This is the 2nd instalment of a 3-part series on "how one person can make a difference in the world".

A dusty, poor village in Iraq called Fallujah happens to be considered strategically important by U.S. military planners. The local Iraqi population accepts our military occupation after substantial resistance. These Iraqis' simple lives — already challenged by a simmering civil war with religious roots — are now further burdened by the presence of foreign, uniformed men with guns who patrol their streets. Some of these wielders of weaponry are members of the Marines or other armed forces. Some are non-military men. Security forces of private corporations working in Iraq use their weapons too. Atrocities have occurred within both military and corporate-mercenary ranks.

Adam Charles Kokesh became aware of the harsh effect of the military presence in Iraq during his tour of duty there. His reserve unit, November Battery, Fifth Battalion, 14th Marines, had been activated in 2004. He served in the Fallujah area, west of Baghdad. He was discharged and came back to the States to finish college. In 2006 he volunteered for another stint of duty and spent most of that tour managing a barracks. When Adam was given an honorable discharge, he gladly went back to civilian life.

He began to see himself as the Iraqis saw him: a menacing, ruthless and unpredictable predator.

Somewhere along the way, Kokesh found himself in a state of increasing disagreement with the government's rationale for being in Iraq. He began to see himself as the Iraqis saw him: a menacing, ruthless and unpredictable predator.

You may not agree with Kokesh's opinion, which is that we Americans were sold a "war" for false reasons. However, many people in the United States today feel increasingly uncomfortable with our continued presence in Iraq. They feel that we are doing harm, not good, to our own honor and sense of national rightness as well as to the people of Iraq.

In February 2007, Adam Kokesh finished college. His desire to change the way Americans perceive the war led him to become involved with a political activism group called Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW).

In his first public expression of political activism, Kokesh went to the congressional hearing at which the members questioned Attorney General Alberto Gonzales concerning the apparently baseless dismissal of several U.S. attorneys. Noticing how frequently Gonzales said, "I can't remember" and "I don't recall," Adam created one sign on which was written "I can't recall" and another sign on which he kept track of the repetitions. That afternoon, Mr. Gonzales could not recall a total of 74 things.

Kokesh and his signs made the front page of the Los Angeles Times, and suddenly his presence was requested all over the world by people and groups who are fighting for peace, justice and restitution.

The essence of war is not in the weapons themselves. It is in the men who are prepared to use them.

My favorite of Kokesh's expressions of political activism occurred on March 19, 2007, at the four-year mark of our occupancy of Iraq. He and fellow Marines in the IVAW wanted to bring the reality of this war home to the streets of our country. They decided to dress in their camouflage uniforms and patrol the streets of Washington exactly as they had done in Iraq, except that they had no weapons. In a brilliant piece of street theater, Kokesh and his group executed a patrol along Pennsylvania Avenue, walking past the White House.