Army: War Objector Brought Disgrace
Tuesday, February 6, 2007; 7:08 PM
FORT LEWIS, Wash. -- An Army lieutenant who refused to deploy to Iraq because he considers the war illegal abandoned his soldiers and disgraced himself and the service, prosecutors said Tuesday at his court-martial.
A lawyer for 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, however, argued that his client was acting in good conscience, based on his understanding of the war and military law.
  Actor Sean Penn, left, shakes hands with Army veteran and anti-war activist Dennis Kayne, of San Jose, right, after speaking to supporters of 1st Lt. Ehren Watada during a rally near the gates of Fort Lewis Army Base, DuPont, Wash., on the day Watada's court-martial begins Monday, Feb. 5, 2007. Watada announced last June that he would refuse to go to Iraq with his unit, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. Now the 28-year-old Watada faces four years in prison if convicted on one count of missing movement and two counts of conduct unbecoming an officer. (AP Photo/John Froschauer) (John Froschauer - AP) 
| ||||||||||||||||||||
"At most, he engaged in an act or form of civil disobedience," defense attorney Eric Seitz said in opening remarks. "No way does that add up to conduct unbecoming an officer."
The military accuses Watada, 28, of Honolulu, of refusing to ship out with his unit and conduct unbecoming an officer for accusing the Army of war crimes and for attacking the Bush administration's handling of the war.
Although other officers have refused to deploy to Iraq, Watada is the first to be court-martialed.
Prosecutor Capt. Scott Van Sweringen told the court Tuesday that by Jan. 1, 2006, Watada had concluded that the war was illegal and that he could not deploy.
Watada's commanding officer, Lt. Col. Bruce Antonia, testified that he learned of Watada's concerns soon after that and urged Watada not to make any public statements.
Instead, Watada released a video statement at a June news conference in Tacoma.
"The wholesale slaughter and mistreatment of Iraqis is not only a terrible and moral injustice, but it's a contradiction to the Army's own law of land warfare. My participation would make me a party to war crimes," Watada said in the video, which was played in court Tuesday.
"I was dismayed, probably a little bit betrayed," Antonia said. "I believe what he said was that the commander in chief made decisions based on lies, that he specifically deceived the American people. That is nowhere in the realm of a lieutenant in the United States Army."
Under cross-examination, Antonia said he believes soldiers are obligated to determine for themselves whether they've been given an illegal order.
"I would expect him not to obey if the order was illegal," Antonia said, prompting several excited murmurs from spectators watching the hearing from a nearby overflow room.
