Posted on 09/16/2006 10:16:40 AM PDT by bigfootbob
Army prosecutors have added a fourth charge of conduct unbecoming an officer against 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, a Fort Lewis officer who refused deployment to Iraq because he considers the war to be illegal.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattlepi.nwsource.com ...
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The loonie went to an anti-war protest last month and said that one way that the war will end if American soldiers simply refuse to fight.
The additional charge raises the potential prison sentence from seven to eight years, a Fort Lewis spokesman said. Watada now faces seven charges.
The latest resulted from a speech he made Aug. 12 to Veterans for Peace at the University of Washington. Watada said that "to stop an illegal and unjust war, soldiers can choose to stop fighting it."
Fort Lewis spokesman Joe Piek said that the video recording of Watada's speech was introduced at his Article 32 hearing at Fort Lewis last month -- the equivalent of a civilian grand jury hearing.
Watada's supporters criticized the charge as gratuitous and said it raises free-speech issues.
I dont think soljers have had free speech since the Civil War.
this assclown is openly giving aid and comfort to the enemy as well as preaching sedition.....burn him.....this is a deliberate and calculated effort on his part which is an aggravating factor, not just an emotional outburst.
5 or more years in the cooler at Leavenworth is in order here.
" I dont think soljers have had free speech since the Civil War."
Uh - I hope they fry the coward. Why did he ever accept his commission?
Guess his supporters have:
a) Never been in the military.
or
b) Never read the UCMJ
or
c) Never heard of the UCMJ
B
There are no links to related articles about this fool. If any one can post links to other articles I would like to know what the other charges are against him.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Lt.+Ehren+Watada&btnG=Google+Search
take your pick here
some of the prior FR threads here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/search?m=any;o=score;s=Ehren%20Watada
This really makes me laugh:
"Watada's supporters criticized the charge as gratuitous and said it raises free-speech issues."
His supporters are obviously CLUELESS about the UCMJ and military regulations -- but then again, so is soon-to-be-former-lieutenant Watada.
Oh, he has said that more than once...I live in Seattle and believe me he is more than a minor hero to the loony left here and THAT does include both papers, The Seattle Times and the Seattle PI...and all the local news networks.
Watada and this interviewer try to play the race card to his advantage here:
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/41090/
5 years? I'd say life, if not the firing squad.
I wondered about sedition too- it seems he is "recruiting" others to give up fighting. It's one thing to desert, it's another thing to get others to do so. I still want more penalties against those who interfere with the war effort- such as those who repeatedly shut down recruitment centers...
I knew this was going to happen when the left demanded that girlymen be allowed to join the VOLUNTEER ARMY. I still can't get a handle on this jiveass "popular" and "unpopular", "legal" and "illegal" war crap. I guess you have to be doing drugs to understand that kind of thinking.
or
b) Never read the UCMJ
or
c) Never heard of the UCMJ
d) all of the above
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