The nation's largest combat veterans group on Friday
urged the military to "exercise a little common sense" and call off its
investigation of a group of Iraq war veterans who wore their uniforms
during anti-war protests.
"Trying to hush up and punish fellow Americans for
exercising the same democratic right we're trying to instill in Iraq is
not what we're all about," said Gary Kurpius, national commander of the
2.4 million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars.
"Someone in the Marine Corps needs to exercise a little
common sense and put an end to this matter before it turns into a
circus," Kurpius said.
Marine Cpl. Adam Kokesh had already received an honorable
discharge from active duty before he was photographed in March wearing
fatigues — with military insignia removed — during a mock patrol with
other veterans protesting the Iraq war.
A military panel in Kansas City, Mo., will hold a hearing
Monday to decide whether he should be should be discharged from service
and, if so, with what type of discharge.
Col. Dave Lapan, a Marine Corps spokesman, said Kokesh is
under administrative review because he wore his uniform at a political
event, which is prohibited. And, Lapan said, when a senior officer told
Kokesh that he violated military regulations, Kokesh used an obscenity
and indicated he would not comply with the rules.
"It's the political activity that is prohibited, not the
type of event that it was," Lapan said. "If it had been a pro-war
rally, it would still have been a violation."
Keep reading to see what one military experts says
