[COLUMN] Opposing war a moral imperative

I am the short guy on the right.Let me say this as bluntly as I can: I am a soldier and a veteran of the Iraq War who finds the war immoral, unjust and illegal.

Some have called me an unpatriotic traitor for saying such a thing. Others have accused me of treason.

In reality, I am a patriot honoring my oath of enlistment:

“I, Thomas J. Lucente Jr., 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; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”

The key phrase in that oath is “support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” That is where my allegiance lies, not to the temporary occupant of the Executive Mansion.

Let me give you another quotation from Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution: “The Congress shall have power … to declare war.”

Despite misguided laws and court rulings meant to circumvent this authority, the Constitution is clear: only the U.S. Congress has the power to declare war. There has been no congressional declaration of war so the invasion and occupation of Iraq is, by definition, illegal.



Read more!