The Importance of Being Ehren

"Thousands of GIs have gone AWOL or voiced opposition to the Iraq war, but when an officer says he won't go, the whole military machine must take note. It means dissent has crept up the chain of command, potentially undermining the war effort," reports Tomas Alex Tizon. On February 5, the Army's court-martial of First Lt. Ehren Watada began. Watada concluded that the Iraq War is illegal and immoral, after studying the situation in preparation for his deployment there. "Watada tried to resign," but "the Army respectfully denied him. He said he was willing to fight in Afghanistan; the Army refused him again." Watada faces four years in military prison, for "failure to deploy" and "conduct unbecoming." According to the director of the National Institute of Military Justice, "the best-known case that parallels Watada occurred in 1965 during the Vietnam War, when 2nd Lt. Henry Howe was caught participating in an antiwar demonstration. The Army court-martialed Howe and sentenced him to two years of hard labor."