By Daisuke Wakabayashi
Reuters
Tuesday, February 6, 2007; 3:25 PM
FORT LEWIS, Wash (Reuters) – The U.S. government began its
case against an Army officer being court-martialed for refusing
to fight in Iraq by accusing him on Tuesday of making
“disgraceful” statements and abandoning his unit.
First Lt. Ehren Watada faces up to four years in a military
prison and a dishonorable discharge if convicted on a charge of
missing movements for not deploying to Iraq and two charges of
conduct unbecoming an officer for his criticism of the war.
Watada, whose supporters say is the first commissioned Army
officer to publicly refuse to fight in Iraq, has called the war
illegal and immoral. He rejected conscientious objector status,
saying he would be willing to fight in Afghanistan.
Government and defense lawyers laid out their arguments to
a seven-member panel of officers, the equivalent of a jury in a
civilian trial, who will determine Watada’s fate.
“The accused sat comfortably in his office while the
soldiers in his unit deployed to Iraq,” said Capt. Scott Van
Sweringen, the prosecuting attorney. “The manner and content of
his statements were disgraceful.”
Watada, 28, does not deny that he refused to go to Iraq,
criticized the war and accused U.S. President George W. Bush’s
administration of deceiving the American people to enter into a
war of aggression.
“There are no real facts in dispute here,” said Watada’s
lawyer, Eric Seitz. “The only real question is why.”
The defense aims to show that Watada acted on principle and
tried to avoid a public confrontation with the Army by offering
to resign his commission or fight elsewhere.
Seitz told reporters on Monday he would consider a lighter
sentence for Watada as a victory after the military judge
limited the scope of the defense strategy.
The judge, Lt. Col. John Head, denied the defense’s motion
to argue the legality of the war, saying it was not a matter
for a military court. He also disallowed the defense’s entire
witness list as irrelevant.
The two charges of conduct unbecoming an officer stem from
public comments Watada made encouraging soldiers “to throw down
their weapons” to resist an authoritarian government at home.
Defense lawyers had intended to argue that his comments
were free speech protected by the U.S. Constitution. The judge
decided prior to the trial that there are limits to an
officer’s rights to free speech.
The military panel will decide whether Watada’s criticism
amounted to misconduct posing a danger to the loyalty,
discipline, mission and morale of the troops.
“He was acting out of his own conscience. He was not
compelling anyone to act out,” said Seitz. “At most, he engaged
in an act of civil disobedience.”
The defense is expected to present its case on Wednesday.
If a guilty verdict is returned, the trial will enter the
sentencing phase.
© 2007 Reuters
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