Military judge: objector can't raise questions about war legality

Where are the 60% - 70% of the American citizens that are protesting the Iraq War, for Gods Sake.

Military judge: objector can't raise questions about war legality
Associated Press

An Army officer cannot try to justify his refusal to report for duty in Iraq by questioning the legality of the war because that is a political issue, a military judge has ruled.

Citing federal court precedents in a ruling issued Tuesday, Lt. Col. John Head also rejected the claims of lawyers for 1st Lt. Ehren Watada who said the his First Amendment rights shielded the 28-year-old native of Hawaii from charges stemming from his criticism of the war.

There are limits to the free-speech rights of military personnel and a military panel should decide in a court-martial set to begin Feb. 5 whether Watada's criticism amounted to officer misconduct that could have endangered the morale, loyalty and discipline of troops, Head ruled.

"We have been stripped of every defense," Eric A. Seitz of Honolulu, Watada's civilian defense lawyer, told The Seattle Times. "This is a disciplinary system, not a justice system. Otherwise, we would have been entitled to defend ourselves."

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