It's getting worse and worse in BushAmerica, aka Fascist Land. A Marine who used his Constitutional Rights to speak out and essentially petition his government for redress of his greivances (i.e. Mess O'Potamia) is being persecuted in the form of a petty prosecution solely to be made an example of.
An Iraq war veteran could lose his honorable discharge status after being photographed wearing fatigues at an anti-war protest.
Marine Cpl. Adam Kokesh and other veterans marked the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq in March by wearing their uniforms - with military insignia removed - and roaming around the nation's capital on a mock patrol.
After Kokesh was identified in a photo cutline in The Washington Post, a superior officer sent him a letter saying he might have violated a rule prohibiting troops from wearing uniforms without authorization.
Kokesh, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, responded with an obscenity.
Yeah, like what... "Fuck off" perhaps?
Now, a military panel has been scheduled to meet with Kokesh on Monday to decide whether his discharge status should be changed from "honorable" to "other than honorable."
"This is clearly a case of selective prosecution and intimidation of veterans who speak out against the war," Kokesh said. "To suggest that while as a veteran you don't have freedom of speech is absurd."
...
Kokesh argues that he was not representing the military at the protest in Washington, and he made that clear by removing his name tag and other military insignia from his uniform.
Lebowitz said Kokesh technically is a civilian unless recalled to active duty and had the right to be disrespectful in his response to the officer. He called the proceedings against Kokesh highly unusual and said the military usually seeks to change a veteran's discharge status only if a crime has been committed.
If his discharge status is changed, Kokesh said he could lose some health benefits and be forced to repay about $10,800 he received to obtain his undergraduate degree on the GI Bill.
Not being a lawyer I don't quite know what the real intricacies of this case are, but I have to suspect that it's not got much of a shelf life. I don't know what authority they have to return this young man to active duty when his absolute EAOS is June 18th to prosecute him. It was always my understanding that you could not keep someone on active duty solely to convene a courts-martial, and if they are talking admin board (which it sounds like) then they would, I think have to go through and Article 15 hearing (Mast/Office Hours) and he'd have the right to demand a courts martial at that point.
I suspect that the shit would summarily hit the fan then. Big time.
Yet another example of how the 1600 Crew "supports our troops" (oh, and our freedoms).
Interestingly, he might have found an unique way to avoid a return trip to the sandbox...
He was supposed to go to Iraq a second time, but was demoted from sergeant to corporal and not allowed to return after it was learned that he brought a pistol back after his first tour in 2004.
Now isn't that interesting. Doesn't Preznit Chest Thumper have a set of Saddam's pistoles in his office? Good for the Goose...yadda yadda yadda....
I guess if you brought home an RPG you'd probably not be allowed to go back either, and I'm sure the NRA would fight to the death for your right to keep it.
