Arizona volunteer soldier - gagged, arrested in Iraq

DJPoopypants · Jul 12, 2005

This is a really weird situation that I haven't seen mentioned here

A soldier from the AZ national guard, sent to Iraq, has decided that its all ****ed-up, and wants to tell everydat americans what's really going on.

http://leonardclark.com/blog/

There have been many rumors about the charges levied by the military against Leonard Clark for blogging from Iraq. Some have said that he was placed under arrest for waging a political campaign for US Senate from Iraq without permission while on active duty. And yet, Leonard had never formed a committee or filed with the FEC for this office even while others have received permission from Donald Rumsfeld to run for political office.

Some have said that certain comments by Leonard may have compromised operational security, but nowhere in his comments or messages is there any instance of any breach.

There was also a rumor that Leonard may face a court martial based upon a status of conscientious objector to the war in Iraq, and while it is very clear what Leonard’s opinions of the war are at the moment, Leonard volunteered for duty out of a sense of duty to his country and his brothers in arms.

Finally, the one item that may have some merit is an offense described in the Uniform Code of Military Justice below. Leonard may have said something bad about his commanders and those responsible for conducting this war.

Leonard should immediately undertake the “Rove Maneuver.” That is, Leonard should say that he never mentioned his commanding officers by name or even George Bush. His words and posts should be reviewed to confirm this of course, but if it is a valid defense for Karl Rove, why not Leonard Clark?
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there should be no doubt that this guy is unhappy and wants to work within the US political system to change things. But as shown, administration apologist soldiers are free to do so, but this critic is not.

He sounds like a reasonable guy (http://spidel.net/audio/Leonard-Clark-from-Iraq.mp3).

On one hand, it is common sense that troops should do their job and quit bitching. On the other hand...he hardly sounds like a hippy whiner, and shouldn't there be whistleblower protections for federal employees?

Especially one who can come up with a great acronym...N.O.M.A.S (Not One More American Soldier Should Die Over Here in this Lie We Call the Occupation of Iraq!)

GringoTex · Jul 12, 2005

DJPoopypants said:

On one hand, it is common sense that troops should do their job and quit bitching. On the other hand...he hardly sounds like a hippy whiner, and shouldn't there be whistleblower protections for federal employees?
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There's a difference between whistleblower protection and freedom of speech. There's no way in hell soldiers should be allowed to blog freely like that.

superdave · Jul 12, 2005

True...but the Bushies use soldiers to speak to the media if they support the president. He did it just the other day.

BOTH should be verboten.