Saturday, June 9, 2007

Letter of Support From The Military Project


After multiple tours in Iraq, Adam Kokesh, Liam Madden and Cloy Richards
received honorable discharges from active duty. These Marines continued to
honor their oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States
against all enemies, foreign and domestic by joining Iraq Veterans Against
the War and speaking out against a war they saw as illegal and immoral.

As a result of exercising their right to freedom of speech, (a right they
were told they were fighting for in Iraq) the Marine Corps, while admitting
that The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) does not apply to
Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) service members, is trying to refuse them IRR
honorable discharges for alleged violations of the UCMJ! This bold attempt
by the government to suppress the views of our service men and women must
not go unchallenged.

The Military Project sees Adam Kokesh, Liam Madden, Cloy Richards, The IVAW,
and all active duty and reserve troops who have the courage to speak out
against this illegal war as true patriots and heroes. We urge all people of
conscience to "Support The Troops!" by sending letters of support and
financial donations to IVAW and by contacting elected officials to tell
them, "Let Our Troops Speak! Stop Harassing Heroes!"

IVAW- Legal Defense Fund
PO Box 8296
Philadelphia, PA 19101

Sincerely,
The Military Project
contact@militaryproject.org

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Something not mentioned is that the Marine Corps is not only trying to apply the UCMJ to someone for whom it does not apply, but they are also violating their own regulations. From the Marine Corps Separation and Retirement Manual (as of 30 May 2001):

1004.4.d. Conduct by Reservists. Conduct in the civilian community by a member of the inactive reserves (including the Individual Ready Reserve) who, at the time of the conduct, is not on active duty, or active duty for training, may form the basis for characterization under other than honorable conditions only if such conduct directly affects the performance of military duties (service related). Such conduct may form the basis of characterization as general (under honorable conditions) only if such conduct adversely affects the overall effectiveness of the Marine Corps including military morale and efficiency.

Basically, each of the conditions has to be met. They are in order:

1. The conduct must directly affect the performance of the servicemember's military duties.
2. The conduct must adversely affect the overall effectiveness of the Marine Corps including military morale and efficiency.

Member's of the IRR have very few military duties. Really, the only duties that they have is to hold onto their uniforms (or at least have a complete inventory if recalled) and ID card, update their contact information when necessary, and show up once per year for a physical. That's it. Protesting in part of a uniform does not affect any of those duties.