Posted on 11/10/2006 10:37:10 AM PST by Caesar Soze
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 officer based on his comments in Seattle during the national convention of Veterans for Peace in August.
Dubik referred only the charges of missing movement and conduct unbecoming an officer, the Army said.
The officer, from Honolulu, has said he believes the war is illegal. He was first charged after he refused to deploy to Iraq on June 22 with his Fort Lewis Stryker unit, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.
At an Article 32 hearing Aug. 17, prosecutors showed video footage of Watada at the veterans' convention, calling on other soldiers to stop participating in U.S. involvement in Iraq.
If convicted of all charges, Watada could serve six years' confinement and be dismissed from the service. No date has been set for the trial.
the pathetic Liberal , anti-war pukes in Hawaii , pride and joy : Ehren Watada
odd that even cowards and traitors need their heros.
Some good news in an otherwise bad week.
bump
Enjoy Leavenworth, scum.
Just clap him in irons, ship him to Iraq, and then have him drive a Humvee with a "Re-elect Pelosi" bumper sticker.
The troops will settle his hash within 20 minutes.
He'll make a fine addition to the lawnmower brigade at Leavenworth. Hope the jury of his peers maxes his ass out.
Wasn't Private Slovik executed for the same thing?
Blindfold and cigarette.
Scumbag.
Shoot him.
Yeah, I believe you're right. He was one unlucky dude -- in WWII there was a real problem with hundreds (if not thousands) of troops who managed to miss the movement of their units. As I understand it, Pvt Slovik was picked more or less randomly to serve as an example to others, in hopes of cutting down on the problem.
Lucky for us we don't have that kind of wide-spread problem today -- another reason why we'll never go back to a draft.
That's not good for his health.:-)
After conviction, he'll deserve every one of those six years at Leavenworth, hopefully in the max security prison.
Officers aren't discharged, dishonorably or other wise. The officer equivalent of a dishonorable discharge is dismissal from the service.
Isn't that a bit extreme?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.