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A Courageous Army Officer: Ehren Watada
Ehren joined the US Army in 2003 and in January
2006 he submitted a resignation request on the grounds the Iraq War was illegal.
He developed strong doubts about the war and concluded the Iraq War violated the
Constitution and War Powers Act as well as the UN Charter, the Geneva
Conventions, and the Nuremberg Principles. Ehren correctly observes that
international law does not allow "wars of aggression." Further, he correctly
claimed the war was based on misleading or false premises such as the existence
of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, and that the occupation itself does not
follow the Army's own legal rules of conduct for occupying a country.
Ehren's court martial in February 2007 ended in an Army-contrived mistrial. In
October 2007, the Army attempt to have a second court martial was stopped
by a
Federal judge who ruled that a second court martial would be
double jeopardy. But the Army has not allowed Lt. Watada to leave
military service. Instead, they have notified the U.S. Court of Appeals,
Ninth Circuit of their plans to appeal the double jeopardy ruling. The Army has
also threatened to revive old charges stemming from Lt. Watada's speech in
Seattle to the 2006 convention of Veterans For Peace. The U.S. Solicitor General's office in the
Department of Justice will soon decide whether the Army can go ahead with
its plans to appeal
Federal Court rulings in Lt. Watada's favor. Ehren is a threat to the Pentagon machine as this one man shines the light of truth on the fact that all members of the United States military are legally required to refuse to fight an illegal war.
For the above reasons, Ehren is a lightning rod of courage for both people whether they are in or out of the military.
Click on the below video to hear Ehren shine the light of truth on a war that is bankrupting the finances of our country and more importantly our good name.
Click here to learn more and take action.
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Ehren
Watada, is the first commissioned officer to refuse to participate in the
illegal Iraq War. 