Great news... The Army has decided not to proceed with its appeal of a federal judge's ruling that 1st Lt. Ehren Watada cannot face a second court-martial on three of five counts resulting from his refusal to deploy to Iraq: Army drops appeal in Watada case. More here: No court-martial for Watada on refusal to deploy.
In June 2006, Watada refused to deploy to Iraq for his unit's assigned rotation to Operation Iraqi Freedom, stating that he believed the war to be illegal and that, under the doctrine of command responsibility, it would make him party to war crimes. His first court-martial, in February 2007, ended with a mistrial.
U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle in Tacoma ruled on double-jeopardy grounds in October that Watada could not be prosecuted by the Army on charges of missing his redeployment to Iraq, taking part in a news conference and participating in a Veterans for Peace national convention.
However, there is still the possibility that the Army could retry Watada on two counts of conduct unbecoming an officer resulting from his media interviews. It's unclear if the Army plans to pursue those charges. Either way, this ruling is still a victory, and hopefully the end of a long saga for Watada and his family.
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