1.
ARMY ALLOWS FT. LEWIS WAR OBJECTOR TO RESIGN
By Audrey McAvoy
Associated Press
September 25, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gjsmj3UMnLWTsbnt3Th9Fs70UtDgD9AUQ85O0
HONOLULU -- The Army is allowing the first commissioned officer to be court-martialed for refusing to go to Iraq to resign from the service, his attorney said late Friday.
First Lt. Ehren Watada will be granted a discharge Oct. 2, "under other than honorable conditions," attorney Kenneth Kagan said.
Watada told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin he was happy the matter has finally been closed.
"The actual outcome is different from the outcome that I envisioned in the first place, but I am grateful of the outcome," he said.
Fort Lewis spokesman Joseph Piek wouldn't confirm Watada's type of discharge, citing privacy rules. But he said late Friday that Watada's manner of resignation is described in Army regulations as "resignation for the good of the service in lieu of general court martial."
Watada, 31, refused to deploy to Iraq with his Fort Lewis, Wash.-based unit in 2006, arguing the war is illegal and that he would be a party to war crimes if he served in Iraq.
The Honolulu-born soldier was charged with missing his unit's deployment and with conduct unbecoming an officer for denouncing President Bush and the war -- statements he made while explaining his actions.
His court-martial ended in mistrial in February 2007.
The Army wanted to try him in a second court-martial, but a federal judge ruled such a trial would violate the soldier's constitutional protection against double jeopardy. The judge said a second court-martial would violate Watada's Fifth Amendment rights by trying him twice for the same charges.
Watada's attorney said the soldier had handed in his resignation before, but the Army refused to accept it.
"This time, however, it was accepted, apparently only when the Army realized it could not defeat Lt. Watada in a courtroom," Kagan said.
Watada's father, Bob Watada, welcomed the news.
"I'm happy, very happy for Ehren. I'm happy for our family," he said.
Watada has been lionized by anti-war activists for contending that the war is illegal. If convicted, he could have been sentenced to six years in prison and be dishonorably discharged.
Kagan said he felt history would treat Watada "more favorably" than the U.S. Army.
"It has been our distinct honor to have represented a hero and a patriot," Kagan said.
--Associated Press Writer Kathy McCarthy contributed to this report from Seattle.
2.
ARMY TO DISCHARGE EHREN WATADA NEXT MONTH
By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin (Honolulu)
September 25, 2009
http://www.starbulletin.com/news/bulletin/Army_to_discharge_Ehren_Watada_next_month.html
First Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned military officer to refuse deployment to Iraq because he believed it was an illegal war, has won his three-year legal battle with the Army.
With little fanfare, the Army at Fort Lewis in Washington state accepted the resignation of the 1996 Kalani High School graduate last Friday and he will be discharged during the first week in October.
Rather than seek a second court martial against the infantry officer, the Army will grant Watada a discharge “under other than honorable conditions.”
Joseph J. Piek, Fort Lewis spokesman, said “this is an administrative discharge and the characterization of Lt. Watada’s discharge is not releasable under the privacy act.”
Watada, 31, told the *Star-Bulletin* an phone interview today that he was “glad to finally bring this chapter to a close and to move on.”
“The actual outcome is different from the outcome that I envisioned in the first place, but I am grateful of the outcome.”
Watada said there were “many skilled lawyers” who represented him and that he was “thankful to the people from all walks of life that supported me and agreed with my stand.”
In May, Watada won a significant legal victory when the U.S. Department of Justice dropped efforts to retry him. The Army had wanted to appeal U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle’s decision last October that a second court-martial would violate Watada’s constitutional protection against double jeopardy.
Following the Justice Department’s decision, the Army made it clear the only course available to Watada is what the Army calls “Resignation for the Good of the Service in Lieu of General Court-Martial,” he said. Either Watada could voluntarily resign or be forced out with a discharge “under other than honorable conditions.”
Either way, Watada said today, the result would be the same except it would take longer if he was forced out.
Watada said he turned his resignation papers in July and it was approved by the commanding general at Fort Lewis and sent to his higher headquarters. Watada learned of the Army’s final approval on Sept. 18.
Watada was initially charged with missing the 2nd Infantry Division’s 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team’s deployment on June 22, 2006, considered by the Army as the most serious charge, and conduct unbecoming an officer.
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