The Case Against and For Army Sergeant

[Let me make ABUNDANTLY CLEAR, this is not legal advice, I am not a lawyer. I am not EVER going to be a JAG, and I only know what I read. So, do not MISCONSTRUE this. I’m merely discussing what I think, since in all likelihood, I might get dragged into this one. I will help AS get a lawyer if it comes to that, but it won’t be me. And if anyone listens to my legal advice, they really ought to consult a psychiatrist. Bar Exam folks, please read this disclaimer 3 times in a mirror and the ghost of Big E. Smalls lawyer may appear.]

Sometimes we throw out red meat to get you people all fired up over something. This is like rotten meat here, because I am only bound to piss off the people who are my allies, and all in defense of someone who is nominally my “enemy” in what I think is the most important thing to occur in my life time. But, on the inside of my Citadel ring I have inscribed the words “May life leave my body before honor” and I like to read those words and remind myself from time to time, so I can tread the path I need to with less of a burden. I had a squad leader who once said honor is taking the hard right over the easy wrong. Well, consider this post the hard right, since it brings me little to no pleasure writing it, and will likely alienate some of you.

So, let’s start with a few “what I know”s. IVAW is a wretched group of liars and malcontents. The vast majority can’t get their stories straight, and when they do, they generally espouse positions more to assuage their feelings of guilt than through any logic. I know this because their arguments make no sense whatsoever, and when confronted by that they simply resort to name calling and changing the discussion. Largely I think that immaturity plays a HUGE role, and the fact that at heart they are all anti-social misfits, and they’ve created their little clique and want to fit in. So each tops the previous by being slightly more retarded and inane.

I know that the wars overseas are neither illegal nor immoral. I know that our Commanders in Chief might not always do right, but they MUST do what needs to be done. I support them in that, and believe that wars are best conducted by a unitary executive, selected by the people. I might not agree with their actions, but I won’t resort to trumping up bull shit to dissuade them.

Back at the Sniper, Army Sergeant showed up quite a while ago, in one of my first posts on IVAW. Honestly, I just assumed it was a gay guy that got booted from the military. He was always writing pie in the sky, “hey, check out the unicorn” type of nonsense. But, at least he was respectful for the most part. I called Army Sergeant our “frenemy” and even linked his blog.

Later I would discover it was a girl, and that she was active duty. Should have realized it earlier, but it didn’t. Anyway, knowing how much I loathed IVAW, she invited Jonn and me to Winter Soldier. She was the one who verified the stories of the guys who would testify. Then ensued the DeWald and Knappenberger fiascos, in which I thought AS showed excellent judgment in how she handled it.

From what I know now, AS actually believes the crazy bullshit stories. I can’t explain WHY she thinks that, but it is clear to me she does. If one of those guys claimed to have been abducted by aliens and given an anal probe, she would concoct some story that could explain it. Mind you, the whole of it makes no sense, and we all know that, but it wasn’t AS lying, she actually believes that shit.

So, Army Sergeant, now identified as SGT Selena Coppa met me at Winter Soldier. First, she verbally beat the hell out of some assclown from VVA who wouldn’t let me in. She was PISSED. In her world, she believed that the stories were real, and she thought that if Jonn and I heard them apparently we would have an epiphany and join her cause. Again, you and I know this would never happen, but in her unicorn world, she actually believed it.

Selena is now being investigated by the Army for Disloyal Statements, and Dereliction of Duty. It would appear that the genesis (and/or catalyst) for this has been the actions of her VFW Post commander, which personally pisses me off to no end. So, let’s look at those charges, and maybe see what she can look forward to in her trial, if it ever comes to that.

[As an aside, I expect both sides to be raging in the comments on this one, though I hope I am wrong. But, let’s try to keep it semi-civil if we could. Just because I don’t think Selena should be charged does not make me a communist or anything else. Ideally, I would like to see the military state unequivocally that IVAW is a terrorist supporting organization and ban all membership to active duty troops, but since they have yet to take that bold step, the laws AS THEY ARE CURRENTLY IN EXISTENCE is all I am discussing.]

The first charge, Dereliction of Duty falls under Article 92 of the UCMJ.

Text.
“Any person subject to this chapter who—
(1) violates or fails to obey any lawful general order or regulation;
(2) having knowledge of any other lawful order issued by a member of the armed forces, which it is his duty to obey, fails to obey the order; or
(3) is derelict in the performance of his duties; shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.”

Now, she’s allegedly being charged under #3, which is about the only one she could be since I haven’t seen her violate any specific orders. Under that subheading:

A person is derelict in the performance of duties when that person willfully or negligently fails to perform that person’s duties or when that person performs them in a culpably inefficient manner. “Willfully” means intentionally. I t refers to the doing of an act knowingly and purposely, specifically intending the natural and probable consequences of the act. “Negligently” means an act or omission of a person who is under a duty to use due care which exhibits a lack of that degree of care which a reasonably prudent person would have exercised under the same or similar circumstances. “Culpable inefficiency” is inefficiency for which there is no reasonable or just excuse.

I hate it when stuff is written like that. In order to have “willfully or negligently” failed to perform a duty, someone ought to be able to pin point what the duty was. Anyone have a clue what duty it is here?

She’s totally screwed on this here (at about 4 mins), where she wore her uniform and spoke at that jackass walk they had. I don’t know what the hell she was thinking, but that was just dumb. But, it doesn’t really raise to the court martial level. She should have just been slapped with an Art 15 at the time and everyone move on.

Now, the other charge is for disloyal statements under article 134:

Though not specifically mentioned in this chapter, all disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces, all conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces, and crimes and offenses not capital, of which persons subject to this chapter may be guilty, shall be taken cognizance of by a general, special, or summary court-martial, according to the nature and degree of the offense, and shall be punished at the discretion of that court.

The Manual for Courts-martial states that:

Certain disloyal statements by military personnel may not constitute an offense under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2385, 2387, and 2388, but may, under the circumstances, be punishable under this article. Examples include praising the enemy, attacking the war aims of the United States, or denouncing our form of government with the intent to promote disloyalty or disaffection among members of the armed services. A declaration of personal belief can amount to a disloyal statement if it disavows allegiance owed to the United States by the declarant. The disloyalty involved for this offense must be to the United States as a political entity and not merely to a department or other agency that is a part of its administration.
—Manual for Courts-Martial (US Government, 2002), Chapter 4, Paragraph 72

SO, those are the charges, and I find myself scratching my head at 2 things:
1) Why go after AS on these things, that appear to me to be so minor?
2) Why give her the opportunity to be a martyr by pursuing it?

So, those of you who openly hate her….explain to me what she has said (her specifically, NOT IVAW) that you think violates these provisions of the UCMJ. And kindly include what specific elements. If she violated a duty, what was that duty. Complaining about the war, lamenting the sorry shape of enlistees, talking about foreign deaths etc are constitutionally protected, and not violative of the UCMJ as far as I can tell from reading this stuff. And I don’t remember her calling Bush a “big fat poopy head” or anything similiar, but if you find it, let me know.

So, in the comments, you explain to me why you think we ought to go after AS, when we haven’t done anything about all the other IVAW asshats running around lying? And, can someone give me a valid reason that IVAW hasn’t been put on the list of subversive organizations by the military?

Category: Politics