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<p>An Army lieutenant who refused to deploy to Iraq in 2006, saying he believed the war was illegal, has officially left the service. Fort Lewis spokesman Joseph Piek confirmed that Ehren Watada was discharged Friday.</p> <p>Watada was charged with missing his unit's deployment and with conduct unbecoming an officer for denouncing President Bush and the war—statements he made while explaining his actions.</p>

First Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned military officer to refuse deployment to Iraq because he believed it was an illegal war, has won his three-year legal battle with the Army. With little fanfare, the Army at Fort Lewis in Washington state accepted the resignation of the 1996 Kalani High School graduate last Friday and he will be discharged during the first week in October. Rather than seek a second court martial against the infantry officer, the Army will grant Watada a discharge “under other than honorable conditions.” Joseph J. Piek, Fort Lewis spokesman, said “this is an administrative discharge...

Posted on: Friday, October 5, 2007 2:54 PM HST Judge blocks Watada's court-martial Associated Press TACOMA, Wash. >> A federal court judge has temporarily blocked a court-martial scheduled for an Iraq war objector based at Fort Lewis. The court-martial of Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada of Hawaii had been scheduled to start Tuesday. Watada’s lawyers argue the Army is violating his constitutional rights by trying him twice for the same crime. Watada is charged with missing his unit’s deployment to Iraq in June 2006 and with conduct unbecoming an officer for denouncing President Bush and the war. U.S. District Judge...

The court rejects defense witnesses who would testify about the war's legalityFORT LEWIS, Wash. — The judge in the case against the first American officer court-martialed for refusing to ship out for Iraq barred several experts in international and constitutional law from testifying yesterday about the legality of the war.First Lieutenant Ehren Watada, 28, of Honolulu is charged with missing movement for refusing to ship out with his unit, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. He is also faces charges of conduct unbecoming an officer for accusing the Army of war crimes and denouncing the administration for conducting an "illegal...

Denied a chance to debate the legality of the Iraq war in court, an Army officer who refused to go to Iraq now goes to trial hoping to at least minimize the amount of time he could serve if convicted. Anti-war activists consider 1st Lt. Ehren Watada a hero, but the Army accuses him of betraying his fellow soldiers. The 28-year-old faces four years in prison if convicted on one count of missing movement and two counts of conduct unbecoming an officer for refusing to ship out with his unit, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. Watada has spoken out...

On the eve of America's invasion of Iraq, he was heartsick at the prospect that he might not be military material. He even shelled out $800 for medical tests to convince the recruiters that he was fit for duty despite childhood asthma that would ordinarily render him ineligible for service. On Monday, that same eager recruit, now Lieutenant Ehren Watada, faces a court martial for refusing to deploy to Iraq and for making public statements against the war. He is the first officer to be prosecuted for publicly criticising the war - indeed the first since the Vietnam era when...

The opening round in the court-martial of 1st Lt. Ehren Watada could be key to defense hopes of putting the Iraq war on trial along with this Fort Lewis Army officer who refused to deploy to Iraq. At a pretrial hearing today, Watada's attorneys will try to persuade a military judge that they should be allowed to argue that the war is illegal, in part because it violates military regulations that wars be fought in accordance with the United Nations charter. That stance is crucial to the defense of Watada, who faces charges of missing a troop movement and conduct...

By MELANTHIA MITCHELL, Associated Press Writer Thu Nov 9, 5:20 PM ET SEATTLE - An Army lieutenant who challenged the Bush administration's reasons for going to war in Iraq and then refused to deploy to the country will face a military trial, the Army said Thursday. Fort Lewis commander Lt. Gen. James Dubik recommended that the Army proceed with a general court-martial against 1st Lt. Ehren Watada. Watada, 28, was charged with missing troop movement, conduct unbecoming an officer and contempt toward officials for comments he made about President Bush. The Army later added another specification of conduct unbecoming an...

Nine veterans groups in California are criticizing 1st Lt. Ehren Watada for his decision to disobey deployment orders to Iraq. Watada is trying to "make himself a martyr and a hero," said Robert M. Wada, a charter president of the Japanese American Korean War Veterans. He said Watada's actions disrespect a legacy of military service by Japanese-American soldiers dating back to World War II. "No Japanese-Americans did anything like that and that is why Japanese-Americans are so upset," Wada said. "He is doing something that has never been done by Japanese-Americans." The groups expressed their outrage at Watada in a...

The Army definition of subversion reads, "Active attempts to encourage military or civilian employees to violate laws, disobey lawful orders or regulations, or disrupt military activities." Army Regulation, derived from the United States Code, further states the following: During time of war, subversion additionally includes: (l) making or conveying false reports or false statements with the intent to interfere with the operation or success of the armed forces of the United States or to promote the success of its enemies; and (2) willfully obstructing or attempting to obstruct the recruitment or enlistment service of the United States, to the injury...

UPDATED 3:58 P.M. A public appearance by an Army lieutenant who refuses to go fight in Iraq was postponed Wednesday after his commanders told him he couldn’t attend his press conference during duty hours. Lt. Ehren Watada’s supporters in the anti-war movement held their mid-day event at Associated Ministries in Tacoma anyway, and played a video recording of the 28-year-old Stryker soldier’s statement against the war. They said he would appear at 6 p.m. Watada says he won’t obey orders to deploy to Iraq with the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, which is leaving later this month for its second...

An Army officer who was born and raised in Honolulu is refusing to go with his unit to Iraq because he says the basis of the war is illegal and immoral. 27-year-old First Lieutenant Ehren Watada is with the Stryker unit out of Fort Lewis, Washington. Watada is the son of former state Campaign Spending Commission executive director Bob Watada. "I feel that we have been lied to and betrayed by this administration," Watada said Tuesday in a telephone interview with the Seattle Times from Fort Lewis. "It is the duty, the obligation of every soldier, and specifically the officers,...

SEATTLE - As thousands of Fort Lewis Army troops prepare to head back to Iraq, one of their officers is making a stand. A lieutenant says he is going to refuse to go, saying it's an unjust war. Anti-war groups are rallying to his defense. Lt. Ehren Watada of the Stryker Brigade writes, "I refuse to be silent any longer. I refuse to watch families torn apart, while the President tells us to ‘stay the course.’ I refuse to be party to an illegal and immoral war against people who did nothing to deserve our aggression. "I wanted to be...