Army charges officer who refused to deploy to Iraq

The Army filed three charges today, including conduct unbecoming an officer, against a lieutenant who refused to deploy to Iraq last month because he believes the war there is illegal.

Military lawyers calculated that 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, 28, could face nearly eight years in prison and a dishonorable discharge if convicted, said his attorney, Eric Seitz of Honolulu. The other charges are missing movement and contempt toward officials.

Minus the hyperbole this will be interesting to watch. There's always been a fine line in my mind about disobeying orders you consider illegal and flat out disobeying orders. The infamous line from WWII attributed to a German Officer "For all I knew the ovens were for baking bread." comes to mind.

I'm not defending this particular officer, only only thinking aloud about the issue. The military can not function when folks get selective about the orders they might choose to follow, and the Oath we all have taken doesn't provide any specific 'wiggle room'  on the issue.

In the end all we can do when we make any moral decision is be prepared to face the consequences. I dont have any idea if this fellow is prepared to do that or is looking to be a martyr for some cause?

Contributed by Zero Ponsdorf on July 5, 2006 at 07:02 PM in Peacenik Stupidity, US Army, Zero Ponsdorf | Permalink

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