The U.S. Army's decision to drop two charges against 1st Lt. Ehren Watada is a reasonable step, taken in concert with Watada.

Watada agreed to stipulate to the authenticity of media accounts of his statements, avoiding a government attempt to force reporters to testify in his court-martial next week. Forcing the testimony would have raised free speech issues.

Dropping charges means Watada's maximum prison sentence has been reduced to four years, from what could have been six. We would prefer further reductions and no prison time for a conscientious refusal to serve in what Watada believes, right or wrong, is an illegal war in Iraq.

Military leaders have shown commendable flexibility in dealing with a variety of conscience- and belief-motivated requests to be excused from service. For instance, the Marine commandant, Gen. James Conway, last week granted conscientious-objector status to Pvt. Ronnie Tallman to allow the 21-year-old to pursue a newfound calling as a Navajo medicine man. Under Navajo spiritual law, Tallman could not serve in a special group of certified spiritual healers if he participated in any killing.

Actions like Conway's have given the military greater rather than lesser stature in the difficult circumstances of the Iraq war. Similar flexibility on policy at a higher level might save many Americans from the dangers of Iraq combat. Unless Congress insists, however, the Bush administration will stay the course.

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