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The freedom of assembly and of protest are both unequivocally protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. There can be no question that people can protest military recruiters the same as they can protest slaughter houses, new construction, wars or anything else. Normally, there would be no question for consideration here. But concern has been raised by the manner in which some people have recently protested military recruiters in Berkley California. It is the practices of these antagonistic and misguided activists that makes politicians and even citizens want to draw a line over where speech is protected, and where its not.

Normally, it would not be difficult to sympathize with protesters against a war that has cost America more than 3000 service members. The war was started for ingenuous reasons, perpetuated without thought to material and human cost and has, currently, produced several incidents that cast shame on the entire nation. Even more, there seems to be no end to the war in site, though progress has been made, there is still a long road to travel. Protesting such a war, for many, seems only logical. Recruiters are a natural place to protest since they represent the part of the government actively seeking out more men and women to serve in the armed forces and, by association, fight the war.

So far, so good, nothing to really object to, though its not really the military's fault they've been ordered to war. Still people have protested recruitment since the start of recruitment, so this, in and of itself, is relatively unremarkable. However, people have taken it a few steps further. Led by Code Pink, protesters have begun accusing recruiters of lying, of manipulating and all but dragging people off to basic training. Protesters erroneously claim service members, once put in the war, are forced to butcher women and children. They claim that America is engaged in a war of imperialism and that we're more brutal than the enemy we fight. These accusations are both inflammatory and grossly inaccurate.

Recruiters are very honest about the risks inherent in military service and just as honest about the current benefits and compensation packages available to today's enlistees. It is also patently false that American service member engages in the murder of women and children as a matter of policy or even with ANY degree of frequency. The instances where soldiers go out of control and dishonor themselves and their service are rare, rare enough that they make the front page of the paper if they come to light and provoke wide spread national outrage and result in speedy punishment for the guilty. We are not attempting to colonize Iraq and our tactics do not include suicide bombing, nor ethnic cleansing, unlike those we fight against. These grossly inaccurate claims, unfortunately, lead to the current rancor directed at protesting in general.

Sadly, even lies such as those of the protesters are protected, so convinced were our founders that free speech is necessary. Thankfully, there is a cure against people lying about our soldiers and recruiters: the truth. Eventually, presented the evidence, people can make an informed decision without having to forcibly silence the protesters. "The best protection against bad speech," to quote the Supreme Court "is good speech." We just must have faith that our citizens are informed enough to tell the difference.

Learn more about this author, Bryan Jennings.
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