In a surprising turn of events, a mistrial was declared by the military judge in First Lt. Ehren Watada’s court-martial proceedings over Watada’s refusal to fight in Iraq and his public criticisms of the war.

I’ve been following this trial closely, and it has been gaining momentum in the media. The army and the administration probably aren’t too happy about all the recent press, as Watada’s defense puts the war itself, as well as the Bush administration, on trial. Watada claims that the army’s order to deploy to Iraq would have made him complicit in the commission of war crimes, and that the Bush administration falsified evidence in order to justify the invasion of Iraq.

The mistrial comes just a few days after the government agreed to drop two key charges against Watada that allowed two reporters who had been issued subpoenas to appear before the court to avoid testifying. One of the reporters, Sarah Olson, has been an outspoken critic of the army’s intention to use the journalists’ testimony to prosecute public speech.

Both Olsen and Lt. Watada appeared on Democracy Now last week in an interview with Amy Goodman. Lt. Watada’s trial will now be rescheduled, tentatively for mid-march.

 

Tags: Watada, resistor, resistance, Iraq+War, JP+Oliva

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