Of Duty, Honor And Confusion

I have read quite a few posts and received quite a few comments on my own posts with regards to soldiers obeying and disobeying illegal and legal orders. One thing has burned through on all of these writings is what I believe to be a deep misunderstanding of the definition of and reality of an illegal order as opposed to a legal order. I am also getting the impression that many of the authors of these comments are confusing our presence in Iraq with obeying an illegal order. Let’s pontificate on this issue a little.

Let me start by saying that I have a deep appreciation for these posts because it shows a desire to connect with a soldier’s world that one does not often see and I sincerely appreciate such efforts. Now here’s my short take on this issue. It is my belief that the founding fathers probably thought of this nation as being in a constant state of orderly/disorderly revolution through the electoral process. I believe it was for this reason that they rightly placed the military always and forever in civilian control and made the President the commander in chief. I believe that they looked to and intend for the citizenry, and not the military, to control the government and that the Legislative, Judicial, and Executive branch would also keep each other in check and from running amuck. I do not believe that they ever had any intention that the military would defend the constitution from within. It is because of this that I must disagree with some comments and writing in that I do not believe there is any conflict in a soldier’s oath with regards to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Soldiers not only take an oath to support and defend the constitution but also to follow the orders of the officers appointed over them and they take that oath in the belief that those orders will be constitutionally legal and that those orders will in fact be steps in and of themselves in defense of the constitution. We must remember that in addition to their soldier/military side there is another side to the soldier and that is the citizen side that has all the rights of any citizen to protest and vote and take any other action that is within the law to bring about change in our government. I would add that soldiers do this every day and with zeal.

Now let’s clarify a couple of very different dynamics that may or may not be occurring in Iraq that I believe are adding to or even creating some of the confusion. If a soldier is given an order that is obviously illegal, i.e. shoot that civilian or torture that prisoner, then that soldier has not only a right but an obligation to disobey that order. And order such as that is rather obvious in nature and could more readily be interpreted as legal or illegal by most people with common sense. But if a soldier (General) is ordered to invade another country by the commander in chief and with Congress’s apparent approval then the officer must believe that in the absence of Congress’s objection and in the absence of judicial interdiction that the order is legal. Therefore to disobey the order to invade the country would in effect be a blatantly illegal act. This would hold true for the Generals subordinates as well since they also have no reason to believe the order to invade and conduct combat operations is illegal. We must not confuse the reality that we are in Iraq “legally” with our individual perception of being in Iraq illegally. If the citizens of this nation perceive and believe we are in Iraq illegally, as I do, then it is incumbent upon us, the citizens, to change the Legislative and Executive Branch and it is not, that is a capital NOT, the military’s responsibility as a military entity to take such action. Thank God!

Let us not take the incidents that occur at Abu Grahib, Gurantanimo Bay, or anywhere else in Iraq or Afghanistan out of their context of individual instances of possible illegal orders and overlay them on the invasion of Iraq. These are two very different and separate things. So to those of you who point the finger of guilt at the soldiers I say look in the mirror. The guilty person is looking back at you unless you voted for Gore and or Kerry. ;-) The military is doing its job and it is not doing it illegally yet (Sans Abu Grahib and some other highly suspect operations such as certain activities at Gitmo). If the Supreme Court or Congress says or determines that the invasion of Iraq is illegal then I am sure all of the soldiers will be glad to come home but until then they have no option but to defend themselves and the nation as ordered to do with the greatest honor and dignity possible which is what I believe 99.9999 percent are doing.

It’s not your soldiers but your government.

Those Are The Sergeant Majors Thoughts On That.