Army 2 allow Iraq war objector 2 resign

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Army 2 allow Iraq war objector 2 resign
15
Sun, 09-27-2009 - 1:26pm


 

An update as to how all of this ended up.


Seattle Post-Intelligencer
http://www.seattlepi.com/national/1110ap_us_war_objector.html


Last updated September 25, 2009 10:57 p.m. PT


Army to allow Iraq war objector to resign

By AUDREY MCAVOY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER





 
photo

 
File - 1st Lt. Ehren Watada poses for a photograph in his Lacey, Wash., apartment, in this Feb. 2, 2007 file photo. 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 Sept. 25, 2009. (AP Photo/John Froschauer, File)

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 on key charges, including missing troop movement, would violate his constitutional right to be free from double jeopardy.


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 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.






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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Mon, 09-28-2009 - 1:31pm

I could be wrong, but I thought that Lt. Watada enlisted prior to Iraq.


Avatar for ddnlj
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 09-28-2009 - 2:31pm

You're right. It's not exactly right for someone to take advantage of the benefits the military

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Community Leader
Registered: 04-05-2002
Mon, 09-28-2009 - 3:01pm
The stop gap is a big problem and people getting called back time and again after serving is unfair. At some point, we're going to have to realize that the forces that have been serving have been spread too thin and can't be asked to come back time and again. The question is, what do we do then? If not people who are under obligation, then we'd have to do the draft. Hopefully, we'll be out of Iraq soon and only be in Afghanistan.










iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Mon, 09-28-2009 - 3:23pm
Well as the commanding general in Afghanistan wants an increase in troop presence I fear the problem will only change location.
Community Leader
Registered: 04-05-2002
Mon, 09-28-2009 - 3:52pm
Possibly. We should have stuck with Afghanistan and not started Iraq but to paraphrase Rumsfeld, you fight the wars you're stuck with, not the wars you want.










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