Justice Department drops case against Fort Lewis war objector

[superconnected]

Source: KOMO4NEW.com

SEATTLE (AP) - The Justice Department is dropping its appeal of a judge's decision that blocked the Army from retrying a Fort Lewis lieutenant who refused to deploy to Iraq.

Army spokesman Joe Piek said Wednesday that Fort Lewis officials learned late last week of the department's decision in the case of Ehren Watada, who claimed the war was illegal and publicly denounced President George W. Bush when he skipped his deployment in 2006.

Watada's first court-martial ended in a mistrial, over his objection. A federal judge ruled last fall that the Army could not try him again on key charges, including missing troop movement, because it would violate his constitutional right to be free from double jeopardy.

The Justice Department initially appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but later asked the court to dismiss the matter. The court did so Wednesday.

Read more: http://www.komonews.com/news/local/44492717.html

[LakeSamish706]

1. Thats great news... I'm sure both he and his family will be relieved.. n/t

[ThirdWorldJohn]

2. The DOJ withdrew prosecution and should have been barred from an appeal under double jeopardy

And if the court had proceeded then the war would have been shown to be an illegal war of aggression and that is another thing Obama will oppose looking into.

[lsewpershad]

4. Creepy

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

[Mithreal]

3. Score one for the conscientious

"But Fort Lewis leadership is still mulling how to handle two remaining allegations of conduct unbecoming an officer against Watada, Piek said. Options include court-martial, nonjudicial punishment such as docking his pay or giving him extra work, or kicking him out of the Army with either an honorable or dishonorable discharge."

[Peace Patriot]

6. "honorable or dishonorable discharge"?! Good God, the man deserves the Congressional Medal of

Honor! He was right, and the whole frigging government was wrong! When is the Pentagon going to stop persecuting this hero and true patriot for being right?

[mrs_p]

5. excellent

:applause:

[kpete]

7. Justice Dept. drops case against war resistor Watada

Source: Raw Story


Justice Dept. drops case against war resistor Watada
By Stephen C. Webster

Published: May 6, 2009

The Department of Justice has dropped its case against 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, a war resistor who refused Iraq deployment in June 2006 and denounced President George W. Bush’s decision to invade as illegal and immoral.

In Feb. 2007, military judge Lieutenant Colonel John Head halted Watada’s case following possible inconsistencies concerning a “stipulation of fact” agreed before the hearing. The decision led to a mistrial, ending Watada’s court marshal. The Army appealed, but a judge said Watada could not be tried again on the same charges, as it would violate his right to be free of double jeopardy.

The Justice Department is dropping its appeal of that judge’s decision.

“Because there are no longer any criminal charges pending against Lt. Watada, and because (his) military service has been extended far beyond his normal release date, he anticipates that he will soon be released from active duty,” Watada’s attorney, James Lobsenz, said in a media advisory published Wednesday. “He plans to return to civilian life and to attend law school.”

Read more: http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/05/06/justice-dept-drops-case-against-war-resistor-watada/

[AnOhioan]

8. Excellent

[merh]

9. finally, the DOJ helping someone that deserves justice

:thumbsup:

[Lint Head]

10. I hope he speaks out. I want to know what he has to say

about the criminals that started the Iraqi war and murdered innocent human beings.
:dem:

[LakeSamish706]

12. I hope that he does, and many others that felt the same way. n/t

[LakeSamish706]

11. Yep, thats awesome news to my State... I am happy for Watada and his family...

I'm sure this must have been very stressful.

[MikeNearMcChord]

13. I had the honor of hearing him speak at a church gathering

This is great news.

[norepubsin08]

35. Was that church gathering at

First United Methodist Church in Tacoma? With Sean Penn attending? I am the chair person of the MICAH Project, the peace and justice project of the church and we were the ones who brought him in!

[barbtries]

14. happy to hear it n/t

[NV Whino]

15. That's great news!

[msanthrope]

16. Justice comes slowly, like a drunk gerbil. But it comes. n/t

[LynzM]

17. Excellent.

I'm very glad to read this. :)

[bleever]

18. Siegelman next!

Please.

[midnight]

32. Yes. Let's please give this man some justice.

[JohnnyLib2]

19. Great news.

And I'm sort of amazed.

[Overseas]

20. K&R !! //nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. Good luck Lt.

And to the justice critters, well thank you

[bemildred]

22. Watada was right.

We need more Watadas.

[Thothmes]

48. I wonder,

what would be the reaction on this forum, if some army officers today decided their deployment, ordered by the current President, was illegal and they refused to carry out his orders. I suspect the term treason would be bandied about quite freely.

[winyanstaz]

23. Alright! About time too...

This young man is a hero..he stood up for his moral values even though they dragged him through hell. He is a true role model that many more should have followed instead of torturing their fellow human beings.
Welcome Home Lt. Watada...you make America Proud.

[Better Believe It]

24. Wonderful! K & R

[backscatter712]

25. YES!!!

:toast: :party: :beer: :headbang: :yourock: :fistbump: :woohoo: :applause:

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

26. Best news I've heard all day, maybe all week.

Congratulations Lt. Watada. If you see this link, I thank you very much for your taking your stand.

Now let's prosecute the criminals.

[Peace Patriot]

27. This is WONDERFUL news! Next, how about a Peoples' Medal of Honor for this hero and true patriot!

Kudos and laurel wreaths to Lt. Ehren Watada!

:applause: :bounce: :applause: :grouphug: :patriot: :grouphug: :applause: :bounce: :applause:

[Ysabela]

28. Restoring Justice to the Justice Department. n/t

[Judi Lynn]

29. Thanks to the new President for allowing this man to return to life.

He was one person the _Bush administration couldn't stand: a man of conscience. What a shame it took so long before he could be freed from the living hell they created for him, but now he knows they didn't speak for the country, anyway.

What a shame they did so much damage to him before he could escape their grimey, sadistic clutches.

[Big_Mike]

30. He skated this on a technicality,

just like a drunk driver who kills a family but the cops screwed up his arrest. At least the drunk didn't plan to wipe out innocents.

He enlisted to attend OCS, to be a leader of soldiers. If he wanted to fight the legality of the the upcoming invasion of Iraq, he should have entered the House of Representatives, not the Army. He chose to enter; you do NOT get to pick and choose which jobs you do. Gassing a camp member or shooting a crowd of civilians is clearly a war crime. But, as the judge cited, going to Iraq is a political decision, not one that a soldier makes.

He exhibited tremendous moral courage for standing up for his beliefs; however, any merit that act may accrue to him is lost in his abrogation to lead and protect the soldiers assigned to him. Someone else had to come in at the last moment and take up his responsibilities. The military performs as directed by the National Command Authority with the concurrence of Congress. He should have written every elected representative he could, stating his position that the war was wrong and illegal, and for the Congress to cut off funding and returning our forces back stateside. But that correspondence should have been marked "FREE MAIL" because his butt was in Iraq leading his soldiers as he had sworn to do.

May his name be forever enshrined with another officer who failed in his duty to lead soldiers in combat: William L. Calley.

[Cid_B]

33. Agreed...

Dear "LT" Watada,

You disgust us.

Sincerely,
Everyone who had to pick up your slack

[grahamhgreen]

41. Other way around - he picked up your slack.

[ima_sinnic]

50. who is "us"?

how dare you speak for anyone other than your own unquestioning self.

[Cid_B]

51. Everyone in the military who gives a shit...

... about doing the job right, about supporting the guy next to you and who whether they knew it or not were just a little bit worse off because of this particular weakling.

That's the us I am talking about.

[ima_sinnic]

56. gee, yeah, supporting others' illegal killing is far more impt than

following the dictates of conscience.
The so-called "weakling" was in fact the hero in this case. "The job" was to occupy a foreign country that did jack shit to us and murder its citizens for no good reason. Those who were doing "the job" would have been better off following the example of this one brave soul who resisted all that. I have no sympathy whatsoever for those who unquestioningly follow orders they know are wrong. So take your condescending, judgmental attitude back to your buddies in arms (those who are still alive and not permanently maimed, physically or mentally).
Lt. Watada would have had it "easy" by merely keeping his mouth shut and murdering people illegally. He went the hard way, the way only someone who is truly brave would go.

[Cid_B]

62. Then why did he sign up?

This was 2006. The earliest he could have accepted his commission was mid 2004. Guess what was going on then.

He knew what he was taking an oath for but in the end he got scared.

You want to know what the really "hard" decision is? It is to follow through on your word and go over there to the nasty parts of the world and making sure personally that the right thing happens, especially in the role of an officer where you have direct control and responsibility over the Soldiers working for you. You say you want to make sure women and children and innocents don't die? Well, guess what the best place to make that happen is.

It's easy to say "I was just kidding, I'm going to sit on the sidelines and complain" and it takes a person of their word to actually go there themselves and take care of it.

I stand by my statements. Watada disgusts me.

[LanternWaste]

65. self-delete

[Zhade]

60. You mean follow illegal orders? I'm sure the Iraqis -- who actually matter -- appreciate Watada.

He's the real hero here.

[GReedDiamond]

34. Bullshit...

...to quote you: Gassing a camp member or shooting a crowd of civilians is clearly a war crime.

And how is unleashing a "shock and awe" campaign of massive bombing on a helpless urban civilian population (for fraudulent reasons, which millions of people, globally, were well aware of), any different than the war crimes you cite, except for the levels of magnitude? Followed by a long term occupation, all of which ends up resulting in the deaths of 100,000-1,000,000+ civilians, many more lives maimed and ruined, with millions more displaced refugees...not to mention the resulting trillion or two wasted American taxpayer dollars and American military deaths and injuries suffered...

Your attempt to reduce/demean the patriotic and rightful heroism of Watada, your recognition of his "tremendous moral courage" notwithstanding, by comparing him to a felony killer drunk driver and Lt. Calley, for his decision to refuse illegal orders, is pathetic and disgusting. I'd call you a FReeper, but that would be assuming the obvious.

[kas125]

39. Isn't there some kind of rule about refusing illegal orders?

The invasion and occupation of Iraq was a war of aggression - a war crime. He had a duty to refuse.

[grahamhgreen]

42. A true hero. Real guts. One man against an army.

[Zhade]

61. People who dedicate their lives to the lie of "protecting us" (nope, not since WW2) don't get it.

They don't see that by condemning this hero, they're part of the evil machine he opposes.

[Truth2Tell]

43. Just like a drunk driver who kills a family

Congratulations, you win the "Rush Limpballs right-wing war-mongering troll analogy of the week" award.

They'll be handing it out with the DUZYs.

[Akoto]

55. Wait, wait. I don't think I'm following you.

You're saying that Lt. Watada should have written every representative he could to express the illegality of the Iraq war and atrocities taking place there. After doing so, he should then have gladly led his men into perpetuating the problem.

Does this not sound at all contradictory to you?

[Big_Mike]

64. It is his right to disagree with the policy of the United States of America

as it is for every citizen of our nation.

However, when you don the uniform, you undertake responsibilities that sometimes interfere with the rights you have as a civilian. I speak now as a former platoon sergeant of a line platoon in the combat arms.

He could easily have not enlisted. He could have chosen to enlist and serve as an enlisted service member. But he chose to serve as an officer. Had his assignment been that of a member of the staff, I would have no complaint. Staff officers are non-entities as far as the line soldiers of a combat arms unit are concerned.

He was, however, the Platoon Leader of a field artillery firing battery. He was supposed to lead soldiers. This is one of the most critical positions in the military, which places officers in a special position of trust where those officers directly lead soldiers. No officer has more daily interaction with the soldiers that serve beneath him. Officers will have many more soldiers serving beneath them as they rise in rank and responsibility, but will never again will they have as much day to day influence nor will they ever be such a direct example.

LT Watada, as I said, exhibited great moral courage in his stand. Moral courage should be commended, and I find his stand laudable. I would have tipped my cap unreservedly had he stated his opinion and deployed with his soldiers. From serving within Iraq, he could have led his soldiers, ensuring that the Laws of Land Warfare were followed to the letter. He failed to do so, and therein failed his soldiers.

But the direct example he set for his solders was one of abandoning his responsibilities in taking care of them and leading them in combat, the ultimate crucible of military leadership. That is contemptible. Hence my link of him to William Calley, who infamously failed to lead his platoon in combat.

[Boondog]

31. Congrats, LT

I can hear teeth grinding at the Cheney house and at Mt. Misery.

[Ozymanithrax]

36. It has been a long fight.

I wish him good fortune in civilian life.

[Common Sense Party]

37. Now perhaps thousands more will refuse deployment to Iraq

and perhaps Afghanistan, as well.

[norepubsin08]

38. How Cool

In large part because of his crises, our congregation, First United Methodist Church in Tacoma Washington declared ourselves a "Sanctuary Congregation" meaning that we would house soldiers who needed to discern their call to the military. We had Lt. Watada at our church for a pre-trial rally.
This really gelled our Peace and Justice organization the MICAH Project into going into high gear against the Iraq War. It was quite a month the month that this all happened. How great that the charges were dropped.

[freeplessinseattle]

47. now that is very cool, too!

Gracious thanks to you and your fellow church members!

[uppityperson]

40. k&r

[ClayZ]

44. Look in my journal for his speech on Citizen Responsibility

One of the best speeches ever given!


K and R

[JonLP24]

45. I was there in Ft Lewis when this happened!!!!!

I remember being instructed as a Pvt E-1 at the time not to make any statements or opinions because he is a superior officer even though he refused to deploy. I would've said good for him but they were worried about lower enlisted attacking him because he is a superior officer. This is crazy. I completely forgot all about it before running into this article. Good news.

[Vidar]

46. Finally some justice regarding these fucking wars.

[Richard Steele]

49. Very little, very late. But better than it might have been. K&R

[Cid_B]

52. Let's do some math shall we...

He missed his movement in 2006. He is a 1LT. Which means he had less than 18 months in as an O1. If he was ROTC or OCS that means he was commissioned between 04 and 06 and unless he was in a flipping COMA he knew exactly what he was getting into.

Fuck you LT Shitbag for going back on your word and fuck you for wiping your ass on everyone who was supposedly counting on you.

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

53. Justice Department drops appeal in Watada case

Source: Seattle Times

The U.S. Justice Department, under the Obama administration, has dropped efforts to make 1st Lt. Ehren Watada face a second Army court-martial trial for refusing to go to Iraq in 2006 with his Fort Lewis combat brigade.

Read more: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2009187681_watada07m.html?syndication=rss

---

Watada is not out of the woods yet, he could still face charges brought by the Army (conduct unbecoming of an officer), but it seems that Obama's justice department did good in this case. Now if they would only get to the Siegelman matter.

[OnyxCollie]

54. Hooray for Ehren Watada!

:patriot:

[DarthCheney]

57. He volunteered to deploy to Afghanistan or elsewhere

Correct, he cannot choose assignments, but when he tried to work it out to deploy elsewhere & not make a public scene he was shut down. All the bastards calling him a coward are probably the same who called Pat Tillman a hero until it was discovered he was killed by his own troops then his diary was burned. Oh how soon we forget.

[DebbieCDC]

58. Our local (Seattle) news reported this morning that

the Army says "he still may face charges"

[Zhade]

59. YES! Watada is a hero. Such courage.

Those who decry him as a coward don't know the first thing about true courage.

[Cid_B]

63. What courage does it take...

... to say "I quit, I'll let someone else do the job for me"