Lieutenant Ehren Watada ...

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... would rather go to jail for what he believes is right than fight in a war he believes is unjust. --------------------- Report from Fox News: An Army lieutenant who has refused to deploy to Iraq with his Fort Lewis Stryker brigade was barred by his commanders from attending a news conference Wednesday. Instead, 1st Lt. Ehren Watada issued a videotaped statement, saying he had appealed to his commanders in his wish not to participate in the war. "It is my duty as a commissioned officer of the United States Army to speak out against grave injustices. My moral and legal obligation is to the Constitution and not those who would issue unlawful orders," Watada said, wearing a dark suit and blue tie rather than his military uniform. An American flag served as a backdrop. Watada is a member of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, the Army's first Stryker Brigade Combat Team. The unit is set to begin leaving later this month for a second mission in Iraq. This would be Watada's first deployment to Iraq. In his statement, Watada said "it is my conclusion as an officer of the armed forces that the war in Iraq is not only morally wrong but a horrible breach of American law. "Although I have tried to resign out of protest, I will be forced to participate in a war that is manifestly illegal. As the order to take part in an illegal act is ultimately unlawful as well, I must as an officer of honor and integrity refuse that order." He said the war violates the democratic system of checks and balances and usurps international treaties and conventions. "The wholesale slaughter and mistreatment of the Iraqi people with only limited accountability is not only a terrible moral injustice but a contradiction to the Army's own Law of Land Warfare," Watada said. Watada wrote a letter of requesting resignation, at the army's suggestion, and was denied. Paul Boyce, a spokesman in the Army's national public affairs office, said Tuesday that Watada is "not the first officer, not the first enlisted, nor the first soldier" to refuse deployment to Iraq. An Army fact sheet dated Sept. 21, 2005, the most recent one available, said 87 conscientious objector applications had been approved and 101 denied since January 2003. Watada, who is opposed only to the Iraq war, did not apply for conscientious objector status. He said Wednesday evening he wouldn't object to going to Afghanistan. "He is willing to be court-martialed and go to prison because he believes the war is illegal," Marjorie Cohn, a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, said after Wednesday's midday news conference. --------------------- Of course, debates are being sparked everywhere because of this man. Many believe him to be a coward who's simply trying to get out of doing his duty, but he's perfectly willing to go to Afghanistan. His issue is solely with the legality of the war on Iraq. He believes his duty is to fight for the constitution, which doesn't support this war. If he were a coward, would he really be willing to be jailed over his failure to follow an order he feels is unjust? So, what are you thoughts on Lietenant Watada and his current situation?