Today, First Lieutenant Ehren Watada did not take the stand to defend his decision not to deploy last June to Iraq, as expected. Instead, the judge met with the prosecution and defense in chambers in response to Watada’s position that the war is illegal. FSRN’s Aaron Glantz is covering the trial at the Fort Lewis base in Washington and spoke with guest host Ingrid Drake.

Bob Watada, father of, the first commissioned officer to face court martial for refusing to fight in the Iraq war, reacted to statements in court yesterday that his son’s decision did not cause anyone else in his unit to follow.

A prosecution witness Lt. Col. William James testified yesterday that Watada hurt morale by causing his unit to "discuss" his decision all the time. Geoff Millard of Iraq Veterans Against the War, who is covering the trial for the website Truthout.org, says this is not the reality.