Watada said.
Currently Ehren Watada lives off the Fort Lewis base, and has been assigned to an administrative unit there. His father said Ehren reports that he is being treated "very professionally" on the base. Robert Watada said his son does not encourage other officers to refuse to deploy, but instead says each person must search their conscience and exercise their choice.
"Soldiers cannot lose their morality," Robert Watada said. "The morality here is, we don't kill innocent people -- at least, I hope we don't. . . . Look at Vietnam. . . . The morality of the soldiers was, 'We refuse to kill.' . . . that's what brought the war to an end."
Robert Watada said while it is still possible that the military will drop the charges against his son, he anticipates the court-martial will take place in January.
"My son took an oath to defend the Constitution and the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic," Robert Watada said Tuesday. "The worst enemy we have today is the tyranny of the domestic president. Everything he says is based on deceit."
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