Arguments Heard At Court Martial Of War Objector
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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 yesterday at his court-martial.
However, a lawyer for First Lieutenant Ehren Watada argued that his client was acting in good conscience, based on his understanding of the war and military law.
“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 Lieutenant 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, Lieutenant Watada is the first to be court-martialed. In 2005, Army Sergeant Kevin Benderman, an enlisted man, served 13 months in prison and was given a dishonorable discharge after refusing to ship out.
The prosecutor, Captain Scott Van Sweringen, told the court yesterday that by January 1, 2006, Lieutenant Watada had concluded that the war was illegal and that he could not deploy. Rather than keep the decision between himself and his superiors, Captain Van Sweringen said, Lieutenant Watada released a video statement at a June news conference in Tacoma.
Soldiers in Lieutenant Watada’s unit, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, left for Iraq — “absent a leader they had trained with. Absent a leader they had trusted,” Captain Van Sweringen told the seven-member panel of officers hearing the case.
In the statement, Lieutenant Watada had said: “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.”
The panel will hear from three government witnesses, including Lieutenant Watada’s battalion commander who has said Lieutenant Watada told him he intended to conduct a private protest, Captain Van Sweringen said.
Mr. Seitz said the young officer had no choice but to go public after the Army refused his attempts for a solution other than going to Iraq.
