Reading an article in Salon today about the Iraq situation, and came across this tidbit:
The intensity of the 3rd I.D.'s outspoken criticism of its leaders is unprecedented, says Lang. "You're getting professional, noncommissioned officers in the U.S. Army complaining to media people about the leadership," he says. "I can't remember an instance when a sergeant first class with 20 years of service says the same kind of stuff" he's hearing from such soldiers in Iraq. After all, such complaints are actually illegal under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which, says Lang, "forbids active-duty military personnel from publicly holding up to ridicule people in the chain of command above them." (emphasis added)
So, I looked it up, and sure enough, according to Sub Chapter X, Section 888, Article 88:
Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
So my first thought (aside from "the Secretary of Transportation?") was, "So it's illegal for a U.S. soldier to say that Donald Rumsfeld is an old poopy-head?" I'm sure exceptions are made for the military, but this strikes me as something that should be unconstitutional.
Posted by Jason at July 18, 2003 10:20 AM