Saturday, June 02, 2007

A Vindicative Military

Somewhere in the army brass, there is a pathetic little human being that is obsessing over Adam Kokesh. Adam served honorably in Iraq and was discharged from the service accordingly. Now that he is an active part of the anti-war movement the military wants his discharge status changed. This has nothing to do with his actions as a Marine Sargeant. Protesting with his uniform on was their excuse, despite him not being an active member of the military.

From RawStory:

The March demonstration involved Kokesh and other vets performing mock patrols around the nation's capital to offer Americans a peek at what life is like in Iraq. Kokesh wore his Marine fatigues with his name, rank and Marine Corps insignia patches removed. The military told Kokesh that wearing the uniform violated Defense Department regulations, despite the fact that he had been honorably discharged from the service the previous year. Kokesh is still part of the Inactive Ready Reserve, which allows for discharged troops to be called back to service in case of an emergency.

Kokesh was informed via e-mail that he may be violating regulations, and he did not take the admonishment lightly. He responded to the officer who had sent the e-mail, advising him not to waste time on "such petty issues, (while) our fellow Marines continue to die in futility...."

"So no, I am not replying to your e-mail in order to acknowledge my understanding of my obligations and responsibilities," Kokesh wrote, " but rather to ask you to please, kindly, go fuck yourself."


Adam says as a Marine he doesn't pull punches and the military certainly got hit by him in his reply. He's right, the army does not need to waste their time with this matter. The fact that the Veterans of Foreign Wars is supporting his case against the military shows this has nothing to do with his conduct as a soldier.

Despite the letter's irritating effect on the officer who it was sent to, he should have just sucked it up and taken Kokesh's advice to concentrate on other matters. In the end, this is just going to be another black mark for the Pentagon. You would think they've had enough of them over the conduct of the war.