Word: watada
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...series of pre-court-martial hearings and rulings have limited the scope of Watada's available arguments to the point that he and his lawyer now concede they have no ability to stick to their original strategy of putting the war on trial, and little hope of keeping Watada from a prison sentence. "Unfortunately, in the military system, when it comes down to war, the policies of war are dictated by the Administration," Watada said in an interview with TIME. His lawyer, Eric Seitz, is less circumspect. "Military courts don't constitute a justice system," Seitz says. "They constitute...
...January, a military judge ruled that Watada could not present arguments about the war's legality, saying such arguments involve a political question that is beyond the purview of the military court. The judge also ruled that the First Amendment does not protect Watada from punishment for making antiwar statements that the military claims amount to misconduct. Watada now faces up to four years in prison (down from six years, after two of the six charges against him were dropped in January in pre-court-martial maneuvering). His court-martial is likely to be concluded by Wednesday, with a verdict...
...expected, the military court finds Watada guilty on all or some of the remaining charges, Seitz says he plans to push the case into civilian courts - after first exhausting his appeals, as required, through the military justice sytem. "I would rate our chances substantial in civilian court," Seitz says. He believes that even if a civilian court declines to allow Watada to put the legality of the war on trial, it is likely to be much more sympathetic to Watada's argument that the First Amendment protected him from being charged with misconduct for his anti-war speech, even while...
...More than 100 soldiers have been prosecuted through the military justice system for refusing service in Iraq, and an unknown number of other soldiers have simply deserted, fleeing to Canada and other places. But Watada is believed to be the only officer to have refused deployment. And he is certainly the only soldier to have gone to his punishment in such a public manner, speaking at anti-war gatherings, enlisting the services of a D.C.-based public relations agency, and speaking to his supporters by video via a web site (thankyoult.org). Watada has not become a grassroots catalyst of antiwar...
...want all soldiers, including officers, to evaluate the legality of this war and find out the truth," Watada told TIME. He admitted that he had not inspired a groundswell of imitators within the ranks of the military, but he said he continued to hope that his experience would inspire other soldiers to reevaluate their responsibilities. "To me, somewhere along the line people have to have principles that they stand for," he said. "I went into this believing that I was following what my conscience dictated. Nobody else has to deal with your conscience but you for the rest of your...