[Peace-discuss] second trial of war resister coming

[Barbara kessel]

The Whole World Will Be Watching
    By Bill Simpich
    t r u t h o u t | Perspective

    Saturday 06 October 2007

    Until today, the story about the impending second trial of United
States v. Lt. Ehren Watada was how the Army was planning on a
proceeding with very little publicity and almost no witnesses.

    It almost worked. In a last-minute ruling at 4:48 pm on Friday,
the Hon. Benjamin Settle stayed the Watada trial from beginning on
Tuesday, October 9 and set a hearing for Friday, October 19. His
ruling also states that the trial cannot begin until at least October
26. The bigger question is whether it will ever happen at all. Now
there is no chance that this case is going to escape strict
international scrutiny. None.

    Antiwar activists are jubilant at this unexpected turn of events,
as the anticipated media coverage of this clash will inevitably
encourage participation in the nationwide "Iraq Moratorium" community
events on October 19 and the national mobilization against the war in
eleven major cities on Saturday, October 27. (Source:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/.)

    During the first trial in February 2007, Lt. Watada and his
defense team put on a stunning display of resistance before a
bull-headed judge in the heart of Fort Lewis and in the eyes of the
mainstream media. Every prosecution witness had attested to the stout
heart and integrity of the defendant. Lt. Watada was about to tell his
story about his belief in the illegality of the war in Iraq, based on
his officer's oath to the United States Constitution, (Source:
http://www.thankyoult.org/content/view/1039/74/.) to what seemed like
the entire world. (Source for this and succeeding trial description:
http://www.thankyoult.org/content/view/1014/70/#Day%201.)

    Abruptly, the judge halted the trial. Lt. Watada had submitted a
document in open court at the beginning of the trial admitting that he
had knowingly not boarded a plane to Iraq. The judge ruled that the
lieutenant had made a fatal admission that would prejudice his
defense.

    It was the kind of argument that one might expect from a desperate
defense attorney, but not from a judge. To top it off, Lt. Watada's
own lawyer was asking for the trial to go forward even while the judge
had ruled out all of Watada's defenses! It was apparent to observers
that there was a real possibility that the military jury would be
extremely lenient in deciding on Watada's guilt and sentence.

    Since then, the question in activist and legal circles has been
whether Lt. Watada should be forced to endure a second trial. The
basis of the doctrine of double jeopardy is to ensure that the
prosecution doesn't get a "mulligan" ( i.e., "do-over") whenever
things aren't going their way.

    The word was out that the Army Court of Criminal Appeals had
granted a stay, and the assumption was that judges would spend years
hoping that this would all somehow go away.

    However, when the Army Court of Criminal Appeals ruled this summer
in favor of the prosecution, the army saw an opening for a "snap
trial". Activists were not following the case closely, believing that
the stay was still in effect. Although the appellate court's decision
dissolved the stay, that word didn't get out due to lack of publicity.

    Two weeks ago, Watada's lawyers had gone to the next level - the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces - and that court was
apparently happy to do nothing and watch Lt. Watada go down. (Source:
10/5 Seattle P-I.)

    The general rule is that a civilian judge will not interfere with
a military proceeding. That's apparently why Watada's legal team
waited until Wednesday to file their motion for stay. At that point,
they could legitimately argue that they had exhausted their remedies.

    The squeeze play to avoid publicity was in full effect. Early on
Friday, Fort Lewis Public Affairs announced that media wanting to
cover the trial had until Saturday at 4:30 pm to register with their
office. (Source: David Mitchell and Gerry Condon, Courage to Resist;
CtR organizer Jeff Paterson's letter.)

    Rather than seek the testimony of journalists as in the initial
trial - which only resulted in even further publicity - the Army
subpoenaed regional anti-war organizers in an attempt to use their
testimony against Lt. Watada.

    It was a big moment for Northwest activists, who had been
struggling to ensure at least a respectable showing of support for
this unexpected trial. Their hands were already full in handling the
campaign for Iraq war resister Robin Long, who was arrested on Monday
in a small town just north of the Washington state line. Will Iraq War
resisters be given sanctuary in Canada, like the Vietnam war
resisters? The question is not yet settled, but the outpouring of
support persuaded Canadian officials to temporarily release Long on
Wednesday rather than deport him back to the US. The Watada victory
was their second big win of the week. (Source: Courage to Resist,
10/3)

    What has not changed is that Lt. Watada is facing six years in
prison. One year of his looming prison term is based on a "conduct
unbecoming an officer" charge, solely for a few well-chosen words in a
historic speech last year to the Veterans For Peace Convention, with
fifty Iraq War veterans standing by his side:

    "Today, I speak with you about a radical idea. It is one born from
the very concept of the American soldier (or service member). It
became instrumental in ending the Vietnam War - but it has been long
since forgotten. The idea is this: that to stop an illegal and unjust
war, the soldiers can choose to stop fighting it ...

    "I tell this to you because you must know that to stop this war,
for the soldiers to stop fighting it, they must have the unconditional
support of the people. I have seen this support with my own eyes. For
me it was a leap of faith.

    "For other soldiers, they do not have that luxury. They must know
it and you must show it to them. Convince them that no matter how long
they sit in prison, no matter how long this country takes to right
itself, their families will have a roof over their heads, food in
their stomachs, opportunities and education."

    Bill Simpich is a civil rights attorney based in San Francisco