Court-martial recommended for Fort Lewis officer

An Army investigator has recommended a court-martial trial for 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, finding "reasonable grounds" that the Fort Lewis-based officer refused to deploy in June with his unit for Iraq, showed contempt toward the political leaders and engaged in unbecoming conduct.

Investigating officer Lt. Col Mark Keith also said that Watada's statements that soldiers can stop the war by refusing to fight border on violations of a separate military code — mutiny and sedition. Watada made that suggestion earlier this month in a Seattle speech before the Veterans for Peace convention.

Watada's attorneys argued during a hearing last week that the war was illegal because it had not been authorized by the United Nations Security Council, and it was the duty of an officer to refuse an illegal order to deploy.

Keith agreed that every officer is duty-bound to evaluate an order for legal sufficiency, but believed it would be "very difficult for Army officers to determine the legality of combat operations (nor should they attempt to do so)… The defense could not illustrate any effort made by the House, Senate, or U.S. judicial system to declare the war illegal."

The defense also argued that Watada's public criticism of the war, President Bush and other political leaders were protected freedom of speech, and the American Civil Liberties Union also filed a brief on his behalf.

But Keith found that Watada's repeated criticism of the president in interviews with television and radio served to "break down the good order and discipline of all military personnel by casting doubts regarding his integrity and leadership attributes while under the stress of combat operations," and that all his actions combined to support the separate charge of conduct unbecoming an officer."