FORT LEWIS, Wash. — An Army officer is recommending that 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, who has refused to go to Iraq, face trial on the three charges against him, a Fort Lewis spokesman confirmed last night.

A report by the investigating officer, Lt. Col. Mark Keith, "does recommend that the case be tried by general court-martial," said J.C. Mathews, a civilian spokesman at this Army base south of Seattle.

Keith's report was expected to be released today.

Watada, a 1996 Kalani High School graduate, has been charged with missing troop movement, conduct unbecoming an officer and contempt toward officials.

The Army laid out its case against him at a hearing last week, showing video footage of Watada calling the war illegal.

Keith could have recommended anything from dismissal of the charges to a general court-martial.

Keith's recommendation goes to Watada's brigade commander, Col. Cynthia Murphy, and finally to Lt. Gen. James Dubik, Fort Lewis commander, who has the final say on whether Watada should stand trial, Mathews said.

If convicted, Watada could face seven years in prison and dishonorable discharge.

Mathews said there is no timetable for Dubik's decision.

Watada's lawyer, Eric Seitz, said he was not surprised.

"We always believed that when they went so far as to convene an Article 32 hearing that they had already made a decision to proceed," he said in a telephone interview.

The Article 32 hearing, held last week, is similar to a grand jury proceeding.

Seitz, who had seen the Keith report, said he expects to learn Dubik's decision in 10 to 14 days.

Watada was not immediately reachable for comment.

The 28-year-old officer was charged after he refused to deploy to Iraq on June 22 with his Fort Lewis Stryker unit, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

In a video shown at the hearing, Watada recently told a veterans group in Seattle that it is up to military personnel to stop the war.

"It is time for change, and change starts with all of us," he said. He then offered a "radical idea."

"To stop an illegal and unjust war, soldiers and service members can choose to stop fighting it," he said.