First Lt. Ehren K. Watada didn't set out to defy the Army and the order sending him to Iraq.

The soccer, football and baseball player at Kalani High School joined in March 2003 "because I felt the pull of duty, service and patriotism," he said in a statement released yesterday.

At the time, he did not think the invasion of Iraq was fully justified, "but I believed the president's claims should be given the benefit of the doubt."

But Watada, who turns 28 today, said he learned more about the war and the rationale for fighting it, and the same principles he was taught in the Army — honor, integrity, sacrifice and courage to do the right thing — now have him facing a court-martial for refusing his deployment orders.

In January, the Honolulu man sent a letter to his brigade commander at Fort Lewis, Wash., saying he was "wholeheartedly" opposed to the continued war in Iraq, and the "deception" used to wage it.

He asked to resign his commission, but the request was rejected.

"I believe so strongly in this cause that I would sit in prison or die for that belief," he said in the Jan. 25 letter, also provided yesterday. "I will not subvert the Army, but I will not go along with the opinion that what we are doing (in Iraq) is right or that I am fulfilling my duty. Would the executioners of Auschwitz have been any more justified at Nuremburg?"

Watada's mother, father, attorney, supporters and anti-war groups gathered in a Hawai'i Capitol conference room yesterday to back Watada as Hawai'i and the nation weighed in emotionally and vocally both for and against what the artillery officer has done.

Watada himself was barred from participating by telephone by his command, which told him he was prohibited from making phone calls on base during his 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. workday, said his attorney, Eric Seitz.

In Tacoma, Wash., last night, Watada met with reporters and peace activists and spoke in front of a large American flag.

Watada is believed to be the first military officer to publicly take steps to refuse his deployment orders in the 3-year-old Iraq war. In doing so, he's become a lightning rod for a nation polarized over Iraq.

"I know that my case has brought a lot of attention and scrutiny on me by my superiors. Also, I'm probably very unpopular, if not the most unpopular person on Fort Lewis. But I know out there there are people who believe in what I'm saying," Watada told The Associated Press.

There is also vehement disagreement. Rebecca Davis, cofounder of Military Families Voice of Victory, issued a statement saying that "as a mother of three sons who have served honorably in Iraq and Afghanistan, I am demanding the Army prosecute Lt. Watada to the fullest extent under the Uniform Code of Military Justice."

Watada's refusal "will surely encourage al-Qaida in Iraq to continue terrorizing the Iraqi people and attacking U.S. and coalition forces," she said. Columnist Michelle Malkin called Watada a "deserter, not a dissenter," on her Web site.

Command Sgt. Maj. Michael D. Hayes, with the Military Police Brigade at Schofield Barracks and a veteran of Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, said he "could not hold" his tongue any longer.

"(Some) individuals are attempting to lift Lt. Watada up as some kind of hero or martyr, which in reality he is not. ... He is a dishonorable man and should be court-martialed," said Hayes, who said he was speaking as an individual and not on behalf of the Army.

Defending the action taken in Iraq, Hayes said, "Instead of sitting around and waiting for Saddam (Hussein) to attack us, our government acted," adding that the U.S. is unable to leave Iraq "for fear that the country will fall into the hands of these terrorists."

About 70 of Watada's supporters attended the 11 a.m. news conference at the Hawai'i Capitol.

Some held small green signs that read: "Thank you 1st Lt. Ehren Watada for resisting an illegal war."

Nancie Caraway, a University of Hawai'i political scientist and the wife of U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, held a small sign with a handwritten word: "Hero."

"The person he is today is not the same person who entered military service three years ago," said Watada's mother, Carolyn Ho. His decision not to deploy to Iraq later this month "comes through much soul-searching. It is an act of patriotism. It is an act of conscience," Ho said.

State Sen. Clayton Hee, who is running for Congress, said he was there "because I am opposed to the war in Iraq," and if nothing else, Watada "is absolutely honest about his views on the war."

Bob Watada, Ehren's father and former executive director of the state Campaign Spending Commission, said "we have to bring our troops home." He said that in Vietnam 58,000 Americans and 2.5 million Vietnamese were killed, and that like Iraq, deception led to an occupation "until members of the military began saying they weren't going to fight any longer."

Seitz, Ehren Watada's attorney, said the next step is some sort of confrontation when Watada's unit is ordered to board a plane for the first leg of the trip to Mosul in Iraq "and he's going to decline." If court-martialed, Watada faces several years in prison.

Jon Goldberg-Hiller, chairman of the political science department at the University of Hawai'i, said public support for the Iraq war is falling, but there has been little public resistance.

Resistance like that shown by Watada "is like a seed crystal. It's getting all the people's frustrations organized," Goldberg-Hiller said.

At least six generals have criticized handling of the Iraq war, but did so in retirement.

"What you've got here (with Watada) is somebody who is in service saying, 'You know what, if this means I go to jail, I go to jail, but I'm not going to (go to Iraq),' " Goldberg-Hiller said. "That's a very significant act."

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.