14 Feb 08
United States District Court for the District of Columbia, 333 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20001.
Petition for a Writ of Mandamus.
This is a petition for a writ of mandamus directed to:
George W. Bush, President of the United States, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC 20500,
requiring George W. Bush to fulfill his obligation under law to uphold his oath of office where he swore to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and has not done so.
President Bush has not upheld the provision of the Constitution, as he swore to do, that under Article 1, Section 8, "Congress shall have power...to declare war."
Congress has not declared war since December of 1941.
The court will be aware of three items of evidence that prove that George W. Bush has violated his oath of office, did not perform his duty as a public servant and declared war on his own initiative, without Congress doing so.
One is the fact that George W. Bush has declared himself to be "a war president' on many occasions. He can only be assumed to be a war president when war has been declared. War has not been declared.
Another is the fact that the United States military is in Iraq conducting George W. Bush's undeclared war, at his direction, without a legal Congressional declaration of war.
The third is the fact that George W. Bush has designated himself the 'commander-in-chief." The Constitution designates the President as Commander-in-Chief of the military, and only the military, and only when called into service. Congress has not declared war, the military has not been called into service, therefore there is no Commander-in-Chief. The last Constitutionally authorized Commander-in-Chief was President Harry Truman, in 1945.
To dispense with George W. Bush's excuse for his personal declaration of war on Iraq, which is outside his powers and duties, the Congressional resolution that he says gave him the authority to attack Iraq in fact did not. It authorized him to use military force against Iraq to defend the United States. Iraq did not attack the United States, therefore there has been no need to defend the United States. The resolution did not authorize George W. Bush to attack, invade and occupy Iraq, only to defend the United States.
I ask that the court grant this petition and issue a writ of mandamus directing George W. Bush to perform his duty as a public servant and abide by his oath of office and the provisions of the Constitution that only Congress can declare war. The writ will require that George W. Bush rescind his personal declaration of war on Iraq, cease and desist his illegal and continuing attack on and occupation of Iraq, immediately.
In the name of the people of the United States, I remain, sincerely yours,
Ed Martin