U. S. Military personnel are legally obligated to disobey any Unconstitutional orders, even if they are issued by the President himself. If they follow an Unconstitutional order, they violate their oath of office, and Department Of Defense officials face impeachment and removal from office.
The United States Constitution gives the power to start a war to Congress, not to the President. If the President starts a war without Congressional approval, that is clearly an Unconstitutional act.
As enumerated in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, Congress is given the exclusive power . . .
"To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;"
There has been more and more talk lately, regarding the possibility that President Bush might order a massive air strike on Iranian nuclear facilities and related targets. The supposed justification would be something like, "Iran is disregarding the United Nations Security Council and is working to develop nuclear weapons for terrorists to use against the United States."
Where have we heard false statements like this before? In the lead-up to our invasion of Iraq, of course! Congress fell for this argument the first time, and tragically authorized the President to use force against Iraq. Bush then stretched this authorization into the self-inflicted fiasco we are now stuck with in Iraq.
But Congress is not likely to make this same mistake again, especially since there is no immediate threat from Iran, as there supposedly was from Iraq. So there will be no such Congressional authorization to use force this time.
But what if Bush decides to go ahead anyway, without Congressional authorization? He would falsely claim his bogus "inherent powers" to do whatever he feels like doing as Commander In Chief "to protect national security," whether Congress likes it or not. And then he would simply order our Military to bomb Iran.
And I believe this is exactly what he is planning to do. But there is something everybody needs to understand, before Bush tries to do this: Any official of the United States Government - Military or Civilian - who knowingly follows an Unconstitutional order, violates his oath of office. The Civilian officials are subject to impeachment and removal from office. Therefore, each Military officer or other Government official is legally obligated to disobey any such order that might come from President Bush. And Bush himself needs to know this, too.
Here is the oath of office, below. Please note that each official swears to "support and defend" the Constitution, not to obey the President. The President must be obeyed only when he is following the Constitution.
United States Code, Title 5, Sec. 3331. Oath of office
An individual, except the President, elected or appointed to an office of honor or profit in the civil service or uniformed services, shall take the following oath: "I, AB, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God." This section does not affect other oaths required by law.
And here is the provision for impeachment and removal from office, as given in Article II, Section 4 . . .
"The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."
Deliberately violating the Constitution - particularly in such an important matter as starting a war - would be a "high Crime or Misdemeanor."
Rev. Bill McGinnis is an Internet Christian minister, writer and publisher. He is Director of LoveAllPeople.org, a small private think tank in Alexandria, Virginia, and all of its related websites, including InternetChurchOfChrist.org,CommitteeForTheGoldenRule.org,CivicAmerican.com, and AmericanDemocrat.net. His agenda is to help maximize the happiness and well-being of all people. His blog is located at http://blog.myspace.com/revbillmcginnis
We are heading for a calamity of biblical proportions.The blog sites here are full of encouragement for a ''limited'' attack on this regional major power. Iran will not give up like Iraq did.This is a proud powerful country.
They could ignite ( literally ) the middle east with ease.
The present attack on Ahmadinijad is bogus..he did not say that' Israel must be wiped off the map'..there is no word in FARSI for Israel. He should have not used any such language ..but to selectively threaten this poor country that has suffered a recent horrific war cannot be justified.
We must negotiate. I beg the US people to take a lead on this.
Thank you Bill..let me know if you need help.
Paul
by
Hamish (45 articles, 0 quicklinks, 68 diaries, 211 comments)
on Friday, September 1, 2006 at 4:19:46 AM
Our Constitution was violated so many times so far that it is unlikely that its pure existence will encourage our military to disobey the orders. But some things can. Those are:
1. Collective or random but mass address from the Church leaders of the US to the US military to disobey the US president in case he unilaterally decides to ignite war.
2. Open and overwhelmiong statement of the US BAR Association that the Y2000 election was stolen9 see Vincent Bugliosi) and as such pending the investigation the current President and Vice- President cannot make any crucial decisions.
3. Open and direct statement of the DemParty and the US BAR Association that unless there is a trial of 9/11 all versions of the event are on the table including the version that George Bush knew about the attack in advance.
4. General labor strike with the political statement that Bush and his cabal are unconstituional.
5. Invitation from the Dem Party Leaders to meet with the Iranian President on the neutral territory, say in France.
Even one of the above would save us. Just ONE!
Think about that, folks. Life and Death, you know.
by
Mark Sashine (44 articles, 19 quicklinks, 228 diaries, 3265 comments)
on Friday, September 1, 2006 at 7:28:24 AM
The midterm elections will determine whether a majority of Americans prefer democracy or fascism. The choice is so stark and the evidence of the last five years so overwhelming that only idiot can later claim they were fooled by the rabid right.
by
rabblerowzer (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 227 comments)
on Friday, September 1, 2006 at 9:48:44 AM
