FORT LEWIS, Wash. — The judge overseeing the court martial of an Army lieutenant who refused to deploy to Iraq declared a mistrial Wednesday, saying the soldier did not fully understand a document he signed admitting to elements of the charges.
Military judge Lt. Col. John Head announced the decision after 1st Lt. Ehren Watada said he never intended to admit he had a duty to go to Iraq with his fellow soldiers — one element of the crime of missing troop movement.
Actually the last part of the last sentence is not true. It's not an element in his crime of refusing to follow a lawful order. One person interviewed, I wish I could remember names, set this trial up as a political trial. He said, "Lt. Watada made a political descision and now must face the political consequences. Horsepookey. This is not a political issue but now the left is making it one.
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