Watada: An Officer Who Refused to Murder Fellow Human.

Big Win for Watada: A Study in Courage and Honor: "On Thursday, November 8, Hon. Benjamin Settle, a federal court judge, issued a preliminary injunction halting any further court-martial proceedings of 1st Lt. Ehren Watada and effectively ruling against the Army on virtually every issue in the case. This injunction not only extends the stay until the conclusion of the habeas corpus proceedings, but also addresses the specific request for relief from further legal proceedings, stating, 'the remedy sought by Petitioner, while rare, is appropriate.' Although the Army issued a press release claiming to 'look forward to the opportunity to further explain to the District Court judge the full extent of the protections and safeguards that are afforded to a military accused,' (Seattle Times, 11/9/07), anyone who glances at the court ruling will agree that the Army's only lingering hope is to appeal this ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Settle wrote 'for several reasons ... it is likely that [Lt. Watada] will succeed on the merits of his double jeopardy claim' (Order, p. 22; a copy of the order is attached). The court held that the military judge acted 'irrationally, irresponsibly, precipitately' (Order, page 31) in failing to consider feasible alternatives to a mistrial, and there was no good reason to stop the proceedings."