Mark Wilkerson, Whistleblowing, and Conscientious Objecting

There comes a time in a person's life when they must do the right moral decision for themselves, doubtless of how popular that decision is in other's eyes, or what others feel about it." Those are the words of Army Spc. Mark Wilkerson. His words give flesh to something Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia told me years ago.

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I had been invited to speak at the Veterans for Peace conference. I felt terribly out of place. I was not sure why they had invited me. I am not a veteran. While I was against the invasion and occupation of Iraq, I didn't know what my whistleblowing had to do with being against the war. I did not feel worthy of being amongst these veterans, who were doubly brave for not only their military service, but also for later coming out against war.

I confided my doubts and insecurity to Camilo. He put his hands on my shoulders and looked me straight in the eye: "You were a public servant. You also served this country. And when its leaders took the country in an illegal and immoral direction, you became a conscientious objector on the civilian side."

Suddenly it all made sense. While my story is different in its details, it shares many of the same elements with the experiences of conscientious objectors: recognizing one's personal role in the abuse of government power, doing what one believes is right, and facing ostracization and punishment for those actions.

Our critics all said we should have gone about it differently. Camilo and Mark shouldn't have gone AWOL. I shouldn't have turned over e-mail to the media in which I had taken a position contrary to the one being espoused by the Department of Justice in a high-profile terrorism prosecution.