It Is Your Government And Your Laws And Your Military And Your War

We have often discussed where the guilt of war might lie. It is at this point I must admit that I often become quite emotional about this issue because of my personal commitment to this country and it’s military. Having said that, I want to share a few thoughts with my friends who sometimes openly “pray” for the complete collapse of the United States military and sometimes denigrate the soldiers serving in it.

It is my observation that the world is a very hostile place. It is filled with dictators, petty tyrants, and governments that believe in every form of vile governance and acts against man and beast. If I am not mistaken I believe there are about 169 very diverse nation states in the world today and unfortunately many of them are of the perpetual vile type. The history of mankind is filled with instances of grotesque atrocities pitting one of these nation states against another and even one ethnic group within a nation against another ethnic group within that same nation. Uganda and Darfur come to mind readily as immediate examples and many others in history too numerous to name. Because of this unfortunate circumstance in the world of Homo sapiens it is a cursed reality and necessity that nations must maintain armies to defend against aggressor nations and groups and therefore I believe that it is because of this condition that the United States must maintain a strong military.

The United States military is unlike most if not all other militaries in the world in that our constitution places the military under the strict control of the civilian government. It is not only a constitutional requirement but it is a well established condition of which this country is fortunate to have a 250 year tradition of adherence to. This requirement of the constitution creates a very special relationship between the civilian government and it’s military. It creates a relationship in which the civilian government is solely responsible for the establishment of laws and treaties and absolute authority in determining when and where to use military force and the military is responsible for defending the nation and winning wars while following the orders of the government and obeying the laws and treaties created by and entered into by the government of United States. This is a very important distinction in that it squarely places very specific responsibilities on these two entities.

Based on the Constitution of the United States it is the Congress’s responsibility to declare war and or authorize the use of military force and it is the Presidents responsibility to serve as Commander in Chief. And based on the Constitution of the United States if the President were to request and the Congress were to authorize the use of military force then that force would in fact be “legal” under United States law. This can, and possibly in the case of Iraq may some day, be challenged but it is none the less at this point in time apparently “legal” under United States law. Whether such an act is legal under international law, with regards to Iraq, is I believe yet to be determined and I’m not sure that it has even been challenged.

In my earlier writings I have attempted to draw a distinction between orders on the battlefield and orders to go to war. I did this for a very explicit purpose. As I said before the military in general and soldiers in particular are required and conditioned to follow orders and question those orders when necessary but, it is the constitutional responsibility of the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches to ensure that the orders the military receives to go to war and to conduct military operations adhere to the constitution and laws of the United States and adhere to international treaties lawfully entered into by this nation. It is not the responsibility of the individual soldier to do this. It is the responsibility of the individual soldier to fight the war and adhere to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and obey the laws of the land and tenets of the Geneva Conventions and it is the responsibility of their superior officers to ensure that those laws are lawful, adhered to and charges brought when they are not adhered to.

Because of this constitutional and traditional relationship and because the United States military is so very disciplined they diligently strive to follow their orders with not blind obedience but with just and balanced obedience. So it is when the Congress passes laws and the President signs those laws they become the law of the land and the military, like every other individual and entity, must obey those laws. It is really that simple and in this way the military is simply a tool of the government which is elected by and serving as the representatives of the citizens of the nation.

I believe that the military is a necessary tool for the survival of the nation. That is simple fact. You can wish it were not but it is still fact and reality. How that military is used is the responsibility of the United States government as the representative of the citizens of the United States. So I say to those who denigrate the military of this nation that these are your sons and daughters and brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers and aunts and uncles and neighbors doing the business you asked them to do. You can say I didn’t vote for him or her or I protested against this or that but the bottom line is this. This nation’s government is elected by its citizens and we citizens have access to more information than can be digested so the government in office is there because we put them there and it’s our fault and not that soldiers fault so you need to get over it and do something about it. The soldiers in the field are fighting for their lives because we put them there and we should be fighting for theirs and our lives here on the protest lines and in the voting booths and where ever else we can fight for America. The only way I see of bringing them home is to vote these fools and buffoons out of office so let’s get on with it. And while we’re fighting for America lets fight for the Iraqi’s too. It’s their land that’s being decimated.

Those Are The Sergeant Majors Thoughts On That.