President Bush's decision to order United States Armed Services into action in Afghanistan in no way, shape, or form constitutes a violation of the Constitution for the United States of America or an act of treason.
The Constitution for the United States of America says a number of things on the subject.
In Article II, Section 3, it states:
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; [...]
As Commander-in-Chief, it is within the President of the United States's (POTUS) authority to issue orders to officers of the United States Armed Forces; for an officer or an enlisted-rating to refuse orders from the POTUS is insubordination, and a violation of the POTUS's Constitutional authority as Commander-in-Chief.
In Article I, Section 8, it states:
The Congress shall have Power [...] To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water [...]
Nowhere in the Constitution is it stated or even implied that the Congress's power to declare war in any way restricts the authority of the POTUS as Commander-in-Chief to issue orders to the United States Armed Forces. Nowhere in the Constitution is it stated or even implied that the POTUS cannot order the United States Armed Forces into action without a declaration of war from the Congress.
According to Section 2 of the 93d Congress H.J. Res. 542, commonly cited as the War Powers Resolution of 1973 (Pub. L. 93-148):
(b) Under article I, section 8, of the Constitution, it is specifically provided that the Congress shall have the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution, not only its own powers but also all other powers vested by the Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.
(c) The constitutional powers of the President as Commander-in-Chief to introduce United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, are exercised only pursuant to (1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.
The final clause bears repeating -- it is within the legal authority of the POTUS to introduce United States Armed Forces into hostilities during "
a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces."
One should pay further attention to the fact that this power is specifically enumerated in the War Powers Resolution, the purpose of which was to
limit the POTUS's authority as Commander-in-Chief. Under the War Powers Resolution, the POTUS has the authority to order United States Armed Forces into action in the listed circumstances, provided that he or she should notify the Speaker of the House and the President
pro tempore of the Senate in writing of the action and its purposes; the Armed Forces may remain in service for 60 days under Presidential authority, without action by the Congress.
The War Powers Resolution of 1973 is still in effect. It is, then, currently fully within the POTUS's Constitutional and statutory powers as Commander-in-Chief to order United States Armed Forces into action
without a declaration of war from the Congress.
Finally, for the question of treason -- the Constitution for the United States of America is very explicit on the subject. It states in Article III, Section 3:
Treason against the United States, shall consist in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
In no way, shape, or form, does the act of ordering United States Armed Forces into action without a declaration of war satisfy the Constitutional definition of treason. In no way, shape, or form does obedience to orders to that effect satisfy the Constitutional definition of treason.
It should be added, however, that disobedience to orders to that effect, given legally and lawfully under the Constitutional and statutory powers of the Office of the POTUS,
does constitute a crime -- insubordination.
Whether or not one agrees with President Bush's decision to order United States Armed Forces into action in Afghanistan without a declaration of war from the Congress is quite irrelevant; neither the most outspoken defence nor the most virulent detraction of the fact will change the
legality of it, under both the Constitution for the United States of America and the War Powers Resolution of 1973.
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