PRESS RELEASE

From:               Asian Americans for Peace and Justice/ Watada Support Committee

Subject            First Lt. Ehren Watada granted discharge

Contact:             Grace Morizawa

                        510 289 1285

                        gmorizawa@yahoo.com

Kenneth Kagen, attorney for First, Lt. Ehren Watada, announced late Friday, September 25, 2009, that the Army is allowing the first commissioned officer to be court-martialed for refusing to go to Iraq to resign from the service. First Lt. Ehren Watada will be granted a discharge Oct. 2, "under other than honorable conditions," attorney Kenneth Kagan said. Watada told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin he was happy the matter has finally been closed. "The actual outcome is different from the outcome that I envisioned in the first place, but I am grateful of the outcome," he said. (See below for press release from his attorney with more details.)

Watada support organizer, Michael Wong with Asian Americans for Peace and Justice, and Veterans for Peace, recently was quoted as saying, "The issue of the war has been settled--there is a broad consensus that the question now is how to get out of Iraq. The military, the resister soldiers and the Iraqis have all been traumatized and all need to heal from the war. It would be in the best interests of everyone--including the Army--to put the Watada case behind them.”

Local organizers who helped lead the national campaign to free Lt. Watada are planning a press conference / community briefing to highlight this long awaited news. Exact time and location TBA. (For interviews with Michael Wong and other Bay Area support organizers contact Grace Morizawa 510 289 1285 gmorizawa@yahoo.com)

From Ehren Watada’s lawyers:
Subject: 1LT Ehren Watada - For Immediate Release

From counsel for 1LT Ehren Watada.

Ken Kagan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 25, 2009

From: Kenneth S. Kagan
James E. Lobsenz
Carney Badley Spellman, P.S.
Seattle, WA
(206) 607-4164 or 954-8337

As counsel for 1LT Ehren Watada, my partner, Jim Lobsenz, and I, were 
notified on September 16th that the Secretary of the Army approved 
1LT Ehren K. Watada’s resignation for the good of the service. The 
Secretary’s office made it clear that 1LT Watada’s service would 
be characterized as under “Other Than Honorable Conditions.”

Ehren Watada served his country with distinction, and took a 
courageous stand as the only officer who refused an order to deploy 
to Iraq, because he came to believe that our country’s invasion of 
that sovereign nation, and our continued occupation of that sovereign 
nation, violated international conventions and norms, treaties to 
which our country are bound, and the oath he took to uphold the 
Constitution of the United States.

LT Watada was prosecuted by the United States Army not only for 
refusing that order to deploy, but also for the statements he made 
that explained his actions. In February, 2007, he was brought to 
trial in a court-martial proceeding at Fort Lewis, WA, but was denied 
his opportunity to be heard in his own defense when the trial judge 
declared a mistrial over LT Watada’s objection, before LT Watada 
even had a chance to present his defense.

Subsequently, we were able, through the use of the Writ of Habeas 
Corpus in the United States District Court for the Western District 
of Washington, to obtain a permanent injunction against the United 
States Army, barring it from bringing LT Watada to trial a second 
time on the charges that were the subject of the court-martial trial. 
The federal court agreed that the Double Jeopardy Clause of the 
United States Constitution would have been violated had 1LT Watada 
been retried in a second court-martial trial. The Justice Department 
chose not to appeal that ruling, which made it the law of the case.

LT Watada had previously tendered his resignation on more than one 
occasion, and each time, it was rejected. This time, however, it was 
accepted, apparently only when the Army realized it could not defeat 
LT Watada in a courtroom.

Notwithstanding his service with distinction, and notwithstanding, or 
perhaps, due to, his principled stand against the invasion and 
continued occupation of Iraq, the Army felt the need to extract its 
pound of flesh, which now takes the form of a discharge under “Other 
Than Honorable Conditions.”

It has been our distinct honor to have represented a hero and a 
patriot. LT Watada took a lonely stand as a matter of conscience, 
never attempted to spread discord within the ranks, and never sought 
to evangelize about his ethical convictions. More importantly, he 
never disparaged the service and the sacrifices made by countless 
other soldiers and officers who obeyed their orders. He realized that 
each member of the Armed Forces must make her or his own decision, 
according to the dictates of conscience, just as he did. He always 
understood it to be an intensely personal decision.

It is our belief that history will treat LT Watada far more favorably 
than the United States Army sees fit to regard him now.

Finally, LT Watada is extremely grateful and humbled by the 
outpouring of support he received from thousands of people and 
countless organizations around the country. Their moral support 
helped get him through a very trying three and a half years.