American antiwar activists hope that their support will help keep Lieut. Ehren Watada (on screen) out of prison.
Photo: AP
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American Officer on Trial for Refusing to Go to Iraq
Lieut. Ehren Watada is under court martial at Fort Lewis, WA, after publicly refusing in June of last year to go to Iraq with his division. Watada, 28, said that the terrorist act at the World Trade Center in New York spurred him to join the military in 2003. He served in South Korea until 2005. He requested to be sent to Afghanistan instead of Iraq but, after his request was denied, he officially refused to participate in the Iraq War.
Watada, who is a native of Hawaii of Japanese origin, wrote in the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper in June, “I as a leader could no longer stand the pain and suffering of so many soldiers, families, and Iraqis on the basis of a lie. I wanted to be there for my fellow troops. But the best way is not to add to the death and destruction. It is to help oppose this unlawful war and end it so that all soldiers can come home.”
Watada was arrested on June 22 of last year, after his division had left for Iraq. Last Monday, demonstrations were held at Fort Lewis, WA, and in Washington, DC, in his defense. Watada is facing court martial on charges of insubordination, behavior unbecoming an officer and insulting a superior. He defense tactic of arguing that the war is illegal has been rejected by the court. His lawyer's argument that Watada's criticism of the army leadership and U.S. President George W. Bush is protected under the First Amendment has also been rejected.
Watada faces four years in a military prison.
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All the Article in Russian as of Feb. 08, 2007
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