SEATTLE – An Army lieutenant based at Fort Lewis has such grave objections to the war in Iraq, he’s refusing to deploy, the soldier’s attorney said Tuesday.
First Lt. Ehren Watada submitted a letter to his commander in January stating he had serious reservations about the Iraq war and felt he could not participate in it, Watada’s lawyer, Eric A. Seitz, said.
A couple months later, at the Army’s suggestion, Watada resubmitted his request to resign, Seitz said.
“They took their time but then they informed him in early May that they were not going to let him resign,” Seitz said in a phone interview from his office in Honolulu.
Seitz said Watada, who turns 28 on Thursday, has planned a news conference today to explain his reasons for defying the Army.
Joe Hitt, a civilian spokesman at Fort Lewis, confirmed that Watada is a member of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, the Army’s first Stryker Brigade Combat Team. The unit will begin leaving later this month for its second mission in Iraq.
Watada’s commission required that he serve as an active-duty Army officer for a three-year term ending Dec. 3, 2006, Seitz said.
“By his refusal to participate in the ongoing war, Lt. Watada joins a growing number of high-ranking military officers, West Point graduates and current and former members of the armed services who have expressed their opposition to the actions of the United States in Iraq,” Seitz said in a statement released Tuesday.
Watada could be court-martialed if he refuses to serve as ordered, unless the Army allows him to resign his commission or assigns him to duties that are not directly connected to the Iraq war, Seitz said.
Watada did not apply for conscientious objector status. “In order to qualify as a conscientious objector you have to be opposed to war in any form, and he is not. He’s just opposed to this war,” Seitz said.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
