Kokesh
Stripped Of Honorable Discharge Status
By Mark Rainer
08 June, 2007
World
Socialist Web
A
US military panel has recommended that decorated combat marine and Iraq
war veteran Adam Kokesh be stripped of his “honorable discharge”
status for wearing his uniform in an antiwar demonstration.
In March, Kokesh and other
veterans participated in a mock military demonstration as part of a
protest in Washington, D.C., to mark the fourth anniversary of the Iraq
war. The veterans dressed in uniform and reenacted experiences from
Iraq, carrying imaginary weapons, patrolling the capital, detaining
civilians and reacting to sniper fire.
After a photograph of Kokesh
appeared in the Washington Post, the military warned Kokesh of possible
violations of its uniform code. In an e-mail response to the investigating
officer, Maj. John Whyte, Kokesh expressed outrage that the Marine Corps
was devoting resources to such matters. He asked the officer, “We’re
at war. Are you doing all you can?” Reportedly, Kokesh’s
e-mail ended with an obscene suggestion for Whyte.
In response, Marine investigators
sought to recommend an “other-than-honorable” discharge
for Kokesh. Given such a status, Kokesh would lose some health benefits
and would have to repay $10,800 he received to obtain his undergraduate
degree on the GI Bill. He is presently a student at George Washington
University in Washington, D.C.
On Monday, the three-member
panel at a Marine command center in Kansas City stopped short of such
a recommendation, but still sought to punish Kokesh by recommending
a “general discharge” reflecting “significant negative”
conduct.
Responding to the decision,
Kokesh commented: “Frankly, I’m very disappointed with this
decision and I’m very disappointed with the board members who
made it. I do not think it was in the Marine Corps spirit to take the
easy road or to not take a stand. In the words of Dante, the hottest
layers of hell are reserved for those who in times of moral crisis maintain
their neutrality, and I think that’s what happened here today.”
Gary Kurpius of the Veterans
of Foreign Wars condemned the action of Marine Corps. He told the Associated
Press, “What the Marine Corps is trying to do is hush up and punish
these individuals who served our country, all they’re doing is
exercising the same democratic voice we’re trying to instill over
in Iraq right now.”
On Wednesday, Kokesh’s
appeal for a new hearing was denied. The recommendation now must now
be approved by Brig. Gen. Darrell Moore, commander of the Marine Corps
Mobilization Command in Kansas City, Missouri. A decision is expected
within a week.
According to Kokesh’s
attorney Mike Lebowitz, who is also an Iraq veteran, Moore cannot increase
Kokesh’s punishment by issuing an other-than-honorable discharge,
but can only accept the board’s general discharge recommendation,
or reinstate the honorable discharge.
Following the rejection of
Kokesh’s appeal, Lebowitz said he is considering filing a lawsuit
in federal court on the grounds that Kokesh’s First Amendment
rights have been restricted.
Adam Kokesh is a member of
the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) and was set to be discharged from
the service on June 18. Members of the IRR, for the most part, have
left active duty service but still have time left on their eight-year
military obligation. Members of the IRR are in effect civilians: they
are not paid, have no weekend drills, and no chain of command.
During the Washington protest,
Kokesh consciously removed insignias and his name tag to avoid violating
military regulations. Mike Lebowitz explained last Friday, “Anybody
in the military would tell you that he was not in uniform, and the report
of the military states that Adam made no indication to tell people that
he was part of the military, he made it clear that he was acting as
a civilian and not as a military member.”
Kokesh was justifiably angered
about the resulting investigation. At a press conference June 1, he
said, “I knew that the Uniform Code of Military Justice was not
supposed to apply to members of the IRR. I was deeply offended to see
that Marine Corps resources and tax payer dollars were being used to
investigate the political activities of an active reservist. I expressed
that in my e-mail, so I chastised him for wasting his time, while Marines
are dying every day in Iraq, on such a trivial political issue.”
His attorney added: “This
case is important because it affects hundreds of thousands of Iraq and
war-on-terror veterans. As the first in a number of cases where the
military is seeking to stifle political speech of IRR civilians, we
need to draw a line in the sand now in order to protect the First Amendment
rights of those who may have picked up a rifle in order to defend our
country.”
At least two other members
of the IRR are being investigated by the Marine Corps for political
speech against the war. Liam Madden has been accused of wearing his
uniform at a Washington, D.C., antiwar march in January, and making
disloyal statements during a speech in New York in February.
The statements under investigation
are described in Marine legal documents obtained by the Washington Post:
“Sgt. Madden spends several minutes explaining the ‘war
crimes’ of the Bush administration. Sgt. Madden claims that the
war in Iraq is a war ‘of aggression’ and one of ‘empire
building.’ Sgt. Madden explains that the President of the United
States has ‘betrayed US military personnel’ engaged in the
Iraq conflict.”
The actions taken against
Kokesh and Madden are an attempt to intimidate and silence not only
Iraq war veterans, many of whom are still in the reserves due to their
eight-year military obligations, but also those within the active duty
military ranks.
The Iraq war is deeply unpopular
within the military. A Zogby poll from last year found that 72 percent
of US troops serving in Iraq supported a withdrawal within the year;
29 percent supported an immediate withdrawal. Since that time, there
have been over a thousand more US deaths, with a marked increase in
violence over the last year.
Many veterans have returned
home disillusioned and angered from their experiences in Iraq, and want
to speak out against the war and government military policy. Under conditions
of growing antiwar sentiment within the military, the Marines are seeking
to make an example of Kokesh and other outspoken veterans.
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