First Lt. Ehren K. Watada is one of only a handful of officers who have taken such a stand, and is apparently the first to face a court-martial for doing so. He wrote: “I am wholeheartedly opposed to the continued war in Iraq, the deception used to wage this war, and the lawlessness that has pervaded every aspect of our civilian leadership….”

N.Y. Times:

When First Lt. Ehren K. Watada of the Army shipped out for a tour of duty in South Korea two years ago, he was a promising young officer rated among the best by his superiors. Like many young men after Sept. 11, he had volunteered ?out of a desire to protect our country,? he said, even paying $800 for a medical test to prove he qualified despite childhood asthma.

Now Lieutenant Watada, 28, is working behind a desk at Fort Lewis just south of Seattle, one of only a handful of Army officers who have refused to serve in Iraq, an Army spokesman said, and apparently the first facing the prospect of a court-martial for doing so.

?I was still willing to go until I started reading,? Lieutenant Watada said in an interview one recent evening.

A long and deliberate buildup led to Lieutenant Watada?s decision to refuse deployment to Iraq. He reached out to antiwar groups, and they, in turn, embraced his cause, raising money

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