Unconstitutional
Orders Must Be Disobeyed
By Bill Mcginnis
02 September, 2006
Countercurrents.org
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. 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 V, 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, hall 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."
Blessings to you. May God
help us all.
Contact:
William McGinnis (Rev. Bill
McGinnis)
1908 Mt Vernon Ave #2543
Alexandrioa, VA 22301