An item on the BBC morning news programme today reminded me that this week will see an outstanding act of bravery by an ordinary citizen.
To protest when you are free to do so, is a proper exercise of conscience. Often that freedom comes because you have nothing to lose and the penalties in terms of the effects upon your work, career and overall life are relatively minor or within your control.
Protest such as we witnessed in Hungary, and saw again in Tian'anmen Square, are extraordinarily brave because they may often involve the ultimate sacrifice of one's life.
The protest of a thirty-seven year old military doctor against the war in Iraq, Flight Lieutenant Malcolm Kendall-Smith, has another sort of bravery. It is that of a man who has a great deal to lose, who is prepared to do so although he faces impossible odds and is challenging forces far greater than himself.
There will be no dramatic photographs, just the dry and dusty arguments in the courtroom of a military court martial.
I cannot show Kendall-Smith standing alone as in this iconic image from our past:
Yet today I would ask that all of you see Malcolm Kendall-Smith in just such a position standing before overwhelming might. For this is the truth of what he faces and it is what I ask you to recognise by means of this diary and by standing behind him on Daily Kos over the next few days.
After the preliminary hearing last October, the Guardian wrote:
An RAF doctor who refused to serve in Iraq because he believed the decision to go to war was "manifestly illegal" stood by his actions at a court martial yesterday.
Flight Lieutenant Malcolm Kendall-Smith, 37, a medical officer based at Kinloss, faces four charges of disobeying a lawful command under the Air Force Act and could become the first member of the armed forces to be jailed for his refusal to serve in Iraq.
Those charges have now increased to five. His lawyer, who was on the BBC newscast today said at the time and said again today:
Justin Hugheston-Roberts, said after the hearing that his client did "not enter into this lightly". He added: "He maintains his stance and he will maintain his plea of not guilty, on the basis that the war in Iraq was manifestly illegal. It is a legal test to seek out a ruling on the jurisprudence of the issue: was the war legal or not?"
Who is this man whom I ask you all on Daily Kos to give your support? He is not a person of straw. Lt Kendall-Smith has been decorated by his country for his role in Afghanistan and two previous tours in Iraq. He is not a conscientious objector, nor would he necessarily refuse to serve in another conflict. He simply refused to return to active service in Iraq after studying the legal advice of Lord Goldsmith, the attorney general, and concluded that it was wrong.
Integral to his case is that under RAF law an officer is justified in refusing commands if illegal.
As far as the military are concerned, they are worried about the effect of his brave stand on morale in Iraq but do not relish the prospect of Lt Kendall-Smith going to jail, thus becoming a martyr and another focus of opposition over Iraq.
As far as the UK government is concerned, Kendall-Smith is a threat to the whole spurious argument that was constructed on both sides of the Atlantic to justify the deaths of so many US and allied troops and tens of thousands of Iraqi citizens. They will want to see him crushed.
There is no doubt, even at these early stages, that the defence is going to have a major difficulty in arguing their case. The court martial will do its best to limit its arguments to military law. Kendall-Smith is determined that it will also encompass, either at this hearing or on appeal, profound issues and questions on international law.
In Nuremberg, defendant after defendant argued and lost their case that they were following orders that were ruled legitimate by their government and the legal advisors that were the lawyers of the Third Reich. If those rulings that determined that each individual citizen has just not the right but also the duty of conscience to exercise their own judgement, then Kendall Smith must win his case. The alternative is that every one of us are subject to the dictats of the state.
I said at the beginning that protest is to be admired if you have the freedom to do so that comes from nothing left to lose. Malcolm Kendall-Smith has a great deal to lose. He is a doctor, dedicated to the saving of human life. He has had a distinguished career to date in his young life. He faces the real prospect of all this being jettisoned and facing imprisonment for his honest principles.
This story gives some clue as to his current life on the RAF base at Kinloss in Scotland:
Military rules mean he cannot talk to media and a telephonist at Kinloss says the flight-lieutenant is "keeping very much to himself".
"You know what the situation is. He doesn't come downstairs. He uses different doors and goes out when he feels like it. It's his choice."
But his actions have been applauded by some of his colleagues.
A staff member who asked not to be named said: "He's an officer and a gentleman and I agree with what he's done. A lot of us do. We're not allowed to say anything more."
It goes on to tell us bit more about him and what informs his conscience:
Former colleagues and lecturers in New Zealand describe Kendall-Smith as a "thinker". His philosophy thesis, a 65-page bound critique on the philosopher Immanuel Kant, grapples with ethics, human freedom and morality.
Grant Gillett, an Otago neurosurgeon and biomedical ethics professor, taught and worked with Kendall-Smith.
"He had a very informed conscience," said Gillett. "He's a thoughtful individual, quite intense in some ways. One felt like saying to him `lighten up'."
Said Gillett: "You don't do philosophy as a doctor, unless you're keen to think through issues.
"I think Malcolm has conscientiously taken to heart the need to think carefully through what one is involved in and its legality and its moral qualities."
Kendall-Smith's academic records show he scored A-grades in subjects such as metaphysics and critical thinking, and A-pluses in the history of philosophy and an introduction to epistemology - the philosophy of knowledge.
Charles Pigden, the senior lecturer in philosophy who marked Kendall-Smith's thesis, said: "Kant was the philosopher who makes doing the right thing of critical importance... people who are interested in Kant's ethics, they're keen on morality."
Kendall-Smith has joint UK/New Zealand citizenship and has fought in wars as an ally of the United States in military action for which both our countries carry equal responsibility.
Please show this man of the military your support and respect by keeping him in your thoughts this week and by recommending his actions.
(Cross-posted from ePluribus Media)