Watada discharged

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, Wash., accepted the resignation of the 1996 Kalani High School graduate, and he will be discharged the first week in October.

Rather than seek a second court-martial against the artillery 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, and the characterization of Lt. Watada's discharge is not releasable under the privacy act."

Watada, 31, told the Star-Bulletin in a phone interview yesterday that he was "glad to finally bring this chapter to a close and to move on."

"The actual outcome is different from the outcome that I envisioned in the first place, but I am grateful of the outcome."

Watada said he was "thankful to the people from all walks of life that supported me and agreed with my stand."

Ken Kagan, one of Watada's Seattle attorneys, said last night, "Lt. Watada had previously tendered his resignation on more than one occasion, and each time, it was rejected. This time, however, it was accepted, apparently only when the Army realized it could not defeat Lt. Watada in a courtroom."

Kagan described Watada as "a hero and a patriot. Lt. Watada took a lonely stand as a matter of conscience, never attempted to spread discord within the ranks and never sought to evangelize about his ethical convictions. More importantly, he never disparaged the service and the sacrifices made by countless other soldiers and officers who obeyed their orders. He realized that each member of the armed forces must make her or his own decision, according to the dictates of conscience, just as he did. He always understood it to be an intensely personal decision.

"It is our belief that history will treat Lt. Watada far more favorably than the United States Army sees fit to regard him now."

Before he was charged, Watada, an artillery officer, had requested to be assigned to Afghanistan instead of Iraq and even offered to resign from the Army. Both requests were denied.

Initially, Watada was charged with missing the 2nd Infantry Division's 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team's deployment on June 22, 2006, considered by the Army as the most serious charge, and conduct unbec- oming an officer.

Watada participated in anti-war rallies here and on the mainland and held numerous interviews denouncing Bush. Two of those activities were the basis of the charges of conduct unbecoming an officer. Conviction on all counts would have meant six years in prison and a dishonorable discharge.