Bob Watada, father of Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, said yesterday that his son is speaking out on behalf of other soldiers who oppose an illegal war.

"Ehren is standing up for the soldiers," Watada told an afternoon forum on his son's case by the Japanese American Citizens League's Honolulu chapter. "He's for the soldiers."

Lt. Watada, facing a general court-martial for refusing to deploy to Iraq, has become a voice of conscience for many in the antiwar movement. But opinion among soldiers, veterans and Japanese-Americans is more divided.

The Japanese American Citizens League's Honolulu chapter — after a close vote — has chosen to fully support Watada, a 1996 Kalani High School graduate. But the league's national organization has decided not to take a position on his refusal to deploy while expressing concern about his free speech rights.

The forum yesterday, at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa, was held to build public awareness and support for Watada's legal fight. His father, his attorney, Eric Seitz, and UH-Manoa constitutional law professor Jon Van Dyke defended Watada's actions as courageous and justified. No one from the Army was invited to present an opposing view.

An Army investigator, in an August report recommending court-martial, found that Watada's "beliefs regarding the war in Iraq do not excuse his refusal to deploy or his public statements."

The elder Watada has been speaking to audiences across the country on behalf of his son and yesterday urged supporters in Hawai'i to write letters to newspapers and hold demonstrations to publicize the case. He said his son has come to the same conclusion as many Americans about the unpopular war and is being punished for exercising his constitutionally protected right to free speech.

"Basically, from my view, they were just trying to shut him up," said Watada, who believes President Bush and Vice President Cheney should be impeached over the war.

Van Dyke and Seitz say the war is illegal under United Nations charter and that Watada was right not to deploy on moral grounds. The U.S., in its justification for war, alleged that Iraq had failed to comply with U.N. disarmament resolutions. The U.S. and its allies discussed a new resolution on the war with the other nations on the U.N. Security Council, but when diplomacy stalled, determined that a new resolution was not required before the 2003 invasion.

"This war cannot be justified — logically or factually or legally," Seitz said.

But Seitz also said Watada does not want to be a martyr by going to military prison and recognizes there is an element of civil disobedience to his actions that warrants some punishment. Seitz said he proposed to the Army that Watada serve several months of confinement in quarters and be discharged. But Seitz said the Army wanted Watada to serve at least a year in military prison.

"He knows now, and he has known from the beginning, that there are risks in this case," Seitz said.

Many people who attended the forum, including several veterans and students, appeared supportive of Watada, judging from the written questions to the panel and the applause after Watada's father said Bush and Cheney should be impeached.

"I thought it was refreshing and concise," said Allicyn Tasaka, on the advisory board of the league's Honolulu chapter. "I support Lt. Watada."

Jennifer Kanahele of 'Aiea, an Army civil affairs specialist, said her feelings were mixed.

"I guess I kind of agree with him that the reasons why we went to war may not have been valid," she said. "But he refused a movement, and he is punishable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice."