Defend Anti-War Soldier, Liam Madden

We the undersigned call for an end to the attacks on the free speech of Iraq Veteran Against the War member Liam Madden, who cofounded the Appeal for Redress, a statement calling for withdrawal from Iraq that has been signed by 2,000 active duty soldiers. The Marine Corps is now threatening to change his honorable discharge to a other than honorable discharge, ostensibly for wearing his uniform at a politcal event and making "disloyal statements". This is a clear attempt to silence one of the leading voices in the anti-war movement.

As Howard Zinn says, "Liam Madden sets a wonderful example, not only for other veterans of the Iraq war, but for all of us. It is absolutely essential that there be a full discussion among the citizenry about the morality of this war, and we cannot have a full discussion without the participation of soldiers who have engaged in war and know it first hand. So Liam Maddan's right to speak must be defended, not just for his sake, but for the sake of democracy itself."

We demand that anti-war soldiers have the right to speak out against the war.