Ehren Watada is a First Lieutenant of the United States Army who in June, 2006, refused to deploy to Iraq for his unit’s assigned rotation to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Watada said he believed the war to be illegal and that, under the doctrine of command responsibility, it would make him party to war crimes. At the time, he was assigned to duty with the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, part of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, as a Fire Support Officer. Watada was the first commissioned officer in the U.S. armed forces to refuse to deploy to Iraq.
Watada’s February 2007 court-martial ended in a mistrial when he argued that his orders were unlawful, because Military Judge John Head ruled that the question can not be resolved within the military justice system, saying Watada’s argument was thus reduced to an admission of guilt. A second court-martial was scheduled but was stayed in October 2007 by U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle, who issued an order stating that Watada’s “double jeopardy claim is meritorious” and no evidence that it lacks merit was presented. The Army challenged the injunction, and Judge Settle ruled on October 21, 2008, that Watada cannot be retried on three of the five counts, but abstained from deciding whether the remaining two charges of conduct unbecoming an officer may go forward.
The Army appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in November, 2008. But after the Obama administration took office, the Justice Department asked the court to drop the case, which was dismissed on May 6, 2009.
Read more on the Halvsie Wiki: Ehren Watada.
Tags: honor, legal, watada
