Good, though I still think he has earned himself a dishonorable discharge.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)—An Iraq war veteran was kicked out of the Marines early with a general discharge after he wore his uniform during an anti-war demonstration, the military announced Wednesday.
Lt. Gen. John W. Bergman, commanding general of Marine Forces Reserve in New Orleans, agreed Monday to give Marine Cpl. Adam Kokesh a general discharge under honorable conditions, based on a military panel’s recommendation. The general discharge, which is one notch short of honorable, was effective Monday.
Kokesh got in trouble after The Washington Post published a photograph of him in March roaming the nation’s capital with other veterans on a mock patrol.
A superior officer e-mailed Kokesh, saying he was being investigated because he might have violated a rule prohibiting troops from wearing uniforms at protests.
Kokesh, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, responded to the superior with an obscenity, prompting the Marines to take steps to remove him with an “other than honorable” discharge.
It’s not so much that Kokesh wore his uniform to an anti-war rally, but rather that he tried to use his uniform to advance his political cause at all. The military has never, ever allowed our troops to use their military status (and the uniforms/insignias that go with it) to promote political causes. Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative, pro-war or anti-war; nobody gets to do it. And that goes for Kokesh too.
Now, if the anti-war left would like to strike a deal and let all of the soldiers who support the Iraq war (who outnumber the Kokesh’s of the world by several orders of magnitude) advance their political agendas while wearing their uniforms then Kokesh can protest all he wants in his uniform. But, frankly, I’d just as soon our troops remain politically neutral while in uniform. It’s a sign of respect for this country and the uniform of our armed service.
A level of respect Kokesh apparently can’t muster.
Besides, think of it this way: If you work for FedEx, and one day after work you wear your uniform down to the bar where you get in a drunk brawl and end up on the evening news you’re probably going to be fired for having your uniform on. That’s just the way these things work. It isn’t about free speech. Kokesh can be as anti-war as he wants to be, he just can’t use the Marine Corps uniform to advance his cause.