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Army Officer Who Refused Iraq Duty Is Allowed to Resign

HONOLULU (AP) — The Army is allowing the resignation of the first commissioned officer to be court-martialed for refusing to go to Iraq, his lawyer said late Friday.

The officer, First Lt. Ehren Watada, will be granted a discharge on Oct. 2, “under other-than-honorable conditions,” said the lawyer, Kenneth Kagan.

Lieutenant Watada told The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, “The actual outcome is different from the outcome that I envisioned in the first place, but I am grateful of the outcome.”

A Fort Lewis spokesman, Joseph Piek, would not confirm Lieutenant Watada’s type of discharge, citing privacy rules. But he said late Friday that Army regulations described “resignation for the good of the service in lieu of general court-martial.”
Read entire article at NYT