Ehren Watada

Ehren Watada (1978 –) is a First Lieutenant in the United States Army, a member of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division Stryker Brigade Combat Team, who in June 2006 publicly refused to deploy to Iraq for the Iraq War, saying that he believed the war to be illegal and that it would make him party to war crimes. Watada is the first commissioned officer in the U.S. armed forces to publicly refuse deployment to Iraq.

Background

Watada was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. He joined the US Army in 2003 after the war in Iraq began, claming that after 9/11 he was motivated "out of a desire to protect our country," and even paid $800 for a medical test to prove that he was qualified for service. Watada first served a tour in Korea, where he was rated "among the best", "exemplary," and recommended for early promotion ahead of his peers. He then returned to the United States in June 2005 and reported to Ft. Lewis army base, where he was to begin preparation for deployment to Iraq.

Upon discovering that he would be going to Iraq, Watada began conducting research on the war. After reading voraciously about International Law and the history of Iraq, as well as articles by scholars and governmental and non-governmental agencies, he developed strong doubts about the war, so much so that in January 2006 he submitted a resignation request, declaring that he would not serve in Iraq. According to Watada, based on his research he determined that the war was illegal, violating the Constitution and War Powers Act which "limits the president in his role as Commander in Chief from using the armed forces in any way he sees fit," as well as the UN Charter, the Geneva Conventions, and the Nuremberg Principles, which "bar wars of aggression." Further, he asserted that the war was based on misleading or false premises such as the existence of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, and that the occupation itself does not follow the Army's own legal rules of conduct for occupying a country. For all of these reasons, claims Watada, he cannot morally participate in the War."

The Army refused his resignation. Watada has said he is not a conscientious objector because he is not opposed to war as a principle, only the war in Iraq, and so offered to serve in Afghanistan, which the Army also refused. Watada, in turn, refused an offer for a desk job in Iraq without direct combat involvement. Lt. Watada's initial term of service ends on December 3 2006. However, the US Army may choose to extend its officers' tours of duty at its discretion.

Charges

In response to Lt. Watada's refusal to deploy, the US Army leveled a number of charges against him:

• conduct unbecoming an officer
• missing movement
• contempt toward officials (in this case, President Bush)

At the time of these initial charges, Lt. Watada faced the possibility of a court martial and up to seven years in prison as well as a dishonorable discharge if convicted. About this eventuality, Watada says that he does not regret his decision and is willing to face the consequences, citing it as what he believes is a moral responsibility: "When you are looking your children in the eye in the future, or when you are at the end of your life, you want to look back on your life and know that at a very important moment, when I had the opportunity to make the right decisions, I did so, even knowing there were negative consequences."

On these charges, Watada's lawyer, Eric Seitz, comments:

"Well, we expected him to be charged with missing movement or violating an order to get on a bus to accompany his unit to Iraq. We did not really anticipate that they would charge him with additional offenses based upon the comments and the remarks that he's made. And that opens up a whole new chapter in this proceeding, because what the Army has clearly tried to do by the nature of these charges is send out a message to people in the military, that if you criticize the war and if you criticize the decisions that were made to bring the United States into this war, that you, too, could be charged with disloyalty, contemptuous remarks and disrespect for higher officers, and in this case, specifically in this charge, the President."

Article 32 Hearing

Lt. Watada's article 32 hearing was held on August 17 2006. Investigating officer Lt. Col. Mark Keith, acting as Judge, presided.

The Army prosecutor, Capt. Dan Kuecker, described Watada's actions as contemptuous of President Bush, and argued that Watada's public statements hurt morale in his unit, coming as they did as his unit was approaching deployment to Iraq. He played video clips from Lt. Watada's address to a Veterans for Peace conference. In that speech, Watada called on his fellow soldiers to stop fighting. Eric Seitz, Watada's civilian counsel, and Capt. Mark Kim, Watada's military lawyer, raised the issue of the legality of the war. Over the prosecutor's objections, Seitz and Kim called three witnesses to question the legality of the war. University of Illinois Professor Francis Boyle, an authority in international law, testified that the war is illegal because it was not authorized by the U.N. Security Council, and because Congress approved the war only after being lied to by the Bush administration. Also testifying in Watada's defense were Former United Nations Undersecretary Denis Halliday, and Army Colonel Ann Wright (ret.), who resigned from the army in March, 2003 in protest of the coming invasion. Like Boyle, both asserted that the war was illegal and that therefore Lt. Watada was within his rights to refuse participation in it. Also, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a friend-of-the-court brief, stating that "soldiers should not be court martialled for explaining their views."

Lt. Col. Mark Keith has recommended Watada for court martial on all charges, saying, however, that he thinks that Lt. Watada appears to be "sincere in his beliefs," and that this sincerity may mitigate future punishment. It remains to be seen what will happen. Of the court martial recommendation, Eric Seitz has stated that he is dismayed that the Army seems to be trying Watada without looking seriously at his arguments and that of the other experts appearing at the trial about the legality of the war.

Post Hearing Developments and Debates

On Friday September 15, the Army announced that it is now leveling another charge against him of "conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman," based on remarks that he made at a Veterans for Peace convention. This brings the potential prison term faced by Lt. Watada to up to eight and a half years in prison if convicted of all charges. Approximately six of these years are for statements that he made concerning the war rather than his refusal to deploy to Iraq- "Missing Movement" is normally punishable by two years.

Lt. Colonel Mark Keith justifies the additional charge by asserting that "contempt for the President and suggestion that US soldiers can stop the war simply by refusing to fight borders on mutiny and sedition."

On the other hand, Eric Seitz, Lt. Watada's civilian attorney, asserts that the Army added the new charge to make a public example of him: "He's not doing anything other than saying things he believes to be true, and that we believe are true. This makes it that much clearer that this is just a political prosecution, and that's really all this case has been about from the beginning." Kelly Dougherty, Chairperson of Iraq Veterans against the War, agrees: "The charge is unwarranted. They are trying to show others how hard they will be punished if they speak out. Right now the military sees more and more soldiers speaking publicly and it's threatening to them. They are creating an atmosphere of threats and of fear."

Opinions about Lt. Watada differ widely. Besides the ACLU and Iraq Veterans against the War, Veterans for Peace has come out in support. Also, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that approximately 200 supporters held a demonstration at the Fort Lewis gates. James Yee, the former Muslim chaplain from the Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba, was also present, and Watada also reported that he has received some support from individual servicemen.

Conversely, many other groups are opposed to Lt. Watada's actions, such as Military Families Voice of Victory, who claim that he is helping al-Qaeda, and some Japanese American veterans, who claim that he brings shame to the Japanese community. Watada has also reported that although he has not received any open hostility from his fellow soldiers, still there is "definitely a tension." There was also a small "counter demonstration" at Fort Lewis opposite his supporters.

The Post-Intelligencer reported that Lt. Watada's mother, Carolyn Ho, founded a website to support Watada, at www.thankyoult.org. The text of his address to the Veterans for Peace conference can be found there. It has also been announced that Lt. Watada's father, Bob Watada, toured the California Bay Area to raise money for his son's defense on August 25, 26 and 27.

See also

• Aidan Delgado
• Jeremy Hinzman
• Camilo Mejia
• Pablo Paredes

External links

• Video of his statement given June, 2006
• Website "Thank You Lt. Ehren Watada"
• Reuters story: Army officer says won't fight in "unlawful" Iraq war
• News-Tribune story: Army lieutenant who won’t go to Iraq issues recorded statement
• Honolulu Star-Bulletin story: Army officer from Honolulu refuses to report for Iraq duty, dated June 6 2006
• Aljazeera story: US army officer refuses Iraq tour, date June 8 2006
• Article about Ehren Watada from Seattle Times, June 27, 2006
• Nichi Bei Times Article With brief interview regarding Japanese American camp resisters
• Article about support from the Japanese American Community
• Democracy Now! interview with Ehren Watada: Army Lieutenant Becomes First Commissioned Officer to Refuse Deployment to Iraq, date June 8 2006
• Nichi Bei Times story: JACL Elects Not to Support Lt. Watada’s Deployment Refusal
• Nichi Bei Times story: Bob Watada, Lt. Ehren Watada's Father, Comes to Bay Area, Draws Supporters