Panel Chosen for Officer's Court Martial

Feb 05, 10:30 PM

Current Headlines: FORT LEWIS, Wash. _ The facts are not in dispute in the court martial of Lt. Ehren Watada, the Stryker brigade soldier who refused to deploy to Iraq.

Watada admitted to a military judge Monday that he ignored an order to board the June flight that carried his unit to the war-torn country for a yearlong deployment.

"My intent was to refuse the order, sir," Watada told Lt. Col. John Head during the first day of his court martial at Fort Lewis.

The 28-year-old officer also admitted criticizing the Bush administration's handling of the war, which he has called "morally wrong" and "a horrible breach of American law."

What's left to debate when Army prosecutors and Watada's private defense attorney make their opening arguments Tuesday is whether his conduct constituted a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

A panel of seven fellow Army officers chosen Monday ultimately will decide whether Watada is exonerated or punished by up to four years in confinement and discharge from the Army.

Watada contends he had a duty to refuse orders to deploy because he believes the war violates U.S. and international law and that his participation would make him party to war crimes.

Army prosecutors indicated during what amounts to jury selection Monday that they'll cast Watada's conduct as detrimental to unit cohesion and troop morale.

They asked the officers who will sit in judgment of Watada whether a soldier should obey orders from the legislative and executive branch of government without regard to personal beliefs and whether an officer's refusal to deploy with the unit he leads hurts combat effectiveness.

Watada's attorney, Eric Seitz of Honolulu, countered by asking whether they thought officers had the right to publicly criticize the government and should ever be allowed to miss a military deployment.

Col. Carl Chappel, who later was picked to sit on the panel, said he'd be willing to listen to the reasons an officer missed a deployment.

But, "they better have a pretty good reason for not doing so," Chappel said.

Watada asked for a panel of officers to determine his fate.

From a pool of 10 individuals, both sides settled on Chappel, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Bryan, Maj. Patrick Wright and Capts. Angela Gentry, Greg Reger, Nichole White and Larry Dean.

Army prosecutors and Watada's attorney took turns questioning the pool before selecting the seven.

All the pool members said they'd heard of the case but that they hadn't any preconceived notions about Watada's guilt or innocence.

However, one of them, a major who was not picked for the panel, said he found it "odd" that Watada or anyone else would refuse to deploy, especially after volunteering to join the Army.

"I always thought when your unit deployed, you deployed, and that was that," he said.

Earlier in the day, Seitz launched an attack on the entire proceeding.

Seitz said rulings that have gone against his client in pre-trial motions, including the exclusion of many defense witnesses, rendered the proceedings "almost comical" and at one point called the case "an atrocity."

He had hoped to debate the legality of the war and planned to call constitutional law scholars, a CIA analyst and a former undersecretary of the United Nations, among other witnesses.

"There's really nothing for us to say in this courtroom," Seitz said.

Lt. Col. Head told Seitz to "leave the dramatics at the courtroom door."

Seitz became incensed when Head ruled that proposed defense witness Gary Solis _ a Georgetown University law professor with expertise on war crimes _ would not be allowed to testify but a rebuttal witness called by Army prosecutors would be.

"The government can call whoever they want, but the defense can't call who we need," Seitz said to Head. "What's good for the goose is good for the gander."

Head later clarified that Solis could be called to testify but that the government would not pay for his expenses as it is doing for all other witnesses in the trial.

Representatives from more than 30 media outlets _ including television stations from Japan and Germany _ covered the proceedings, also attended by dozens of civilian observers, most of whom are Watada supporters.

___

(c) 2007, The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.).

Visit The News Tribune online at http://www.thenewstribune.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

_____

PHOTOS (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): COURTMARTIAL

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. 1040225